Oklahoma State closes out record Big 12 Championships title with eight individual champions
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by Roger Moore, Special to TheMat.com
Oklahoma State wrestlers enjoy celebration with Big 12 team trophy. Photo courtesy of Big 12 Conference website.
TULSA, Okla. – Sunday’s encore was not as impressive as Saturday’s opening act. But it wasn’t too far off, either.
Oklahoma State won the program’s 51st overall conference title in record-setting fashion. The Cowboys shattered the Big 12 Conference Championship scoring record with 176 ½ points, outdistancing second place Oklahoma by 83 points. It was OSU’s fifth straight Big 12 title and it included a league record eight champions. OSU won 28 of 30 matches wrestled over the two days inside the BOK Center, just over an hour from OSU’s Stillwater campus.
“It’s what you hoped for,” OSU head coach John Smith said. “It wasn’t necessarily about winning because we knew we were heavily favored coming in. As a whole, I think I saw my team wrestle better than they have all year. That’s what you are hoping for this time of year.”
Redshirt-freshman Nick Piccininni (21-6) kicked off Sunday’s finals with one of the better bouts of the day, securing a takedown in the second sudden victory to give North Dakota State’s Josh Rodriguez just his second loss in 25 bouts this season.
“It’s an awesome feeling finishing a shot like that and getting a win in overtime. It was a fun one,” said Piccininni, a native of New York. “Coach (John Smith) is always talking about staying patient and wait for your shot, and when you find that one shot, hit it.
“It’s a good feeling having 10 in the finals. A little bit of pressure because you don’t want to start things off with a loss. You want to keep that intensity and get the team off to good start.”
OSU senior Austin Schafer (21-1) finished the day with a major decision to win his first Big 12 crown in his first postseason appearance.
“This team fed off each other all weekend,” Schafer said. “Seeing everybody have success, that makes you want to go out and wrestle hard, too. To be a Big 12 champion as a senior, and to be a part of this team, it’s been awesome. We are going to take this (momentum) to (St. Louis).”
The Big 12 rout started on Saturday when the Cowboys went 20-0. On Sunday, it was OSU against the field.
Senior Anthony Collica (20-2) won his fourth league crown, beating Oklahoma’s Davion Jeffries, 7-4, in the 149-pound final. After a major decision in the last meeting, the third match of this season was much more competitive as a second period reversal drew the Sooner sophomore to within 4-3. A third period takedown provided breathing room for the eighth four-time conference champion for the program.
“It was fun competing (in Tulsa) in my last Big 12 tournament,” Collica said. “It wasn’t the finals match I was looking for, but I got out of there with the win.
“It’s pretty awesome (to win four) because there aren’t a lot of guys up there (who’ve won four).”
NCAA champion Dean Heil moved his winning streak to 36 with an 8-6 victory over Wyoming’s Bryce Meredith in the 141-pound title tilt. Heil (27-0) joined Nolan Boyd as a three-time champion, Boyd (21-4) beating Northern Colorado’s Dylan Gabel, 15-4, in the 184-pound finale. Joe Smith (11-4) did not give up a point in three matches on his way to the 157-pound first-place medal, beating North Dakota State’s Clay Ream, 8-0, in the finals. It was Smith’s second Big 12 crown. Preston Weigel (18-5) rolled through two matches, then received an injury default win when West Virginia’s Jacob Smith could not continue early in the 197-pound final.
“We are wrestling well at the right time,” Collica said. “We know that if we wrestle the way we can (winning an NCAA title) is definitely possible.”
South Dakota State sophomore 133-pounder Seth Gross (30-1) was named Outstanding Wrestler after beating OSU’s Kaid Brock, 9-7, in the finals. Gross, who lost to Heil in the 141-pound Big 12 final last March, had a pin and major decision before besting Brock, whose two losses in 2016-17 have come to the Jackrabbit.
West Virginia’s Dylan Cottrell (18-4) won a wild, video-review-filled 165-pound title bout with OSU’s Chandler Rogers. In the closing seconds of the second period, the partisans, and OSU coaching staff members, felt Rogers had takedown, but a video review showed otherwise. In the final seconds, with Cottrell holding a 5-4 lead, another scramble did not finish, after another review, with a takedown and the Mountaineer senior was the winner.
The Big 12’s 38 allocations went to nine of the 10 teams with OSU’s 10 leading the pack. Oklahoma qualified seven with SDSU (5), NDSU (4), Wyoming (4), Northern Colorado (4), West Virginia (2), Iowa State (1), and Utah Valley (1) each sending wrestlers to St. Louis for the Division I Championships March 16-18. Air Force was the lone school without a qualifier.
For programs like Northern Colorado, coming off a 2-10 dual season, qualifying four is another step to building a better program in conference that includes a team like Oklahoma State.
“I can’t even remember what the dual season was … what our record was,” said UNC head coach Troy Nickerson, a former national champion at Cornell. “We wrestled really well (Sunday morning). Our guys responded to what we talked about.
“It’s tough to keep a tough mindset when you are going through a tough dual season, not having a lot of success. You can forget about that by continuing to work all season and coming into the postseason with a new mindset, knowing that you can turn around your season.
“We’ll continue to get better, and qualifying four for (nationals) shows everyone around the program that the work does pay off.”
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Tulsa, Okla., March 4-5
125 LBS
1st Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) DEC Josh Rodriguez (North Dakota State), 7-5
3rd Drew Templeman (Wyoming) DEC Christian Moody (Oklahoma), 4-3
5th Kyle Larson (Iowa State) DEC Ben Gillette (South Dakota State), 9-3
133 LBS
1st Seth Gross (South Dakota State) DEC Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State), 9-7
3rd Cam Sykora (North Dakota State) F Rico Montoya (Northern Colorado), 1:11
5th Earl Hall (Iowa State) DEC Dylan Hyder (Air Force), 8-5
141 LBS
1st Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) DEC Bryce Meredith (Wyoming), 10-7
3rd Mike Longo (Oklahoma) F Timmy Box (Northern Colorado), 4:50
5th Joe Wheeling (West Virginia) DEC John Meeks (Iowa State), 5-2
149 LBS
1st Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State) DEC Davion Jeffries (Oklahoma), 7-4
3rd Cole Mendenhall (Wyoming) F Alex Kocer (South Dakota State), 1:13
4th Alex Kocer (South Dakota State) MD Jerry Mcginty (Air Force), 12-1
5th Jerry Mcginty (Air Force) DEC Grant Lamont (Utah Valley), 7-3
157 LBS
1st Joe Smith (Oklahoma State) MD Clay Ream (North Dakota State), 8-0
3rd Clark Glass (Oklahoma) MD Alex Mossing (Air Force), 8-0
5th Archie Colgan (Wyoming) TF Colston Diblasi (Iowa State), 15-0 7:00
165 LBS
1st Dylan Cottrell (West Virginia) DEC Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State), 5-4
3rd Keilan Torres (Northern Colorado) F Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State), 1:55
5th Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) DEC Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State), 3-2
174 LBS
1st Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State) DEC Matt Reed (Oklahoma), 8-4
3rd David Kocer (South Dakota State) DEC Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State), 8-5
5th Kyle Pope (Wyoming) DEC Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley), 4-3
184 LBS
1st Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State) MD Dylan Gabel (Northern Colorado), 15-4
3rd Martin Mueller (South Dakota State) DEC Parker Vonegidy (West Virginia), 3-1
5th Carson Powell (Iowa State) DEC Tyler Mcnutt (North Dakota State), 9-3
197 LBS
1st Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) DEF Jacob Smith (West Virginia)
3rd Brad Johnson (Oklahoma) DEC Nate Rotert (South Dakota State), 4-0
5th Marcus Harrington (Iowa State) DEC Cordell Eaton (North Dakota State), 14-11
285 LBS
1st Austin Schafer (Oklahoma State) MD Dustin Dennison (Utah Valley), 9-0
3rd Ross Larson (Oklahoma) F Ben Tynan (North Dakota State), 1:48
5th Quean Smith (Iowa State) F Brandon Tribble (Wyoming), 1:55
Big 12 Team Standings
1 Oklahoma State 176.5
2 Oklahoma 93.5
3 South Dakota State 90.5
4 North Dakota State 82.5
5 Wyoming 71.5
6 Iowa State 65
7 West Virginia 50
8 Northern Colorado 48.5
9 Utah Valley 32
10 Air Force 28
TULSA, Okla. – Sunday’s encore was not as impressive as Saturday’s opening act. But it wasn’t too far off, either.
