Oklahoma State, with six No. 1 seeds, favored to repeat as Big 12 champions in Tulsa, March 9-10
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by Roger Moore, Special to TheMat.com
Since the 2011-12 season the question every March has not been if Oklahoma State was going to win a Big 12 Conference championship, but by how much. A year ago, the margin between first and second was 40 ½ points. In 2017 it was 83 ½ separating gold from silver.
When 12 teams take the mat inside Tulsa’s BOK Center this Saturday and Sunday the Cowboys will seek a seventh consecutive league crown. Coming off an electric performance against the Iowa Hawkeyes two Sundays ago, second ranked Oklahoma State is doing some late season shuffling with the lineup, thanks in part to the return of 197-pounder Preston Weigel, an often-injured senior who was an All-American two seasons ago and injured in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Championships.
Not until February did Weigel return to the mat, thus forcing decisions in regards to Dakota Geer, Jacobe Smith, Chandler Rogers, and Joe Smith, a group that has a combined five All-America medals between them. Joe Smith, down from 174 pounds, swept Rogers in a best-of-three Monday night to decide the 165-pound spot with Jacobe Smith (174), Geer (184), and Weigel (197) the final grouping.
“This team has put together a good season despite everything that has happened with injuries,” said OSU head coach John Smith after the win over Iowa. “We’ve had guys move up, fill in, a lot of guys have contributed to an undefeated dual season. Here at the end, we want to wrestle our best and I think the schedule this year has put us in a position to do that.”
The Big 12 received 53 allocations, 25 behind the always powerful Big Ten Conference. The allocation breakdown shows 7 automatic bids at 149 and 197 pounds; 6 for 141, 165, and 285 pounds; 5 for 125, 133, 174, and 184 pounds; and 1 for 157 pounds. The league will most likely lose a spot at 165 with Joe Smith’s lack of matches at the weight classes. Of the 12 squads competing in the two-day tournament, OSU, No. 11 Wyoming, No. 13 Northern Iowa, and No. 14 Iowa State, rank among the top 20 latest NWCA Poll.
Six Cowboys – unbeaten Nick Piccininni (28-0 at 125), rookie phenom Daton Fix (27-1 at 133), rookie Kaden Gfeller (24-4 at 149), senior Jacobe Smith (24-3 at 174), Weigel (8-0 at 197), and senior Derek White (24-1 at 285) – will be top seeds at their weight classes in Tulsa. All-Americans Kaid Brock (16-6 at 141), Joe Smith (14-4 at 165), and Weigel, plus White, give OSU a powerful squad. Geer is 22-4 with all of his matches at 197 since mid-December. Wyatt Sheets (15-11) will join North Dakota State’s Luke Weber (9-3), Oklahoma’s Justin Thomas (18-8), Air Force’s Alex Mossing (19-12), Iowa State’s Chase Straw (17-10) and Fresno State’s Jacob Wright (26-9) for the lone 157-pound spot.
“This team is looking forward to the postseason,” Weigel said. “We’ve had some injuries, stuff that has kept guys out of the lineup all year. But we’ve had guys move around, step up and get some big wins. Having depth, having those guys with the ability to move around is a good thing.
“We are going into the Big 12s, this late part of the season, ready to go.”
Can anybody unseat the Cowboys?
Iowa State, Northern Iowa, and Wyoming have had strong seasons. Wyoming, coached by former Cowboy Mark Branch, had its best dual season since a 17-win 1966-67 campaign. Led by senior 165-pounder Branson Ashworth (31-3) and All-American 133-pounder Montorie Bridges (27-7), Branch’s Cowboys continue to build. Ashworth is the top seed at 165.
“I think (the season we’ve had so far is) a great sign of the future. With so many new faces in the lineup there were a lot of unknowns and this team really put together a solid dual season,” said Branch after a season-ending win over Northern Colorado.
“This team beat a bunch of quality teams in North Carolina, North Carolina State, Michigan State and others. I'm looking at a lot of those duals that could have gone the other way, but our guys, for being young, wrestled really maturely. We need to continue to do that, but it was a special dual season.
“We wrestle for the postseason, so that’s what our focus is on, but we can look at the positive things that we’ve accomplished this season because it’s a very encouraging thing for the program.”
Wyoming also has 20-match winners in Cole Verner (21-11 at 125), Sam Turner (26-10 at 141), Hayden Hastings (23-10 at 174), Tate Samuelson (22-4 at 184), Cole Davidson (23-13 at 197), and Brian Andrews (30-8 at 285), all underclassmen except Verner.
Doug Schwab’s Northern Iowa squad had a competitive schedule and expect big things from 141, 174, and 184 pounds in Tulsa. Josh Alber (26-4 at 141), Taylor Lujan (22-4 at 174), and Drew Foster (20-5 at 184) lead the Panthers with Max Thomsen (18-6 at 149) and Bryce Steiert (20-6 at 165) also in the mix. Alber is seeded No. 1 in a very competitive bracket.
“Seeing Oklahoma State in a dual shows us where we need to be,” said Schwab after UNI’s trip to Stillwater in early February. “But we don’t want to just compete (with OSU) we want to beat them, raise our level to that point.
“I do think the Big 12 continues to improve. But we still need to be better, get guys on the podium at the NCAAs. That starts with a strong qualifying tournament.”
Iowa State’s Kevin Dresser agrees.
“We’ve got to be better as a conference,” said Dresser, who has led a Cyclone resurgence after an ugly 43rd at the 2018 NCAA Championships. “Oklahoma State has been the standard, but there are programs in this league that have shown they can compete with anybody. Our goal is to put Iowa State back where it once was, back to a place where we are competing for championships, conference and national.”
Senior 197-pounder Willie Micklus (19-2) leads the Cyclones with Austin Gomez (18-4) right in the middle of that incredibly deep 133-pound weight class. Alex Mackall (21-9 at 125), Ian Parker (21-5 at 141), Jarrett Degen (23-5 at 149), Sam Colbray (184) have also had strong seasons. Colbray (23-5) earned a No. 1 seed.
Like ISU, Oklahoma hopes a return to glory days comes sooner rather than later. The Sooners won Big 12 team titles in 1999 and 2002, but have not challenged since, finishing 17 points behind Missouri in 2012. Thomas is the top seed at 157, while Dom Demas has won 26 matches at 141; veteran Davion Jeffries (18-9) is always dangerous at 149; and Jake Woodley (18-7) is among a large group of good 197-pounders.
Utah Valley, North Dakota State, and Fresno State each expect to qualify a number of athletes for Pittsburgh.
FSU joined the Big 12 last year and returns this season with a pair of 20-match winners in AJ Nevills (22-6 at 285) and Jacob Wright (26-9 at 157), plus talented Khristian Olivas (19-9 at 149) and football-man Josh Hokit (19-4 at 197). Nevills lost in the finals to OSU’s White in 2018.
NDSU has a balanced team with veterans Brent Fleetwood (21-3 at 125), Cam Sykora (19-6 at 133), and Andrew Fogarty (17-3 at 165) leading the Bison. Utah Valley has also raised its level with Matthew Findlay (14-2 at 141), Demetrius Romero (22-3 at 165), and Tate Orndorff (21-6 at 285) all with the potential to win their brackets this weekend.
First-year coaches Tim Flynn (West Virginia) and Damian Hahn (South Dakota State) went a combined 7-24 in dual meets this season, but will have dangerous men in the brackets in Tulsa. The loss of 2018 NCAA champion Seth Gross at 133 certainly hindered the Jackrabbits’ season, but Zac Carlson (20-7 at 174) and Henry Pohlmeyer (19-11 at 149) will challenge. For the Mountaineers, Matthew Schmitt (14-4) is another quality 133-pounder, Christian Monserrat (19-5) has been good at 149 pounds, and Nick Kiussis (18-8) should cause problems at 165 pounds this weekend.
Air Force and Northern Colorado round out the Big 12 field. Both will need to wrestle above their individual seeds to qualify wrestlers for the NCAA meet, March 21-23 in Pittsburgh.
Returning Big 12 champs from last March include Piccininni (125), Chandler Rogers (165), Lujan (174), Foster (184), White (285). Piccininni, Joe Smith (157), and Weigel (197) won titles in 2017; Smith and Weigel also earned top honors in 2016.
The 2019 Big 12 finals are set for Sunday night at 7 p.m.
When 12 teams take the mat inside Tulsa’s BOK Center this Saturday and Sunday the Cowboys will seek a seventh consecutive league crown. Coming off an electric performance against the Iowa Hawkeyes two Sundays ago, second ranked Oklahoma State is doing some late season shuffling with the lineup, thanks in part to the return of 197-pounder Preston Weigel, an often-injured senior who was an All-American two seasons ago and injured in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Championships.
Not until February did Weigel return to the mat, thus forcing decisions in regards to Dakota Geer, Jacobe Smith, Chandler Rogers, and Joe Smith, a group that has a combined five All-America medals between them. Joe Smith, down from 174 pounds, swept Rogers in a best-of-three Monday night to decide the 165-pound spot with Jacobe Smith (174), Geer (184), and Weigel (197) the final grouping.
“This team has put together a good season despite everything that has happened with injuries,” said OSU head coach John Smith after the win over Iowa. “We’ve had guys move up, fill in, a lot of guys have contributed to an undefeated dual season. Here at the end, we want to wrestle our best and I think the schedule this year has put us in a position to do that.”
The Big 12 received 53 allocations, 25 behind the always powerful Big Ten Conference. The allocation breakdown shows 7 automatic bids at 149 and 197 pounds; 6 for 141, 165, and 285 pounds; 5 for 125, 133, 174, and 184 pounds; and 1 for 157 pounds. The league will most likely lose a spot at 165 with Joe Smith’s lack of matches at the weight classes. Of the 12 squads competing in the two-day tournament, OSU, No. 11 Wyoming, No. 13 Northern Iowa, and No. 14 Iowa State, rank among the top 20 latest NWCA Poll.
Six Cowboys – unbeaten Nick Piccininni (28-0 at 125), rookie phenom Daton Fix (27-1 at 133), rookie Kaden Gfeller (24-4 at 149), senior Jacobe Smith (24-3 at 174), Weigel (8-0 at 197), and senior Derek White (24-1 at 285) – will be top seeds at their weight classes in Tulsa. All-Americans Kaid Brock (16-6 at 141), Joe Smith (14-4 at 165), and Weigel, plus White, give OSU a powerful squad. Geer is 22-4 with all of his matches at 197 since mid-December. Wyatt Sheets (15-11) will join North Dakota State’s Luke Weber (9-3), Oklahoma’s Justin Thomas (18-8), Air Force’s Alex Mossing (19-12), Iowa State’s Chase Straw (17-10) and Fresno State’s Jacob Wright (26-9) for the lone 157-pound spot.
“This team is looking forward to the postseason,” Weigel said. “We’ve had some injuries, stuff that has kept guys out of the lineup all year. But we’ve had guys move around, step up and get some big wins. Having depth, having those guys with the ability to move around is a good thing.
“We are going into the Big 12s, this late part of the season, ready to go.”
Can anybody unseat the Cowboys?
Iowa State, Northern Iowa, and Wyoming have had strong seasons. Wyoming, coached by former Cowboy Mark Branch, had its best dual season since a 17-win 1966-67 campaign. Led by senior 165-pounder Branson Ashworth (31-3) and All-American 133-pounder Montorie Bridges (27-7), Branch’s Cowboys continue to build. Ashworth is the top seed at 165.
“I think (the season we’ve had so far is) a great sign of the future. With so many new faces in the lineup there were a lot of unknowns and this team really put together a solid dual season,” said Branch after a season-ending win over Northern Colorado.
“This team beat a bunch of quality teams in North Carolina, North Carolina State, Michigan State and others. I'm looking at a lot of those duals that could have gone the other way, but our guys, for being young, wrestled really maturely. We need to continue to do that, but it was a special dual season.
“We wrestle for the postseason, so that’s what our focus is on, but we can look at the positive things that we’ve accomplished this season because it’s a very encouraging thing for the program.”
Wyoming also has 20-match winners in Cole Verner (21-11 at 125), Sam Turner (26-10 at 141), Hayden Hastings (23-10 at 174), Tate Samuelson (22-4 at 184), Cole Davidson (23-13 at 197), and Brian Andrews (30-8 at 285), all underclassmen except Verner.
Doug Schwab’s Northern Iowa squad had a competitive schedule and expect big things from 141, 174, and 184 pounds in Tulsa. Josh Alber (26-4 at 141), Taylor Lujan (22-4 at 174), and Drew Foster (20-5 at 184) lead the Panthers with Max Thomsen (18-6 at 149) and Bryce Steiert (20-6 at 165) also in the mix. Alber is seeded No. 1 in a very competitive bracket.
“Seeing Oklahoma State in a dual shows us where we need to be,” said Schwab after UNI’s trip to Stillwater in early February. “But we don’t want to just compete (with OSU) we want to beat them, raise our level to that point.
“I do think the Big 12 continues to improve. But we still need to be better, get guys on the podium at the NCAAs. That starts with a strong qualifying tournament.”
Iowa State’s Kevin Dresser agrees.
“We’ve got to be better as a conference,” said Dresser, who has led a Cyclone resurgence after an ugly 43rd at the 2018 NCAA Championships. “Oklahoma State has been the standard, but there are programs in this league that have shown they can compete with anybody. Our goal is to put Iowa State back where it once was, back to a place where we are competing for championships, conference and national.”
Senior 197-pounder Willie Micklus (19-2) leads the Cyclones with Austin Gomez (18-4) right in the middle of that incredibly deep 133-pound weight class. Alex Mackall (21-9 at 125), Ian Parker (21-5 at 141), Jarrett Degen (23-5 at 149), Sam Colbray (184) have also had strong seasons. Colbray (23-5) earned a No. 1 seed.
Like ISU, Oklahoma hopes a return to glory days comes sooner rather than later. The Sooners won Big 12 team titles in 1999 and 2002, but have not challenged since, finishing 17 points behind Missouri in 2012. Thomas is the top seed at 157, while Dom Demas has won 26 matches at 141; veteran Davion Jeffries (18-9) is always dangerous at 149; and Jake Woodley (18-7) is among a large group of good 197-pounders.
Utah Valley, North Dakota State, and Fresno State each expect to qualify a number of athletes for Pittsburgh.
FSU joined the Big 12 last year and returns this season with a pair of 20-match winners in AJ Nevills (22-6 at 285) and Jacob Wright (26-9 at 157), plus talented Khristian Olivas (19-9 at 149) and football-man Josh Hokit (19-4 at 197). Nevills lost in the finals to OSU’s White in 2018.
NDSU has a balanced team with veterans Brent Fleetwood (21-3 at 125), Cam Sykora (19-6 at 133), and Andrew Fogarty (17-3 at 165) leading the Bison. Utah Valley has also raised its level with Matthew Findlay (14-2 at 141), Demetrius Romero (22-3 at 165), and Tate Orndorff (21-6 at 285) all with the potential to win their brackets this weekend.
First-year coaches Tim Flynn (West Virginia) and Damian Hahn (South Dakota State) went a combined 7-24 in dual meets this season, but will have dangerous men in the brackets in Tulsa. The loss of 2018 NCAA champion Seth Gross at 133 certainly hindered the Jackrabbits’ season, but Zac Carlson (20-7 at 174) and Henry Pohlmeyer (19-11 at 149) will challenge. For the Mountaineers, Matthew Schmitt (14-4) is another quality 133-pounder, Christian Monserrat (19-5) has been good at 149 pounds, and Nick Kiussis (18-8) should cause problems at 165 pounds this weekend.
Air Force and Northern Colorado round out the Big 12 field. Both will need to wrestle above their individual seeds to qualify wrestlers for the NCAA meet, March 21-23 in Pittsburgh.
Returning Big 12 champs from last March include Piccininni (125), Chandler Rogers (165), Lujan (174), Foster (184), White (285). Piccininni, Joe Smith (157), and Weigel (197) won titles in 2017; Smith and Weigel also earned top honors in 2016.
The 2019 Big 12 finals are set for Sunday night at 7 p.m.
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