No. 14 Oklahoma beats Northern Colorado, 35-6, as improving Big 12 teams focus on peaking for post-season
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Clark Glass of Oklahoma gets a leg attack on Tyler Kinn of Northern Colorado at 157 pounds. Photo by Patricia Fox.
GREELEY, Colo. - College wrestling programs are deep into their conference schedules, competing not only for dual meet victories but also for individual seeds for the conference tournaments. Such is the case for No. 14 Oklahoma and unranked Northern Colorado, who met on a Sunday afternoon to continue to move their programs forward as part of the expanded and improving Big 12.
When it was over, the Sooners won eight of the 10 matches for a 36-6 victory, giving first-year head coach Lou Rosselli a 7-4 dual meet record and another positive as he works moving the program forward.
“We did a nice job in certain weight classes. We took a couple of hits at 125 and 165. They are riding good, they are finishing better. It was a good win. Overall, I was pleased with what I saw,” said Rosselli.
UNC started strong. In a battle of ranked wrestlers at 125, No. 28 Trey Andrews beat No. 16 Christian Moody (OU), 6-1. Andrews scored a first-period takedown on a throw, rode Moody much of the match, and added a third-period takedown for a decisive win.
OU got on a roll in the next few bouts, winning four straight through the half-time break.
Jacob Rubio of OU scored the first takedown and led 2-1 after two periods over Rico Montoya at 133. In the third period, Rubio got an escape, a takedown and added riding time for a 7-1 victory.
Another match between ranked wrestlers went to No. 25 Mike Longo, who stopped UNC’s No. 24 ranked Timmy Box, 7-1 at 141. Box scored the opening takedown, gave up a Longo escape and led 2-1 after one period. Longo got an escape and takedown in the second, and established dominance on top in the second. A tilt by Longo and a full period of top added riding time made it 7-1 for Long.
The Sooners added bonus points in the next two middleweight bouts.
At 149 pounds, No. 13 Dalton Jeffries scored three takedowns and turned Ben Polkowske three times, running away with an 18-1 technical fall. At 157, No. 11 Clark Glass scored takedowns in every period, and secured riding time to earn a 10-2 major decision over Tyler Kinn.
After the break, Northern Colorado got back on the board with a solid 10-5 win by No. 25 Keilan Torres (UNC) over No. 18 Yoanse Mejias (OU). Torres showed his dominance on his feet, getting four different takedowns throughout the match, including two in the first period for a big win over a ranked conference rival.
OU closed the dual with another four-match win streak, started by No. 29 Matt Reed, who put on a scoring show. Reed got the takedown, then turned Tommy Chisholm four times before getting the pin with one second left in the first period.
A pair of major decision followed with Andrew Dixon stopping Tanner Davis, 10-2 at 184, followed by No. 16 Brad Johnson (OU) beating Jamarcus Grant, 11-2. The Sooners showed dominance on both their feet and from the top position, and scored when they needed to in order to secure bonus points for the team.
No. 20 Ross Larson scored a first-period takedown, then ran a powerful half nelson on Jack Kuck to pin him with one second left in the opening period in the heavyweight finale.
“Each week, we are getting a little bit. We are still improving. It takes a little bit of time getting your philosophy and doing things how you want things done. Each week, we analyze, like any other coach, and we make some assessments and go from there,” said Rosselli.
Rosselli is now looking for increased improvement on the individual level, which would help move some of his athletes from a lower ranking up to the NCAA podium in March in St. Louis.
“As you taper at the end of the season, sometimes it’s just getting up and getting the points. Sometimes we leave a lot of points on the board. We miss opportunities when it comes to getting leg attacks. We need to continue getting better in some areas. We have a lot of guys ranked from 12-20. If we do things right, I think we have a lot of opportunities for guys to place (at the NCAAs.)”
UNC head coach Troy Nickerson was also looking for positives from his team, which has shown improvement in many areas, even with a 1-6 dual meet record going into February. According to Nickerson, this Bears team is competing at its highest level since the Cornell grad came to UNC to lead the program a few years ago.
“Wrestling the No. 14 team in the country, they are pretty good. Overall, we wrestled pretty well. There were some matches that we could have improved. Where we fought, we wrestled well and for the most part, we won. When we didn’t win, when we fought, we wrestled close. That is all we are looking at with these kids right now. We are young, we are growing we are getting better. We want all of our guys to fight for seven minutes. If we can do than, then we can get after some areas. A couple of times we didn’t fight tonight, and that will need to be addressed,” said Nickerson.
No. 14 Oklahoma 35, Northern Colorado 6
At Greeley, Colo., January 29
125 - #28 Trey Andrews (UNC) dec. No. 16 Christian Moody (OU), 6-1
133 – Jacob Rubio (OU) dec. Rico Montoya (UNC), 7-1
141 –No . 25 Mike Longo (OU) dec. No. 24 Timmy Box (UNC), 7-2
149 – No. 13 Dalton Jeffries (OU) tech. fall Ben Polkowske (UNC), 18-1
157 – No. 11 Clark Glass (OU) maj. dec. Tyler Kinn (UNC), 10-2
165 – No. 25 Keilan Torres (UNC) dec. No. 18 Yoanse Mejias (OU), 10-5
174 –No. 29 Matt Reed (OU) pin Tommy Chisholm (UNC), 2:59
184 –Andrew Dixon (OU) maj. dec. Tanner Davis (UNC), 10-2
197 –No. 16 Brad Johnson (OU) maj. dec. Jamarcus Grant (UNC), 11-2
HWT –No. 20 Ross Larson (OU) pin Jack Kuck (UNC), 2:59
GREELEY, Colo. - College wrestling programs are deep into their conference schedules, competing not only for dual meet victories but also for individual seeds for the conference tournaments. Such is the case for No. 14 Oklahoma and unranked Northern Colorado, who met on a Sunday afternoon to continue to move their programs forward as part of the expanded and improving Big 12.
