Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Northern Iowa
Cowboy Wrestlers Down the Panthers
February 03, 2002 | Cowboy Wrestling
Feb. 3, 2002
Oklahoma State's fifth-ranked wrestling team won eight of the 10 matches en route to a 30-6 victory over No. 15 Northern Iowa. The dual marked the last home dual for seniors Ty Wilcox, Pat Popolizio, James Huml and All-American Matt Brown.
"That team right there is good," head coach John Smith said. "Coming in I knew we would have to wrestle hard to win this dual. The one thing they do is wrestle hard and they did that tonight. They also exposed a lot of weaknesses on our part tonight."
The Cowboys (17-3 overall, 3-0 Big 12) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead when third-ranked sophomore All-American Tyrone Lewis recorded seven takedowns against No. 18 Nate Lawrenz before recording his fifth major decision of the year.
"Some guys that stuck out in my mind were Johnny Thompson and Tyrone Lewis," Smith said. "Tyrone followed up with a good match on Friday and both of them looked very determined to separate the score and stay on top of their opponents."
Eleventh-ranked Wilcox fell behind early to Eric Hauan but came back to decision Hauan 8-7 at 174 pounds to improve to 18-5 on the year.
Sixth-ranked Popolizio widened the gap to 10-0 when he decisioned No. 7 Kyle Hansen 3-2 in double overtime, while No. 16 Huml used four takedowns en route to a 10-3 victory over Sean Stender.
The Panthers (6-6) only points of the night came when twelfth-ranked Jason Payne decisioned No. 11 Willie Gruenwald 4-3 at 197 pounds, and eighth-ranked Dylan Long decisioned Ronnie Delk 7-5 at 141 pounds.
Sophomore All-American Johnny Thompson recorded eight takedowns before pinning Mark Manchio with 13 seconds remaining in the match to improve to 27-2 on the year.
Junior All-American Shane Roller closed out the dual by recording a major decision against Drew Kelly 12-2 to improve to 25-3 on the year.
The Cowboys will return to action on Feb. 9 when they travel to East Lansing, Mich., to take on No. 18 Michigan State.
Results 165 Lewis (OSU) maj. dec. Lawrenz (NI), 16-5 (4-0) 174 Wilcox (OSU) dec. Hauan (NI), 8-7 (7-0) 184 Popolizio (OSU) dec. Hansen (NI), 3-2 2OT (10-0) 197 Payne (NI) dec. Gruenwald (OSU), 4-3 (10-3) 285 Huml (OSU) dec. Stender (NI), 10-3 (13-3) 125 Brown (OSU) maj. dec. Hubbard (NI), 14-5 (17-3) 133 Thompson (OSU) fall Manchio (NI), 6:47 (23-3) 141 Long (OSU) dec. Delk (NI), 7-5 (23-6) 149 Sanders (OSU) dec. Garvin (NI), 4-1 (26-6) 157 Roller (OSU) maj. dec. Kelly (NI), 12-2 (30-6)
