Close matches highlight No. 2 Oklahoma State's 24-9 win over No. 16 Northern Iowa
Share:
by Roger Moore, Special to TheMat.com
STILLWATER, Okla. – If you like collegiate wrestling matches that go deep into the third period with the outcome still in question then Gallagher-Iba Arena was the place to be Friday night. Actually, second-ranked Oklahoma State and No. 16 Northern Iowa took it to extremes.
Seven of the 10 bouts were not decided until the final period – four in the final 40 seconds – as the Cowboys (11-0) held off a very aggressive Panther squad, 24-9.
After bonus point victories by Nick Piccininni (23-0) and Daton Fix (23-1) at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively, OSU took a 9-0 lead. Then things got seven-minute wild.
UNI senior Josh Alber stunned Kaid Brock with a takedown in the final seconds at 141 pounds.
Alber’s third-period pressure eventually paid off as the Panther, now 25-4, scored a takedown off a restart with just :03 on the clock.
Brock scored the opening takedown, but, like the rest of the night, the match went deep into the final period.
A bout later, it was Kaden Gfeller’s turn to pull one out of the fire, scoring a takedown with :01 in regulation to force overtime with Max Thomsen at 149 pounds. A video review showed Gfeller’s (22-2) two, and he scored 17 seconds into sudden victory for a wild 8-7 decision that gave the hosts a 12-3 advantage.
Not to be outdone, UNI’s Taylor Lujan (21-3) took down Joe Smith in the final 13 seconds at 174 pounds for a 5-4 victory. OSU’s Jacobe Smith (19-2) responded with a two-takedown third period to beat Drew Foster, 8-4, at 184 pounds and give the Cowboys a comfortable 18-9 margin.
Close matches all night long.
“I felt like it was going to be tough all night. Give Northern Iowa credit,” OSU head coach John Smith said. “They brought the fight. We took the battle back to them in some of the matches, and some of them we didn’t quite get there. We might have been mentally fatigued a little bit in a few matches. You can’t focus on the outcome of the match when there is a minute left you have to focus on the moment.
“(Kaden) Gfeller and Jacobe (Smith), both of them, wrestling hard for seven minutes.”
Still with a fighting chance, UNI rookie 197-pounder Tyrell Gordon nearly took down Dakota Geer in the closing seconds, but Geer (21-4) hung on for a 4-2 victory to clinch the dual. OSU senior heavyweight Derek White improved to 20-1 with a 10-4 win over Carter Isley. The dual’s final bout included one final takedown at the buzzer.
“It was a lot of back and forth,” said UNI boss Doug Schwab. “I asked the guys to come out and swing first and in some of the matches we did. I think we gave a few away and I bet (OSU) thinks they gave a few away … not give or gave away, but continue to attack. At 149 we have to continue to attack there. We ask our guys to wrestle for 420 seconds and for the most part we did tonight. That’s Alber, he battles, continues to attack. You have to go take it, wrestle until that final whistle.
“Huge win for (Taylor Lujan). He had to go get it, go find that takedown in the third period.”
Schwab, whose team is now 5-5, does not believe in moral victories. They came to Stillwater to win.
“We have guys up and down the lineup that are some of the best guys in the country and we have to prove it against teams like Oklahoma State,” added Schwab. “We have to believe, not hope that we are there.”
Alber has been through many January and February grinds. He’s making a bid to be one of the nation’s top 141-pounders down the stretch.
“I was just thinking there was time,” said Alber of his late takedown. “I had to go for it, take a shot, finish a shot. Some of those last-second takedowns went our way, others didn’t. It was an exciting dual, not what we wanted but we battled all night.
“To this point, you know, I’ve been through this before. I feel prepared for anything; nothing surprises me right now. Over the summer I ran 80 days straight to get ready for this year, to be able to wrestle for seven minutes and more if I have to. Our team came here to fight, to get the respect of OSU, their fans, everyone. I think we showed some good fight tonight.”
