Dieringer, Crutchmer spark Oklahoma State to 20-17 win over Minnesota
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by Roger Moore, Special to TheMat.com
Kyle Crutchmer of Oklahoma State works for a pin against Minnesota's Jordan Rothers at 174 pounds. Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State Athletics.
STILLWATER, Okla. – Minnesota was on track to perhaps pull off the road upset on Sunday afternoon. But Alex Dieringer and Kyle Crutchmer made sure the Gophers left Gallagher-Iba Arena on the losing end of a 20-17 score.
After Brandon Kingsley knocked off Chance Marsteller, 3-2, at 157 pounds UM led 10-6. Dieringer, a two-time NCAA champion, then hammered rookie Brandon Krone, 18-1, at 165 pounds to put the hosts back in front, 11-10, and Crutchmer, a fifth-place finisher at 174 pounds last March, turned a lateral drop into a pin at the 2:58 mark to give the Cowboys a 17-10 advantage.
“I think that’s the first pin I’ve ever had in Gallagher,” Crutchmer said. “It was exciting and I want to do anything I can to help this team win. Being behind Alex (Dieringer) is nice and helps a lot.”
Head coach J Robinson’s Gophers (4-4) did not go quietly, however.
O-State pushed its lead to 20-10 on the strength of Nolan Boyd’s 4-1 decision of Chris Pfarr at 184 pounds. In need of bonus point victories, UM’s Brett Pfarr picked up a wild 16-5 major decision of Jordan Rogers to cut the deficit to 20-14. Gopher All-American Michael Kroells needed to pin OSU’s Austin Schafer, a 197-pounder, in the final but could only manage an 8-3 decision.
Each squad won five bouts, OSU picking up a pin and technical fall with UM earning two major decisions.
“Coming off a trip to South Dakota it wasn’t the perfect set up to wrestle your best,” said OSU head coach John Smith, whose squad improved to 2-1 with a match against North Carolina State next Sunday on tap. “But I think we had some adversity throughout the match today. There were some things that happened that we didn’t think would happen and it was good to see some of our upperclassmen go out and turn the momentum for us.”
Oklahoma State started the season ranked No. 1 by most prognosticators, but fell to Iowa in the record-setting dual at Kinnick Stadium on Nov. 14. Smith’s squad grinded to 20-15 win at South Dakota State on Friday night that saw heavyweight Austin Marsden disqualified for a flagrant misconduct following his 7-2 decision of Alex Macki.
Marsden, a senior who finished eighth at the 2014 NCAA Championships, was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the match for what appeared to be an inappropriate verbal comment. After a buzzer-beating takedown, Marsden and Macki had an additional exchange that led official Rick Fink to disqualify Marsden, thus leading to a suspension for the Cowboys’ next competition.
Robinson returned just one All-American from a squad that tied for ninth at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Replacing Chris and Nick Dardanes, Dylan Ness, Logan Storley, and Scott Schiller – all All-Americans at some point during their careers – has proved difficult early this season. UM opened the 2015-16 campaign with dual wins over Grand Canyon (Ariz.), Virginia, and South Dakota State, but lost duals to North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Lehigh at the Northeast Duals Nov. 15. UM had won four of the last five versus OSU entering Sunday.
“We are super young,” said Robinson, who started six underclassmen and no seniors on Sunday. “But I think that some of our guys are getting better every week. I saw some improvement and this dual was closer thought it was going to be.
“I don’t know how many times you get beat and it’s a confidence builder, but it does help you look forward knowing there are some things you can do. We have December, January, February to get better and we want to wrestle the best people to see where we are. Nobody wants to get beat but there are a lot of positives we can take from this.”
The two squads split the first four matches with OSU’s Eddie Klimara (9-1) and Dean Heil (9-1), both top eight finishers last March, picking up decisions. Klimara broke open a tight match with two third period takedowns to beat sophomore Skyler Petry, 8-2, at 125 pounds. Heil, the top-ranked 141-pounder, won a physical bout with rookie Tommy Thorn, 7-3. The OSU sophomore is expected to face second-ranked Kevin Jack when Pat Popolizio, an OSU alum, brings his Wolfpack to Stillwater.