When it was over, the Sooners won eight of the 10 matches for a 36-6 victory, giving first-year head coach Lou Rosselli a 7-4 dual meet record and another positive as he works moving the program forward.
“We did a nice job in certain weight classes. We took a couple of hits at 125 and 165. They are riding good, they are finishing better. It was a good win. Overall, I was pleased with what I saw,” said Rosselli.
UNC started strong. In a battle of ranked wrestlers at 125, No. 28 Trey Andrews beat No. 16 Christian Moody (OU), 6-1. Andrews scored a first-period takedown on a throw, rode Moody much of the match, and added a third-period takedown for a decisive win.
OU got on a roll in the next few bouts, winning four straight through the half-time break.
Jacob Rubio of OU scored the first takedown and led 2-1 after two periods over Rico Montoya at 133. In the third period, Rubio got an escape, a takedown and added riding time for a 7-1 victory.
Another match between ranked wrestlers went to No. 25 Mike Longo, who stopped UNC’s No. 24 ranked Timmy Box, 7-1 at 141. Box scored the opening takedown, gave up a Longo escape and led 2-1 after one period. Longo got an escape and takedown in the second, and established dominance on top in the second. A tilt by Longo and a full period of top added riding time made it 7-1 for Long.
The Sooners added bonus points in the next two middleweight bouts.
At 149 pounds, No. 13 Dalton Jeffries scored three takedowns and turned Ben Polkowske three times, running away with an 18-1 technical fall. At 157, No. 11 Clark Glass scored takedowns in every period, and secured riding time to earn a 10-2 major decision over Tyler Kinn.
After the break, Northern Colorado got back on the board with a solid 10-5 win by No. 25 Keilan Torres (UNC) over No. 18 Yoanse Mejias (OU). Torres showed his dominance on his feet, getting four different takedowns throughout the match, including two in the first period for a big win over a ranked conference rival.
OU closed the dual with another four-match win streak, started by No. 29 Matt Reed, who put on a scoring show. Reed got the takedown, then turned Tommy Chisholm four times before getting the pin with one second left in the first period.
A pair of major decision followed with Andrew Dixon stopping Tanner Davis, 10-2 at 184, followed by No. 16 Brad Johnson (OU) beating Jamarcus Grant, 11-2. The Sooners showed dominance on both their feet and from the top position, and scored when they needed to in order to secure bonus points for the team.
No. 20 Ross Larson scored a first-period takedown, then ran a powerful half nelson on Jack Kuck to pin him with one second left in the opening period in the heavyweight finale.
“Each week, we are getting a little bit. We are still improving. It takes a little bit of time getting your philosophy and doing things how you want things done. Each week, we analyze, like any other coach, and we make some assessments and go from there,” said Rosselli.
Rosselli is now looking for increased improvement on the individual level, which would help move some of his athletes from a lower ranking up to the NCAA podium in March in St. Louis.
“As you taper at the end of the season, sometimes it’s just getting up and getting the points. Sometimes we leave a lot of points on the board. We miss opportunities when it comes to getting leg attacks. We need to continue getting better in some areas. We have a lot of guys ranked from 12-20. If we do things right, I think we have a lot of opportunities for guys to place (at the NCAAs.)”
UNC head coach Troy Nickerson was also looking for positives from his team, which has shown improvement in many areas, even with a 1-6 dual meet record going into February. According to Nickerson, this Bears team is competing at its highest level since the Cornell grad came to UNC to lead the program a few years ago.
“Wrestling the No. 14 team in the country, they are pretty good. Overall, we wrestled pretty well. There were some matches that we could have improved. Where we fought, we wrestled well and for the most part, we won. When we didn’t win, when we fought, we wrestled close. That is all we are looking at with these kids right now. We are young, we are growing we are getting better. We want all of our guys to fight for seven minutes. If we can do than, then we can get after some areas. A couple of times we didn’t fight tonight, and that will need to be addressed,” said Nickerson.
No. 14 Oklahoma 35, Northern Colorado 6
At Greeley, Colo., January 29
125 - #28 Trey Andrews (UNC) dec. No. 16 Christian Moody (OU), 6-1
133 – Jacob Rubio (OU) dec. Rico Montoya (UNC), 7-1
141 –No . 25 Mike Longo (OU) dec. No. 24 Timmy Box (UNC), 7-2
149 – No. 13 Dalton Jeffries (OU) tech. fall Ben Polkowske (UNC), 18-1
157 – No. 11 Clark Glass (OU) maj. dec. Tyler Kinn (UNC), 10-2
165 – No. 25 Keilan Torres (UNC) dec. No. 18 Yoanse Mejias (OU), 10-5
174 –No. 29 Matt Reed (OU) pin Tommy Chisholm (UNC), 2:59
184 –Andrew Dixon (OU) maj. dec. Tanner Davis (UNC), 10-2
197 –No. 16 Brad Johnson (OU) maj. dec. Jamarcus Grant (UNC), 11-2
HWT –No. 20 Ross Larson (OU) pin Jack Kuck (UNC), 2:59
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