Oklahoma State won the program’s 51st overall conference title in record-setting fashion. The Cowboys shattered the Big 12 Conference Championship scoring record with 176 ½ points, outdistancing second place Oklahoma by 83 points. It was OSU’s fifth straight Big 12 title and it included a league record eight champions. OSU won 28 of 30 matches wrestled over the two days inside the BOK Center, just over an hour from OSU’s Stillwater campus.
“It’s what you hoped for,” OSU head coach John Smith said. “It wasn’t necessarily about winning because we knew we were heavily favored coming in. As a whole, I think I saw my team wrestle better than they have all year. That’s what you are hoping for this time of year.”
Redshirt-freshman Nick Piccininni (21-6) kicked off Sunday’s finals with one of the better bouts of the day, securing a takedown in the second sudden victory to give North Dakota State’s Josh Rodriguez just his second loss in 25 bouts this season.
“It’s an awesome feeling finishing a shot like that and getting a win in overtime. It was a fun one,” said Piccininni, a native of New York. “Coach (John Smith) is always talking about staying patient and wait for your shot, and when you find that one shot, hit it.
“It’s a good feeling having 10 in the finals. A little bit of pressure because you don’t want to start things off with a loss. You want to keep that intensity and get the team off to good start.”
OSU senior Austin Schafer (21-1) finished the day with a major decision to win his first Big 12 crown in his first postseason appearance.
“This team fed off each other all weekend,” Schafer said. “Seeing everybody have success, that makes you want to go out and wrestle hard, too. To be a Big 12 champion as a senior, and to be a part of this team, it’s been awesome. We are going to take this (momentum) to (St. Louis).”
The Big 12 rout started on Saturday when the Cowboys went 20-0. On Sunday, it was OSU against the field.
Senior Anthony Collica (20-2) won his fourth league crown, beating Oklahoma’s Davion Jeffries, 7-4, in the 149-pound final. After a major decision in the last meeting, the third match of this season was much more competitive as a second period reversal drew the Sooner sophomore to within 4-3. A third period takedown provided breathing room for the eighth four-time conference champion for the program.
“It was fun competing (in Tulsa) in my last Big 12 tournament,” Collica said. “It wasn’t the finals match I was looking for, but I got out of there with the win.
“It’s pretty awesome (to win four) because there aren’t a lot of guys up there (who’ve won four).”
NCAA champion Dean Heil moved his winning streak to 36 with an 8-6 victory over Wyoming’s Bryce Meredith in the 141-pound title tilt. Heil (27-0) joined Nolan Boyd as a three-time champion, Boyd (21-4) beating Northern Colorado’s Dylan Gabel, 15-4, in the 184-pound finale. Joe Smith (11-4) did not give up a point in three matches on his way to the 157-pound first-place medal, beating North Dakota State’s Clay Ream, 8-0, in the finals. It was Smith’s second Big 12 crown. Preston Weigel (18-5) rolled through two matches, then received an injury default win when West Virginia’s Jacob Smith could not continue early in the 197-pound final.
“We are wrestling well at the right time,” Collica said. “We know that if we wrestle the way we can (winning an NCAA title) is definitely possible.”
South Dakota State sophomore 133-pounder Seth Gross (30-1) was named Outstanding Wrestler after beating OSU’s Kaid Brock, 9-7, in the finals. Gross, who lost to Heil in the 141-pound Big 12 final last March, had a pin and major decision before besting Brock, whose two losses in 2016-17 have come to the Jackrabbit.
West Virginia’s Dylan Cottrell (18-4) won a wild, video-review-filled 165-pound title bout with OSU’s Chandler Rogers. In the closing seconds of the second period, the partisans, and OSU coaching staff members, felt Rogers had takedown, but a video review showed otherwise. In the final seconds, with Cottrell holding a 5-4 lead, another scramble did not finish, after another review, with a takedown and the Mountaineer senior was the winner.
