Oklahoma State snaps Mizzou's 35-dual win streak with a 19-15 win in Columbia

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A record Missouri crowd of 4,721 wanted to see a 36^th dual victory in a row on Saturday afternoon. But second-ranked Oklahoma State rallied to win the final three bouts, the final one a 3-1 sudden victory decision by Derek White over Zach Elam, to secure a 19-15 win. The Tigers’ last loss came to Northern Iowa in the penultimate meet of the 2016-17 season. A win over SIU-Edwardsville three days later finished the season and started a streak that saw a 19-0 campaign in 2017-18 and a 15-0 start to the 2018-19 season.

Saturday saw the Cowboys win 6 of 10 and sneak out of town.

“They’ve won 35 straight and we are wrestling in front of their biggest crowd ever” said OSU head coach John Smith, whose squad takes an unbeaten 14-0 mark into next Sunday’s dual with the Iowa Hawkeyes in Stillwater. “That’s the kind of dual where you tell your guys good job. I’ll certainly tell them that.

“I’m not sure we could have done anything more. Missouri is a good team; they make it tough on you.”

OSU opened the meet with back-to-back wins, Nick Piccininni (26-0) picking up a major over Dack Punke at 125 pounds and Daton Fix (26-1) using a big four-point near fall off an inside trip in the first period of a 9-2 decision of John Erneste at 133 pounds. The hosts quickly narrowed the deficit to one when high-flying Jaydin Eierman (19-3) countered a Kaid Brock shot into a cradle for a pin at 3:48 of the 141-pound bout.

MU took a 12-7 lead when rookie Brock Mauller (25-1) was too much for fellow freshman Kaden Gfeller at 149 pounds and a 6-5 decision by Jarret Jacques of Wyatt Sheets at 157 pounds. One of OSU’s biggest wins came from senior Chandler Rogers (16-2), who picked up a tough 7-5 decision of Connor Flynn at 165 pounds. Three-time All-American Daniel Lewis (20-1) dominated Joe Smith to the tune of 7-0 at 174 pounds to give MU a 15-10 lead, but Jacobe Smith began the Cowboy’s run at 184 pounds.

Smith (22-3) seemed to catch momentum late in the first period with a reversal to tie the bout with Dylan Wisman. The OSU senior added a pair of takedowns and went on to a solid 7-3 win to cut MU’s lead to 15-13. Senior Preston Weigel (6-0), who wrestled his first match since December last weekend, was locked in a 1-1 match with Wyatt Koelling at 197 when, after riding out the second period, scored a physical takedown in the final period for a 4-1 win. It put OSU up by one with only the heavyweights left to wrestle.

Weigel was penalized for hands to the face early in the final period. It seemed to fire him up.

“I had to get a takedown either way,” said the Kansan. “It felt good to be out there, with that crowd, with that atmosphere. Missouri is a tough team, a good dual team and we had to depend on each other all day. I think the three of us kind of had an idea that our matches were going to be big in this dual.”

Senior Derek White squared off with rookie Zach Elam for all the marbles. 1-1 after seven minutes, White (23-1) was able to finish a takedown midway through the one-minute extra session.

The Cowboys won the first 30 meetings in the series, but MU is 7-13-1 against the Cowboys over the last 21 duals. Needless to say, Brian Smith, who took over in Columbia prior to the 1998-99 season, has turned the Tigers into a consistent winner. His first team qualified one wrestler for the NCAA Championships; his last four teams have finished fourth, sixth, fifth, and sixth at the NCAAs. MU won the 2012 Big 12 championship, moving to the Mid-American Conference a year later where they have won six straight league titles.

"Amazing dual. The atmosphere was electric and the wrestling was high level," Brian Smith said. "OSU is a great team that can challenge for the title this year. Proud of the way my young team competed and don't like to ever lose, but today even though we lost, we grew as a team. I am always grateful that John has kept this dual going after we left the Big 12." 

OSU is in the midst of a lineup change with Joe Smith, Jacobe Smith, and Dakota Geer all working to get down one weight. Between that trio and Rogers, a two-time All-American, questions will be answered in the coming weeks. The Cowboys host Iowa in what could be a fantastic dual at Gallagher-Iba Arena next Sunday afternoon.

No. 2 Oklahoma State 19, No. 5 Missouri 15
125-Nick Piccininni (O) major dec Dack Punke, 11-2
133-Daton Fix (O) dec John Erneste, 9-2
141-Jaydin Eierman (M) pin Kaid Brock, 3:48
149-Brock Mauller (M) dec Kaden Gfeller, 10-4
157-Jarret Jacques (M) dec Wyatt Sheets, 6-5
165-Chandler Rogers (O) dec Connor Flynn, 7-5
174-Daniel Lewis (M) dec Joe Smith, 7-0
184-Jacobe Smith (O) dec Dylan Wisman, 7-3
197-Preston Weigel (O) dec Wyatt Koelling, 4-1
285-Derek White (O) dec Zach Elam, 3-1 SV1