UPDATE: No. 1 Oklahoma State wins nine of 10 bouts to beat Minnesota, 34-3

OSU's Austin Schafer defeated No. 5 Michael Kroells. Photo: Univ. of Minnesota

Oklahoma State press release


MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The top-ranked Oklahoma State wrestling team handled its first ranked opponent of the season in dominating fashion Sunday afternoon, dropping No. 16 Minnesota, 34-3, at the Minnesota Sports Pavilion to move to 2-0 on the dual season.


Heavyweight Austin Schafer had the biggest highlight of the day, upsetting No. 5 Michael Kroells for the first ranked win of his career with a thrilling 3-2 decision that was decided in the final 30 seconds. Adding to Schafer’s big win, four Cowboys recorded bonus point victories to put the Gophers away, including a first-period fall by Chandler Rogers at 165 pounds.


“Overall, I’m pleased,” head coach John Smith said after the match. “You obviously have some matches that you kind of scratch your head at. I don’t think any of our guys really felt like they were in any kind of rhythm today, but that’s okay. It’s tough to get in that rhythm.”


Following up Preston Weigel’s loss to No. 2 Brett Pfarr at 197 pounds after halftime to cut the Cowboy lead to 18-3, Schafer killed whatever momentum the Gophers had. Tied at one with under a minute to go in the final period, the senior made his move. Schafer’s decisive takedown came with 30 seconds on the clock, and while Kroells would escape for a final effort, the Cowboy heavyweight held on for the 3-2 decision.


“The score was tight, but I felt confident,” Schafer said. “He hadn’t been opening up on his feet and I just knew to stay in good position and that I’d find my shot. I just stayed confident and kept pursuing that.”


Starting the match at 149, third-ranked Anthony Collica recorded a 6-4 decision with riding time over Fredy Stroker of Minnesota in his first true match of the season. Collica sat the Cowboys’ opening dual out after defeating third-ranked Lavion Mayes in the All-Star Classic the previous day, but the match didn’t count toward his NCAA record.


Jonce Blaylock kept things rolling, moving up to 157 to fill in for third-ranked Joseph Smith against Minnesota’s Carson Brolsma. Trailing 4-3 in the third period, Blaylock dropped Brolsma for a takedown in the final 30 seconds of the match to gut out a 5-4 decision.


Rogers recorded the first bonus point win for the Cowboys Sunday afternoon, pinning Minnesota’s Brandon Kingsley nearly a minute and a half into the match. It marked Rogers’ second pin of the season and the second-quickest of his career, moving him to 5-0 overall for his redshirt sophomore campaign.


Seniors Kyle Crutchmer and Nolan Boyd both recorded decisions to give the Cowboys an 18-0 lead at the intermission. Crutchmer survived a late push from No. 14 Nick Wanzek to get the 7-5 win. Boyd got out with a 2-1 decision over Robert Steveson.


After Schafer’s match put the win well in hand, redshirt freshmen Nick Piccininni and Kaid Brock, along with top-ranked Dean Heil buried the Gophers with bonus-point wins in their matches.


Piccininni was relentless in his match against Skyler Petry at 125 pounds, piling up points to get the 17-1 tech fall. The East Setaucket, N.Y., product moved to 6-0 on the season, and boosted his dual point total to 10 after tech falls in both of the first two dual matches of his career.


Brock came out of the gate hot, dropping Minnesota’s Mitch McKee in under 10 seconds. Leading 3-2 after one, Brock pulled away in the second with the help of a four-point nearfall. The Stillwater native would finish off the match with a 10-2 major decision.


“With Kaid, although (McKee) was a freshman, he’s one of the better guys in the country,” Smith said. “He was actually higher ranked than Kaid coming out of high school. We knew collegiately, this was a chance to get that monkey off of his back. He hasn’t beaten that kid at least the last two times they’ve wrestled. It was a good effort.”


Dean Heil closed out the match with a 12-3 major decision over Gannon Volk to move to 6-0 on the season. The 2016 NCAA Champion was dominant throughout, recording five takedowns to pick up the riding time point easily with just over four minutes on top.


