Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
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Fourth-ranked Cowboy Wrestling Downs No. 5 Oklahoma, 17-8
February 17, 2002 | Cowboy Wrestling
Feb. 17, 2002
Oklahoma State's fourth-ranked wrestling team won the first four matches en route to a 17-8 victory over No. 5 OU today at the Lloyd Noble Center in front of 4, 553 fans.
"It was a good team effort," head coach John Smith said. "I thought we hustled when we needed to hustle and score when we needed to score. I thought we had a good awareness of what was going on in the match."
The Cowboys (19-3 overall, 4-0 Big 12) jumped to an early 3-0 lead when junior Jerrod Sanders upset the Sooners' fourth-ranked Jared Frayer at 149 pounds. Sanders scored an early takedown in the first period before defeating Frayer 4-3 to improve to 20-8 on the year.
"We expect certain things out of our athletes," Smith said. "I think tonight the things we exepct and the way we coach came out in them. You have to feel fortunate because that doesn't always happen in sports."
Fourth-ranked junior All-American Shane Roller and second-ranked sophomore All-American Tyrone Lewis extended the Cowboy lead to 9-0 by picking up victories at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively.
Roller fell behind early but scored a reversal and a takedown to defeat No. 12 Doug Celeski 4-3, while Lewis recorded two takedowns before knocking off ninth-ranked Robbie Waller.
"We scored some big points not only with takedowns in the third but reversals and ride outs too," Smith said. "It was a solid effort by this team today, probably one of the better matches we have wrestled this year."
Fourteenth-ranked senior Ty Wilcox scored a takedown late in the first period over No. 15 Michael Barger to calim a 2-0 advantage heading into the second period. Barger then scored a reversal to tie the score at 2-2.
Wilcox then recorded two reversals and a takedown before defeating Barger, 8-6, at 174 pounds to give the Cowboys a 12-0 lead.
"The majority of the matches that were tight that came down to a reversal or a takedown, we executed when it was time to execute and that was the difference in the match," Smith said.
The Sooners (16-5 overall, 3-2 Big 12) cut the Cowboy lead to 12-9 by winning the next three matches.
Seventh-ranked Josh Lambrecht scored the first points for OU by defeating No. 8 Pat Popolizio, 4-0, at 184 pounds, while No. 14 Tom Grossman decisioned No. 13 Willie Gruenwald 3-2 at 197 pounds.
OU's fourth-ranked Leonce Crump scored the last points for the Sooners by defeating No. 10 James Huml, 6-5, in sudden victory.
OSU's seventh-ranked junior transfer from North Carolina, Skyler Holman, upset No. 5 Matt Ridings 7-4 giving the Cowboys a 15-9 advantage, while second-ranked sophomore All-American Johnny Thompson secured the victory for the Cowboys by defeating No. 3 Witt Durden, 7-2, for the third time this year.
With Oklahoma State up 18-9 heading into the final match, both teams were assesed a penalty point due to both wrestlers getting a disqualification, to make the score 17-8.
The Pokes will conclude the regular season on Feb. 22 as they travel to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the Huskers.
ResultsOSU- 17 OU- 8 149- Jerrod Sanders (OS) dec. Jared Frayer (OU), 4-3 157- Shane Roller (OS) dec. Doug Celeski (OU), 4-3 165- Tyrone Lewis (OS) dec. Robbie Waller (OU), 5-3 174- Ty Wilcox (OS) dec. Michael Barger (OU), 8-6 184- Josh Lambrecht (OU) dec. Pat Popolizio (OS), 4-0 197- Tom Grossman (OU) dec. Willie Gruenwald (OS), 3-2 285- Leonce Crump (OU) dec. James Huml (OS), 6-5 125- Skyler Holman (OS) dec. Matt Ridings (OU), 7-4 133- Johnny Thompson (OS) dec. Witt Durden (OU), 7-2 141- No match, both teams assesed a penalty point for disqualifications