The Big 12’s 38 allocations went to nine of the 10 teams with OSU’s 10 leading the pack. Oklahoma qualified seven with SDSU (5), NDSU (4), Wyoming (4), Northern Colorado (4), West Virginia (2), Iowa State (1), and Utah Valley (1) each sending wrestlers to St. Louis for the Division I Championships March 16-18. Air Force was the lone school without a qualifier.
For programs like Northern Colorado, coming off a 2-10 dual season, qualifying four is another step to building a better program in conference that includes a team like Oklahoma State.
“I can’t even remember what the dual season was … what our record was,” said UNC head coach Troy Nickerson, a former national champion at Cornell. “We wrestled really well (Sunday morning). Our guys responded to what we talked about.
“It’s tough to keep a tough mindset when you are going through a tough dual season, not having a lot of success. You can forget about that by continuing to work all season and coming into the postseason with a new mindset, knowing that you can turn around your season.
“We’ll continue to get better, and qualifying four for (nationals) shows everyone around the program that the work does pay off.”
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Tulsa, Okla., March 4-5
125 LBS
1st Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) DEC Josh Rodriguez (North Dakota State), 7-5
3rd Drew Templeman (Wyoming) DEC Christian Moody (Oklahoma), 4-3
5th Kyle Larson (Iowa State) DEC Ben Gillette (South Dakota State), 9-3
133 LBS
1st Seth Gross (South Dakota State) DEC Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State), 9-7
3rd Cam Sykora (North Dakota State) F Rico Montoya (Northern Colorado), 1:11
5th Earl Hall (Iowa State) DEC Dylan Hyder (Air Force), 8-5
141 LBS
1st Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) DEC Bryce Meredith (Wyoming), 10-7
3rd Mike Longo (Oklahoma) F Timmy Box (Northern Colorado), 4:50
5th Joe Wheeling (West Virginia) DEC John Meeks (Iowa State), 5-2
149 LBS
1st Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State) DEC Davion Jeffries (Oklahoma), 7-4
3rd Cole Mendenhall (Wyoming) F Alex Kocer (South Dakota State), 1:13
4th Alex Kocer (South Dakota State) MD Jerry Mcginty (Air Force), 12-1
5th Jerry Mcginty (Air Force) DEC Grant Lamont (Utah Valley), 7-3
157 LBS
1st Joe Smith (Oklahoma State) MD Clay Ream (North Dakota State), 8-0
3rd Clark Glass (Oklahoma) MD Alex Mossing (Air Force), 8-0
5th Archie Colgan (Wyoming) TF Colston Diblasi (Iowa State), 15-0 7:00
165 LBS
1st Dylan Cottrell (West Virginia) DEC Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State), 5-4
3rd Keilan Torres (Northern Colorado) F Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State), 1:55
5th Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) DEC Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State), 3-2
174 LBS
1st Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State) DEC Matt Reed (Oklahoma), 8-4
3rd David Kocer (South Dakota State) DEC Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State), 8-5
5th Kyle Pope (Wyoming) DEC Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley), 4-3
184 LBS
1st Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State) MD Dylan Gabel (Northern Colorado), 15-4
3rd Martin Mueller (South Dakota State) DEC Parker Vonegidy (West Virginia), 3-1
5th Carson Powell (Iowa State) DEC Tyler Mcnutt (North Dakota State), 9-3
197 LBS
1st Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) DEF Jacob Smith (West Virginia)
3rd Brad Johnson (Oklahoma) DEC Nate Rotert (South Dakota State), 4-0
5th Marcus Harrington (Iowa State) DEC Cordell Eaton (North Dakota State), 14-11
285 LBS
1st Austin Schafer (Oklahoma State) MD Dustin Dennison (Utah Valley), 9-0
3rd Ross Larson (Oklahoma) F Ben Tynan (North Dakota State), 1:48
5th Quean Smith (Iowa State) F Brandon Tribble (Wyoming), 1:55
Big 12 Team Standings
1 Oklahoma State 176.5
2 Oklahoma 93.5
3 South Dakota State 90.5
4 North Dakota State 82.5
5 Wyoming 71.5
6 Iowa State 65
7 West Virginia 50
8 Northern Colorado 48.5
9 Utah Valley 32
10 Air Force 28
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