The Cowboys now look ahead to next weekend, which will take them to Norman, Okla., for a Bedlam battle with No. 17 Oklahoma on Friday night before heading home for a matchup with No. 21 Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon.

Minnesota Gopher press release


Narrow defeats to higher-ranked opponents marked much of the Gophers' 34-3 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon in a dual where five of the first seven matches were decided by two points or fewer.


The Gophers had their first chances to score upsets immediately with the dual’s opening bouts, both of which featured Minnesota wrestlers in their first career duals. Redshirt freshman Fredy Stroker took the mat first after the teams drew weights and began the afternoon at 149 pounds. Against No. 3 Anthony Collica, Stroker was able to match the three-time Big 12 champ with a pair of takedowns, but two escapes for Collica were the difference in a 6-4 win for the visitors. Carson Brolsma then stepped in at 157 to take on Jonce Blaylock. Like his teammate had in the previous match, Brolsma stretched his opponent throughout the seven minutes but fell just short, 5-4, when he was unable to escape Blaylock in the bout’s final seconds.


“[Oklahoma State] is a great team. We knew that coming into it, but the guys are disappointed. They wanted to wrestle better,” said head coach Brandon Eggum. “We knew there was going to be some strong match-ups and we need to capitalize on those opportunities. … We were pleased with a few of the guys' efforts, even though we would have liked to win some of those matches. We need to continue to make adjustments. When you get opportunities to compete against some of the top teams in the country, which we will in the Big Ten conference, you got to take advantage of it.”


After a fall at 165 doubled the OK State lead to 12-0, another pair of narrow decisions against the Gophers kept Minnesota behind on the scoreboard. No. 14 Nick Wanzek, fresh off a top-15 upset win last Saturday against South Dakota State, gave No. 4 Kyle Crutchmer a stout challenge but ultimately fell one takedown short in a 7-5 loss at 174. To close out the first half, Bobby Steveson had the opportunity to avenge a 12-5 loss to No. 5 Nolan Boyd at last year’s Southern Scuffle and looked significantly improved, dropping the match 2-1 on the riding time point, which was decided by just 14 seconds.


Pfarr earned a victory for the Gophers coming out of the locker room in the second half, putting together his second straight dominant decision over a highly ranked opponent. After shutting out No. 5 Nate Rotert last weekend, Pfarr bested No. 6 Preston Weigel, 7-2, on Sunday. Pfarr did not allow a takedown in either of those matches.


In an upset at heavyweight, Austin Schafer evened his career series with No. 5 Michael Kroells with a 3-2 victory. Turning over to the lower-weights for the final three matches, the Cowboys earned bonus points with a tech fall at 125 pounds and major decisions at both 133 and 141.


Now 1-1 this season, Minnesota will take a brief break from its dual schedule to compete in the prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational this Friday and Saturday (Dec. 2 and 3) in Las Vegas. The team will not return to the Pavilion again this calendar year, with its next home dual scheduled against Penn State on Jan. 6.

OKLAHOMA STATE 34, MINNESOTA 3

at Minneapolis, Minn., Nov. 27

149: No. 3 Anthony Collica (OSU) dec Fredy Stroker (Minn), 6-4

157: Jonce Blaylock (OSU) dec Carson Brolsma (Minn), 5-4

165: No. 4 Chandler Rogers (OSU) fall (1:24) Brandon Kingsley (MINN)

174: No. 4 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) dec No. 14 Nick Wanzek (MINN), 7-5

184: No. 5 Nolan Boyd (OSU) dec Bobby Steveson (MINN), 2-1

197: No. 2 Brett Pfarr (Minn) dec No. 6 Preston Weigel (OSU), 7-2

285: Austin Schafer (OSU) dec No. 5 Michael Kroells (MINN), 3-2

125: No. 10 Nick Piccininni (OSU) tech fall Skyler Petry (Minn), 17-1

133: No. 6 Kaid Brock (OSU) maj dec Mitch McKee (Minn), 10-2

141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) maj dec Gannon Volk (Minn), 12-3