For the Cowboys, who host Lehigh on Sunday, it was perhaps their best test of the year. Against Princeton, OSU needed a big match from Jacobe Smith and got it. On Friday, the same was true.
UNI trailed 15-9 after Lujan’s win at 174. But Jacobe Smith, again, regained momentum in a dual for his teammates.
“I’m just listening to what my coaches have been talking about all week, to wrestle a strategic match and not wasting my energy on big moves and gassing out. It’s good when a game-plan works. Move your feet, move your feet.
“We feed off each other. When someone gets knocked off it is your job to light the flame back up.”
OSU’s Wyatt Sheets (12-8) picked up a tough 4-2 decision at 157 pounds and UNI’s Bryce Steiert (19-5) gutted out a 2-0 decision at 165 pounds.
The Gfeller-Thomsen match might have been the best of the night.
“Once I got that late takedown, I wasn’t going to lose that match,” Gfeller said. “It wasn’t my best match, but (Thomsen) is tough. Again, I can’t worry about where the other guy is ranked or what he has done. I feel like I can go with them all and now that I know I’m staying at 149 I don’t have to think about going down to 141. I can focus on the wrestling.”
Oklahoma State is now 27-2 all-time against UNI, the last loss coming in 1991.
No. 2 Oklahoma State 24, No. 16 Northern Iowa 9
125-Nick Piccininni (O) technical fall Jay Schwarm, 16-1
133-Daton Fix (O) major dec Jack Skudlarczyk, 17-7
141-Josh Alber (UNI) dec Kaid Brock, 4-3
149-Kaden Gfeller (O) dec Max Thomsen, 8-7 SV
157-Wyatt Sheets (O) dec Paden Moore, 4-2
165-Bryce Steiert (UNI) dec Andrew Shomers, 2-0
174-Taylor Lujan (UNI) dec Joe Smith, 5-4
184-Jacobe Smith (O) dec Drew Foster, 8-4
197-Dakota Geer (O) dec Tyrell Gordon, 4-2
285-Derek White (O) dec Carter Isley, 10-4
Seven of the 10 bouts were not decided until the final period – four in the final 40 seconds – as the Cowboys (11-0) held off a very aggressive Panther squad, 24-9.
After bonus point victories by Nick Piccininni (23-0) and Daton Fix (23-1) at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively, OSU took a 9-0 lead. Then things got seven-minute wild.
UNI senior Josh Alber stunned Kaid Brock with a takedown in the final seconds at 141 pounds.
Alber’s third-period pressure eventually paid off as the Panther, now 25-4, scored a takedown off a restart with just :03 on the clock.
Brock scored the opening takedown, but, like the rest of the night, the match went deep into the final period.
A bout later, it was Kaden Gfeller’s turn to pull one out of the fire, scoring a takedown with :01 in regulation to force overtime with Max Thomsen at 149 pounds. A video review showed Gfeller’s (22-2) two, and he scored 17 seconds into sudden victory for a wild 8-7 decision that gave the hosts a 12-3 advantage.
Not to be outdone, UNI’s Taylor Lujan (21-3) took down Joe Smith in the final 13 seconds at 174 pounds for a 5-4 victory. OSU’s Jacobe Smith (19-2) responded with a two-takedown third period to beat Drew Foster, 8-4, at 184 pounds and give the Cowboys a comfortable 18-9 margin.
Close matches all night long.
“I felt like it was going to be tough all night. Give Northern Iowa credit,” OSU head coach John Smith said. “They brought the fight. We took the battle back to them in some of the matches, and some of them we didn’t quite get there. We might have been mentally fatigued a little bit in a few matches. You can’t focus on the outcome of the match when there is a minute left you have to focus on the moment.
“(Kaden) Gfeller and Jacobe (Smith), both of them, wrestling hard for seven minutes.”
Still with a fighting chance, UNI rookie 197-pounder Tyrell Gordon nearly took down Dakota Geer in the closing seconds, but Geer (21-4) hung on for a 4-2 victory to clinch the dual. OSU senior heavyweight Derek White improved to 20-1 with a 10-4 win over Carter Isley. The dual’s final bout included one final takedown at the buzzer.