UM’s Sam Brancale (10-4) dominated Gary Wayne Harding to the tune of 16-2, while sophomore Jake Short (4-1) took advantage of an injury to Anthony Collica at 149 pounds. Collica tweaked an ankle and was forced to take an injury timeout with just over 30 seconds remaining. Short went to the mat after receiving his choice from official Mike Hagerty and escaped for a 2-1 victory that put the visitors up 7-6.
Kingsley (6-3), a junior from Apple Valley, Minn., then worked his way to a 3-2 win over Marsteller that pushed the margin to 10-6 and temporarily had UM thinking upset.
“In tough matches bonus points are always the key,” Smith said. “I think the more exciting thing is the fact that once you put people to their back and hold them there, get the pin, and that’s what (Crutchmer) did in a time that we needed him.”
Dieringer, a senior, moved to 6-0 this season and pushed his winning streak to 55. The pin was Crutchmer’s third in six bouts this season and only the eighth of his career.
Minnesota, ranked 18th, returns to the mat at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Dec. 4-5. OSU hosts North Carolina State next Sunday and travels to Oklahoma, a winner over Michigan, ranked third at the time, for a Dec. 13 dual.
No. 4 Oklahoma State 20, No. 18 Minnesota 17
125-Eddie Klimara (O) dec Skyler Petry, 8-2
133-Sam Brancale (M) maj dec Gary Wayne Harding, 16-2
141-Dean Heil (O) dec Tommy Thorn, 7-3
149-Jake Short (M) dec Anthony Collica, 2-1
157-Brandon Kingsley (M) dec Chance Marsteller, 3-2
165-Alex Dieringer (O) tech fall Brandon Krone, 18-1
174-Kyle Crutchmer (O) pin Jordan Rothers, 2:58
184-Nolan Boyd (O) dec Chris Pfarr, 4-1
197-Brett Pfarr (M) maj dec Jordan Rogers, 16-5
285-Michael Kroells (M) dec Austin Schafer, 8-3
STILLWATER, Okla. – Minnesota was on track to perhaps pull off the road upset on Sunday afternoon. But Alex Dieringer and Kyle Crutchmer made sure the Gophers left Gallagher-Iba Arena on the losing end of a 20-17 score.
After Brandon Kingsley knocked off Chance Marsteller, 3-2, at 157 pounds UM led 10-6. Dieringer, a two-time NCAA champion, then hammered rookie Brandon Krone, 18-1, at 165 pounds to put the hosts back in front, 11-10, and Crutchmer, a fifth-place finisher at 174 pounds last March, turned a lateral drop into a pin at the 2:58 mark to give the Cowboys a 17-10 advantage.
“I think that’s the first pin I’ve ever had in Gallagher,” Crutchmer said. “It was exciting and I want to do anything I can to help this team win. Being behind Alex (Dieringer) is nice and helps a lot.”
Head coach J Robinson’s Gophers (4-4) did not go quietly, however.
O-State pushed its lead to 20-10 on the strength of Nolan Boyd’s 4-1 decision of Chris Pfarr at 184 pounds. In need of bonus point victories, UM’s Brett Pfarr picked up a wild 16-5 major decision of Jordan Rogers to cut the deficit to 20-14. Gopher All-American Michael Kroells needed to pin OSU’s Austin Schafer, a 197-pounder, in the final but could only manage an 8-3 decision.
Each squad won five bouts, OSU picking up a pin and technical fall with UM earning two major decisions.
“Coming off a trip to South Dakota it wasn’t the perfect set up to wrestle your best,” said OSU head coach John Smith, whose squad improved to 2-1 with a match against North Carolina State next Sunday on tap. “But I think we had some adversity throughout the match today. There were some things that happened that we didn’t think would happen and it was good to see some of our upperclassmen go out and turn the momentum for us.”
