No. 1 Cowboys defeat Sooners in first Bedlam match of the year

No. 3 Collica defeats No. 14 Jeffries with a major decision. Photo: Bruce Waterfield, Oklahoma State athletics

NORMAN, Okla. – Lou Roselli’s introduction to the Oklahoma State-Oklahoma wrestling rivalry was not a pleasant one. The top-ranked Cowboys won nine of 10 matches in a 33-3 rout inside McCasland Fieldhouse.


“It’s obviously a huge rivalry, but it hasn’t been in a long time,” said Roselli, who took over in Norman this season after 10 years on the staff at Ohio State. “And until we can get a product that we can really get to another level we’ll keep working with our guys to keep getting better.


“I thought we saw a polished Oklahoma State team with a little better pedigree in some weight classes. Most of the matches were pretty competitive besides one or two where we were outmatched.”


The Cowboys (3-0), who host No. 21 Pittsburgh on Sunday, got back-to-back technical falls from Kyle Crutchmer and Nolan Boyd at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively, to finish the dual.

Nick Piccininni and Dean Heil added major decisions at 125 and 141, respectively.


The Cowboys won at Minnesota last week and have a busy December ahead. Head coach John Smith knows grinding out wins down the road is not going to deliver a national championship. It’s only December, but the veteran coach is preaching “bonus points” early and often.


“The scoreboard looks good,” said Smith, whose teams have won six straight and 13 of the last 14 against their Bedlam rivals. “I don’t feel like we imposed our will at some weights where we felt like it could be lopsided and here we go 0-0 after the first period. Those are the things teams don’t quite get there when that happens. I was pleased with matches that felt like they were tight then all of a sudden we exploded and put up a lot of points”


Crutchmer, an All-American two seasons ago, went through a scoreless opening period before rolling over the final three minutes to a 21-5 technical fall. Boyd, an All-American in 2016, was never challenged during a 17-1 rout of Andrew Dixon.


“(Hansen) is from here. I expected him to be a little more wirey at the beginning; he shut me down pretty good at the beginning,” Crutchmer said. “I just kept pushing. He’s kind of young so I thought I could break him eventually. Getting off to a slow start, I have fix that.


“Right now we are not really a pretty team. I think toward the end of the year I think we will progress. There are just some things we need to keep working on, get through some injuries.”


Preston Weigel opened the dual with a 4-0 decision of Brad Johnson at 197 pounds.


Heavyweight Austin Schafer continued his early-season push, beating Ross Larson, 5-2, at 285 pounds. Less than a week after beating two-time All-American Michael Kroells of Minnesota, Schafer followed up a second period reversal with an immediate escape and takedown from a body-lock.


Piccininni, a redshirt-freshman from New York, worked through some early struggles with another rookie 125-pounder, Christian Moody, and rolled to a 12-2 major decision.


Redshirt freshman Kaid Brock gave up takedowns in the first and third periods, but in-between controlled Trae Blackwell in a 10-7 victory at 133 pounds.


When 2016 national champion Heil raced to a 10-0 lead and eventually a 12-3 major, followed by senior Anthony Collica’s 10-5 win over Davion Jeffries at 149, it was 20-0.


Joe Smith did not suit up again for the Cowboys. The sophomore 157-pounder is still nursing old injuries from an All-American campaign a year ago and did not weigh in for Friday’s dual. His replacement for a second straight week, Jonce Blaylock, picked up another victory. Two takedowns over the final two minutes pushed the regular 149-pounder to a victory over NJCAA national champion DaWaylon Barnes at 157 pounds.


Roselli’s squad got on the board thanks to senior Clark Glass at 165 pounds. Glass, a senior, grinded out a tough 3-1 overtime victory over Chandler Rogers. Glass spent most of the final four minutes on Rogers’s leg, but could not find a takedown. Twenty-nine seconds into overtime, however, Glass finally finished a single-leg attack for the Sooners’ lone victory.


“Right now we are not trying to beat Oklahoma,” Smith said. “What we need to focus on is enforcing our will on people early, getting leads and then working toward those pins and technical falls. That is what Penn State does now and in March. We are preparing for teams like Iowa and Penn State .


“(Oklahoma) is going to be good. (Coach) Roselli is going to build something, I have no doubt.”