Oklahoma State University Athletics
Dieringer Wins Second NCAA Championship
March 21, 2015 | Cowboy Wrestling
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ST. LOUIS -Oklahoma State's Alex Dieringer finished his junior season undefeated on Saturday night, winning his second-consecutive national title at the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Dieringer cruised his way to the top of the podium and his 100th career win en route to becoming OSU's 139th individual champion.
"I felt good," Dieringer said. "I got a really good warm-up in before. I knew he's a funky wrestler so I stayed out of those bad positions. I wrestled smart, hitting moves I don't usually hit. I really don't hit doubles very often. I think I hit four of them. So I stuck to my game plan pretty well - attack. I poked myself in the eye and I couldn't really see for a while, but I feel like I wrestled pretty good."
The junior faced No. 6 Taylor Walsh of Indiana and showed no signs of timidity, taking down Walsh within the first 20 seconds. Dieringer let him up just 10 seconds later and closed the period with a takedown to lead, 4-1, heading into the second.
Dieringer opened the second with an escape and went on to land two more takedowns that period. He didn't slow down and added two more takedowns before the final whistle to earn a 14-7 victory and another first-place trophy.
"He really controlled the match," coach John Smith. "That kid had some dangers to him, and obviously that's a great thing if you look at his career; this season - staying out of those positions. I think the good thing was he made the adjustment in the middle of the match and went to his doubles and was in on his far legs and seemed to have a lot of success, as you saw, with 14 points."
Two wins by fall on Thursday sent Dieringer to the quarterfinals, where he took on No. 9 Jackson Morse of Illinois. Dieringer earned a third bonus-point win of the tournament, picking up an 18-6 major decision in that bout. After that, he topped No. 5 Bo Jordan of Ohio State with a decisive 6-1 win in the semifinals.
"From the standpoint of just dominance, he's up there," Smith said. "If you look at his overall record this year and his number of major decisions, tech fall, pins, I'm not sure anybody equals it right now. From the standpoint of this particular season, he's very dominant."
Dieringer finishes the season with a perfect 33-0 record, marking the 14th undefeated season in school history. Of his 33 wins, 27 came with bonus points attached, giving him an 81.8 percent bonus-point win percentage. His 2014-15 campaign put him ninth all-time at OSU in both single-season bonus-point wins and single-season bonus point-win percentage.
Dieringer's win also improved his unbeaten streak to 49 matches, dating back to January of 2014.
The Cowboy won his first NCAA title in 2014 at 157 pounds, when he earned a 13-4 major decision over Dylan Ness of Minnesota in the title bout.
"Coach always told me the second one's harder," Dieringer said. "So I feel like this one feels a lot more special to me. Just coming back and going undefeated ... And moving up, too, which made it a lot harder. So I feel like I did pretty good this season."
Under the direction of Coach John Smith, 29 Cowboys have earned NCAA titles and 111 have earned All-America status.
The Cowboys finished the NCAA Championships in seventh place with 65 points. Ohio State won its first team national title.
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships - Final results
March 19-21, 2015 :: Scottrade Center (St. Louis, Mo.)
Championship Finals
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) dec. No. 6 Taylor Walsh (IND), 14-7
Championship Semifinals results
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) dec. No. 5 Bo Jordan (OHST), 6-1
174: No. 8 Tyler Wilps (PITT) dec. No. 12 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU), 3-1 SV1
Championship Quarterfinals Results
125: Zeke Moisey (WVU) dec. No. 7 Eddie Klimara (OSU), 5-2
141: No. 11 Chris Mecate (ODU) dec. No. 14 Dean Heil (OSU), 4-3
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) MD No. 9 Jackson Morse (ILL), 18-6
174: No. 12 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) dec. Joe Latham (ORST), 5-2
285: No. 5 Connor Medberry (WISC) dec. No. 4 Austin Marsden (OSU), 5-3 SV2
Championship Round of 16 Results
125: No. 7 Eddie Klimara (OSU) dec. No. 10 Ronnie Rios (ORST), 8-1
141: No. 14 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. No. 3 Lavion Mayes (MIZZ), 3-1
157: No. 2 Brian Realbuto (CORN) TF5 Anthony Collica (OSU), 16-0
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) fall Max Rohskopf (NCST), 4:18
174: No. 12 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) dec. No. 5 Blaise Butler (UVA), 5-2
184: No. 5 Taylor Meeks (OSU) dec. No. 12 Nolan Boyd (OSU), 8-2
285: No. 4 Austin Marsden (OSU) MD No. 13 Tyler Deuel (BING), 12-4
Championship First Round Results
125: No. 7 Eddie Klimara (OSU) dec. Trey Andrews (NCOL), 9-4
133: No. 16 Mac McGuire (KSU) dec. Gary Wayne Harding (OSU), 10-4
141: No. 14 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. Jesse Thielke (WISC), 9-3
149: No. 3 David Habat (EDIN) dec. Josh Kindig (OSU), 7-0
157: Anthony Collica (OSU) dec. Justin Staudenmayer (BRO), 8-2
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) fall Connor McMahon (SIUE), 4:33
174: No. 12 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) def. Jaeden Bernstein (NAVY), 5-3
184: No. 12 Nolan Boyd (OSU) def. Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU), 4-3
285: No. 4 Austin Marsden (OSU) def. Jared Johnson (CHAT), 6-1
Third-Place Match Results
141: No. 4 Devin Carter (VT) MD No. 14 Dean Heil (OSU), 17-8
Fifth-Place Match Results
174: No. 12 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) dec. No. 3 Mike Evans (IOWA), 2-1
Seventh-Place Match Results
125: No. 7 Eddie Klimara (OSU) dec. No. 11 Jordan Conaway (PSU), 5-4
Consolation Semifinals Results
141: No. 14 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. Kevin Jack (NCST), 12-6
174: No. 6 Logan Storley (MINN) dec. No. 12 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU), 9-7 TB1
Consolation fifth round results
125: Conor Youtsey (MICH) dec. No. 7 Eddie Klimara (OSU), 3-2
141: No. 14 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. No. 7 Anthony Ashnault (RUT), 9-4
Consolation fourth round results
125: No. 7 Eddie Klimara (OSU) fall No. 5 Sean Boyle (CHAT), 0:27
141: No. 14 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. No. 8 Geo Martinez (BSU), 9-5
157: No. 12 Mitch Minotti (LEH) dec. Anthony Collica (OSU), 6-3 TB2
285: No. 10 Ty Walz (VT) def. No. 4 Austin Marsden (OSU), 2-1
Consolation Third Round
133: No. 9 AJ Schopp (EDIN) fall Gary Wayne Harding (OSU), 1:23
157: Anthony Collica (OSU) dec. No. 9 Joey LaVallee (MIZZ), 5-2
Consolation Second Round Results
133: Gary Wayne Harding (OSU) dec. Mark Grey (CORN), 6-1
157: Anthony Collica (OSU) dec. No. 16 Aaron Walker (CIT), 8-4
184: No. 6 Hayden Zillmer (NDSU) dec. No. 12 Nolan Boyd, 4-3
Consolation First Round Result
133: Gary Wayne Harding (OSU) MD Connor Shram (STAN), 9-1
Pigtail Consolation Result
149: Clayton Ream (NDSU) dec. Josh Kindig (OSU), 5-3