Oklahoma State started the season ranked No. 1 by most prognosticators, but fell to Iowa in the record-setting dual at Kinnick Stadium on Nov. 14. Smith’s squad grinded to 20-15 win at South Dakota State on Friday night that saw heavyweight Austin Marsden disqualified for a flagrant misconduct following his 7-2 decision of Alex Macki.
Marsden, a senior who finished eighth at the 2014 NCAA Championships, was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the match for what appeared to be an inappropriate verbal comment. After a buzzer-beating takedown, Marsden and Macki had an additional exchange that led official Rick Fink to disqualify Marsden, thus leading to a suspension for the Cowboys’ next competition.
Robinson returned just one All-American from a squad that tied for ninth at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Replacing Chris and Nick Dardanes, Dylan Ness, Logan Storley, and Scott Schiller – all All-Americans at some point during their careers – has proved difficult early this season. UM opened the 2015-16 campaign with dual wins over Grand Canyon (Ariz.), Virginia, and South Dakota State, but lost duals to North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Lehigh at the Northeast Duals Nov. 15. UM had won four of the last five versus OSU entering Sunday.
“We are super young,” said Robinson, who started six underclassmen and no seniors on Sunday. “But I think that some of our guys are getting better every week. I saw some improvement and this dual was closer thought it was going to be.
“I don’t know how many times you get beat and it’s a confidence builder, but it does help you look forward knowing there are some things you can do. We have December, January, February to get better and we want to wrestle the best people to see where we are. Nobody wants to get beat but there are a lot of positives we can take from this.”
The two squads split the first four matches with OSU’s Eddie Klimara (9-1) and Dean Heil (9-1), both top eight finishers last March, picking up decisions. Klimara broke open a tight match with two third period takedowns to beat sophomore Skyler Petry, 8-2, at 125 pounds. Heil, the top-ranked 141-pounder, won a physical bout with rookie Tommy Thorn, 7-3. The OSU sophomore is expected to face second-ranked Kevin Jack when Pat Popolizio, an OSU alum, brings his Wolfpack to Stillwater.
UM’s Sam Brancale (10-4) dominated Gary Wayne Harding to the tune of 16-2, while sophomore Jake Short (4-1) took advantage of an injury to Anthony Collica at 149 pounds. Collica tweaked an ankle and was forced to take an injury timeout with just over 30 seconds remaining. Short went to the mat after receiving his choice from official Mike Hagerty and escaped for a 2-1 victory that put the visitors up 7-6.
Kingsley (6-3), a junior from Apple Valley, Minn., then worked his way to a 3-2 win over Marsteller that pushed the margin to 10-6 and temporarily had UM thinking upset.
“In tough matches bonus points are always the key,” Smith said. “I think the more exciting thing is the fact that once you put people to their back and hold them there, get the pin, and that’s what (Crutchmer) did in a time that we needed him.”
Dieringer, a senior, moved to 6-0 this season and pushed his winning streak to 55. The pin was Crutchmer’s third in six bouts this season and only the eighth of his career.
Minnesota, ranked 18th, returns to the mat at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Dec. 4-5. OSU hosts North Carolina State next Sunday and travels to Oklahoma, a winner over Michigan, ranked third at the time, for a Dec. 13 dual.
No. 4 Oklahoma State 20, No. 18 Minnesota 17
125-Eddie Klimara (O) dec Skyler Petry, 8-2
133-Sam Brancale (M) maj dec Gary Wayne Harding, 16-2
141-Dean Heil (O) dec Tommy Thorn, 7-3
149-Jake Short (M) dec Anthony Collica, 2-1
157-Brandon Kingsley (M) dec Chance Marsteller, 3-2
165-Alex Dieringer (O) tech fall Brandon Krone, 18-1
174-Kyle Crutchmer (O) pin Jordan Rothers, 2:58
184-Nolan Boyd (O) dec Chris Pfarr, 4-1
197-Brett Pfarr (M) maj dec Jordan Rogers, 16-5
285-Michael Kroells (M) dec Austin Schafer, 8-3
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