“It was a lot of back and forth,” said UNI boss Doug Schwab. “I asked the guys to come out and swing first and in some of the matches we did. I think we gave a few away and I bet (OSU) thinks they gave a few away … not give or gave away, but continue to attack. At 149 we have to continue to attack there. We ask our guys to wrestle for 420 seconds and for the most part we did tonight. That’s Alber, he battles, continues to attack. You have to go take it, wrestle until that final whistle.
“Huge win for (Taylor Lujan). He had to go get it, go find that takedown in the third period.”
Schwab, whose team is now 5-5, does not believe in moral victories. They came to Stillwater to win.
“We have guys up and down the lineup that are some of the best guys in the country and we have to prove it against teams like Oklahoma State,” added Schwab. “We have to believe, not hope that we are there.”
Alber has been through many January and February grinds. He’s making a bid to be one of the nation’s top 141-pounders down the stretch.
“I was just thinking there was time,” said Alber of his late takedown. “I had to go for it, take a shot, finish a shot. Some of those last-second takedowns went our way, others didn’t. It was an exciting dual, not what we wanted but we battled all night.
“To this point, you know, I’ve been through this before. I feel prepared for anything; nothing surprises me right now. Over the summer I ran 80 days straight to get ready for this year, to be able to wrestle for seven minutes and more if I have to. Our team came here to fight, to get the respect of OSU, their fans, everyone. I think we showed some good fight tonight.”
For the Cowboys, who host Lehigh on Sunday, it was perhaps their best test of the year. Against Princeton, OSU needed a big match from Jacobe Smith and got it. On Friday, the same was true.
UNI trailed 15-9 after Lujan’s win at 174. But Jacobe Smith, again, regained momentum in a dual for his teammates.
“I’m just listening to what my coaches have been talking about all week, to wrestle a strategic match and not wasting my energy on big moves and gassing out. It’s good when a game-plan works. Move your feet, move your feet.
“We feed off each other. When someone gets knocked off it is your job to light the flame back up.”
OSU’s Wyatt Sheets (12-8) picked up a tough 4-2 decision at 157 pounds and UNI’s Bryce Steiert (19-5) gutted out a 2-0 decision at 165 pounds.
The Gfeller-Thomsen match might have been the best of the night.
“Once I got that late takedown, I wasn’t going to lose that match,” Gfeller said. “It wasn’t my best match, but (Thomsen) is tough. Again, I can’t worry about where the other guy is ranked or what he has done. I feel like I can go with them all and now that I know I’m staying at 149 I don’t have to think about going down to 141. I can focus on the wrestling.”
Oklahoma State is now 27-2 all-time against UNI, the last loss coming in 1991.
No. 2 Oklahoma State 24, No. 16 Northern Iowa 9
125-Nick Piccininni (O) technical fall Jay Schwarm, 16-1
133-Daton Fix (O) major dec Jack Skudlarczyk, 17-7
141-Josh Alber (UNI) dec Kaid Brock, 4-3
149-Kaden Gfeller (O) dec Max Thomsen, 8-7 SV
157-Wyatt Sheets (O) dec Paden Moore, 4-2
165-Bryce Steiert (UNI) dec Andrew Shomers, 2-0
174-Taylor Lujan (UNI) dec Joe Smith, 5-4
184-Jacobe Smith (O) dec Drew Foster, 8-4
197-Dakota Geer (O) dec Tyrell Gordon, 4-2
285-Derek White (O) dec Carter Isley, 10-4
Read More#
Beat the Streets New York raises $1.3 million with Annual Benefit, Final X
Final X women’s freestyle preview: Olympic medalists Maroulis, Gray, Hildebrandt, three other World champs headline field
19 National Team true third matches added prior to Final X in Newark, N.J., June 10
Application deadline is June 1 for Team Leader/Coach position for ANOC World Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia
