Oklahoma State Captures Big 12 Championship; Claims Four Individual Titles

The Big 12 Championship final had a unique feel. There was, naturally, a heavy Oklahoma State presence in Tulsa. But it was countered, in some ways, by a big crowd of fans from every other program in attendance. When Oklahoma State won, their fans cheered; when other teams won, the fans of every other team cheered.  

 The Big 12 Tournament finals started at 149 pounds with Casey Swiderski (Oklahoma State) taking on Caleb Rathjen (Northern Iowa). Swiderski used an ankle pick to grab the first takedown and a 3-0 lead. They exchanged a few escapes, and Swiderski gave up a stall point, but held on to win 5-3 to give Oklahoma State their first champion. It would be a while before they got another.

Arizona State got its first champ of a back-to-back at 157 pounds and 165 pounds when Kaleb Larkin used a first-period takedown and ride out to take a 3-0 lead into the second period on Oklahoma State’s Landon Robideau. After an escape in the second for Larkin, Robideau picked up a takedown to bring it within one. Robideau took neutral in the third, got in on several attacks, but was unable to finish, and Larkin held on for the 4-1 win and his first conference title.

At 165 pounds, Nicco Ruiz and LaDarion Lockett went to sudden victory after a 1-1 regulation. Lockett took a shot on the edge, which created a scramble that ended with a potentially dangerous call. The Arizona State corner challenged a takedown call during the scramble, but no takedown was awarded, sending the match to ride outs. In ride outs, Ruiz started on bottom and got away quickly. Lockett chose neutral and was unable to score, giving Ruiz a 2-1 win.

Missouri had back-to-back champions with Cam Steed and Aeoden Sinclair at 174 pounds and 184 pounds. Steed returned to his hometown to face OSU’s Alex Facundo at 174 pounds. He used a second-period turn and a third-period takedown to pick up a 10-6 decision. Sinclair followed that up with a dominant 8-1 decision at 184 pounds.

Sinclair won his first Big 12 title in his first Big 12 tournament. He viewed it as a challenge, but the right kind of challenge.

“It’s different than high school”, Sinclair said. “It’s a fun, exciting challenge, a challenge God blessed me with.”

Iowa State got its first champion with Rocky Elam at 197 pounds. After giving up the first takedown to Wyoming’s Joey Novak, Elam picked up a third-period takedown and ride out to win 5-4. ISU then went back-to-back as Yonger Bastida worked his way to a 4-1 decision at heavyweight over Oklahoma State’s Konner Doucet.

The finals flipped back to the lower weights next, where Oklahoma State got back on track a bit. Troy Spratley took on Iowa State’s Stevo Poulin in a rivalry the pair have had since elementary school in New York. Spratley got in on a leg attack quickly, but Poulin was able to fend it off, sending the match to the second with no score. Poulin picked up a quick escape in the second before Spratley got in on another shot he was unable to finish. Spratley was able to get a quick reversal and string together a long ride before a turn put him up 4-1. An escape for Poulin made it 4-2, but Spratley held on and added another title for OSU.

Jax Forrest used two first-period takedowns and a second-period turn to put together a 10-1 lead early in the second. After another turn, it was 12-1 to open the third period. A quick reversal made it 14-1 before Forrest cut Kyler Larkin. He was unable to score again and won by a final score of 14-2.

In the tournament finale, Oklahoma State’s Sergio Vega took on Iowa State’s Anthony Echemendia. After several blood times, the match ended up in sudden victory. With no scoring in sudden victory, Vega started the first ride out period on bottom. Vega picked up an escape and got in on a shot. There was a bit of a scramble where Vega nearly finished his shot. No takedown was called, and Oklahoma State’s corner challenged. After review, there was no change. Vega started the second ride out on top, got the ride out, and the Big 12 title with a 2-1 win.

Vega said a Twitter “hater” motivated him to win in ride outs.

“It’s funny, I always see these Twitter accounts. One of these guys was hating on me all weekend, and he’s trying to say you got to take me to tie-breakers to beat me. That’s all I was thinking in that match. I’m going to prove him wrong. I love it.”

David Taylor liked the performance, but is focused on improvements for nationals.

“This is great, but we’ve never one time talked about winning this tournament. We’re focused on being our best version at the end of the year. I think we had a good tournament. We just got to keep making improvements. We got ten guys that I think can go win the national tournament. We just got to keep helping them get a little bit better.”