Meredith breaks Heil’s 55-match win streak; Oklahoma State sneaks by Wyoming, 20-15

“I knew I could break him,” Meredith said. “I’ve been in some hard matches this week. I’m mentally prepared to go all seven minutes. When I got out there I was like, ‘This is it. You’re going to beat him.’ He hasn’t been grinding quite like I have this last week.”

Meredith, ranked No. 3 in the country, capped off an impressive three days, which also included top-five wins against No. 5 Jaydin Eierman of Mizzou and then-No. 2 Kevin Jack of North Carolina State at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday.

Tuesday marked the fifth time that Meredith and Heil have met, which include three times in dual action, once in the 2017 Big 12 finals and once in the 2016 NCAA finals. Until tonight, Heil held a 4-0 advantage.

“I was ready to fight,” Meredith said. “I’m always ready to fight. I’m not the best guy out there, but I truly feel like I have more heart and more grit than a lot of people.”

Their bout at 141 pounds was the marquee match of the night as well as the finale. Despite no takedowns being scored in the match, it easily brought about the most intensity from the crowd and the teams.

After a scoreless first period, Heil was on the board first with an escape. Meredith knotted the score, 1-1, with an escape of his own in the third period, sending the match into overtime.

The two scrambled for what seemed like the entire one-minute sudden-victory period, but no points were scored. The match went to 30-second riding time periods, where Meredith picked up an escape and Heil was unable to, giving Meredith a 2-1 win.

“I’ve wrestled him the same way every time. I get careless with my posts, and that’s what he wants,” Meredith said. “All day I just told myself, ‘don’t post too much. Don’t post too much.’ It ended up working out for me this time. I still didn’t get a takedown on him, which really hurts. I need to be able to get takedowns on him to win.”

Making the win even sweeter, Meredith got to do it in front of his hometown.

On the sidelines, it was a coaching showdown between a former athlete-coach duo as Oklahoma State head coach John Smith improved to 11-0 against his former athlete and Wyoming head coach Mark Branch.

With the 20-15 win, Oklahoma State (5-0 overall; 3-0 Big 12) remains undefeated against Wyoming (1-2 overall; 1-1 Big 12) all-time with a 22-0-1 record, despite the Wyoming Cowboys picking up four wins against top-10 opponents, all of which are past All-Americans.

“It was entertaining,” Branch said. “It’s bittersweet because we had a lot of individual performances, a lot of upsets and some great matches. It’s going to take a while to realize the opportunity that we let slip between our fingers because we split matches with them at five-a-piece. Bonus points made the difference. It’s hard, but at the same time, you’re happy for the guys that performed well.”

To start the dual, Colorado Springs natives went toe-to-toe as Wyoming’s Sam Turner knocked off No. 8 Geo Martinez in a 4-3 decision at 149 pounds. Martinez led for most of the match, but a late third-period takedown put Turner on top. He rode Martinez for the remainder of the period to make the crowd go insane.

 At 157 pounds, Wyoming extended its lead to 6-0 after No. 17 Archie Colgan defeated Jonce Blaylock in a 3-1 decision.  

Wyoming topped another top-10 opponent at 165 pounds, when No. 15 Branson Ashworth stunned All-American and fifth-ranked Chandler Rogers with a takedown in the final 30 seconds for a 5-2 win. The victory put Wyoming ahead of No. 3 OSU, 9-0.

Oklahoma State trailed 9-0 after three matches.

It wasn’t until the fourth bout of the night, 174 pounds, that OSU picked up its first win, when No. 12 Jacobe Smith outlasted Kyle Pope, winning on riding time, 8-7.

OSU went on to win the next four matches, including three with bonus points.

Keegan Moore redeemed a 12-4 loss from Monday night’s dual against Northern Colorado, defeating Chaz Polson in an 8-7 battle at 184 pounds.

At 197 pounds, No. 4 Preston Weigel continued his strong comeback in his first weekend on the mat this season, going 2-0 this week and grabbing a 15-0 tech fall over Cody Vigoren in seven minutes on Tuesday.

Derek White at heavyweight and Nick Piccininni at 125 pounds collectively outscored their opponents, 32-3, with a 17-2 tech fall from White and a 15-1 major decision from Piccininni.

At 133 pounds, No. 20 Montorie Bridges of Wyoming went up 6-0 against All-American and third-ranked Kaid Brock early in the first period. Bridges held off a ferocious comeback from Brock, edging out the Oklahoma State star, 11-10, to set up the night’s finale between Heil and Meredith.

Oklahoma State and Wyoming are both back in action on Jan. 5. Wyoming will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the UNC duals, while OSU travels to Naples, Italy, for a dual against North Carolina State.  

No. 3 Oklahoma State 20, Wyoming 15

at Storey Gym (Cheyenne, Wyo.)

*Dual started at 149 pounds
149: Sam Turner (WYO) dec. No. 8 Geo Martinez (OSU), 4-3
157: No. 17 Archie Colgan (WYO) dec. Jonce Blaylock (OSU), 3-1
165: No. 15 Branson Ashworth (WYO) dec. No. 5 Chandler Rogers (OSU), 5-2
174: No. 12 Jacobe Smith (OSU) dec. Kyle Pope (WYO), 8-7
184: Keegan Moore (OSU) dec. Chaz Polson (WYO), 8-7
197: No. 4 Preston Weigel (OSU) tech. fall Cody Vigoren (WYO), 15-0
285: No. 8 Derek White (OSU) tech. fall Hunter Mullins (WYO), 17-2
125: No. 3 Nick Piccininni (OSU) MD Drake Foster (WYO), 15-1
133: No. 20 Montorie Bridges (WYO) dec. No. 3 Kaid Brock (OSU), 11-10
141: No. 4 Bryce Meredith (WYO) dec. No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU), 2-1 OT2

Rankings based on Flowrestling