Cowboys Advance Six to Quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament

The Cowboys kicked off the NCAA Tournament and their quest for a 35th team National Championship on Thursday in Cleveland. Six Cowboys advanced to the second round. Here’s a quick recap of Day 1.

Round 1

125: No. 6 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) fall Travis Piotrowski (Illinois), 1:47
133: No. 4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) dec. Dylan Duncan (Illinois), 7-4
141: No. 6 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) dec. Evan Cheek (Cleveland State), 4-2
149: No. 8 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State) dec. Davion Jeffries (Oklahoma), 7-3
165: Jonathan Viruet (Brown) dec. No. 8 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State), 6-5
174: No. 13 Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State) MD Joseph Gunther (Iowa), 13-2
184: No. 4 Pete Renda (N.C. State) dec. Keegan Moore (Oklahoma State), 9-2
197: Kyle Conel (Kent State) dec. No. 9 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State), 5-0
285: No. 9 Derek White (Oklahoma State) dec. Dustin Dennison (Utah Valley), 6-1

In the wins the Cowboys looked fine. Not especially dominant, but for early NCAA tournament matches nothing to be too concerned about. Piccininni picked up an interesting fall for the Cowboys. He rolled the guy over with a tilt and somehow picked up a pin, which isn’t common.

The Brock match was a little closer than you’d prefer and he looked a bit sluggish, but he closed out strong. Illinois’ Dylan Duncan was pretty tough for a first-round matchup. Heil won close as he does often. Boo Lewallen dominated Davion Jeffries and looked great doing it. Jacobe Smith looked good.. He hit two big throws to win easily. Derek White looked strong as well with a dominant 6-1 win.

The loss at 165 was probably the toughest one for the Cowboys. It was a match Rogers should’ve won. He gave up his legs twice and couldn’t bounce back after being taken down twice. At 184, Moore was just beat by a higher seed and a little outgunned, he wrestled fine.

Unfortunately, Preston Weigel suffered a tough injury at 197. I just hope it’s not something career ending. When healthy and at full speed, Weigel was an NCAA title contender. It was impressive and incredibly tough for him just to finish out the match.

Round 2 — Championship side

125: No. 6 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) DEC No. 11 Sean Russell (Edinboro)
133: No. 4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) DEC No. 13 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo)
141: No. 6 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) DEC No. 11 Michael Carr (Illinois)
149: No. 8 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State) DEC No. 9 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa)
174: No. 4 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) DEC No. 13 Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State)
285: No. 9 Derek White (Oklahoma State) DEC No. 8 Tanner Hall (Arizona State)

The Cowboys looked very good on the championship side. There was very little to be upset about there. The only loss was one where OSU was a pretty heavy underdog with Jacobe Smith.

Now the Cowboys are down to seven wrestlers as Preston Weigel’s injury took him out of the tournament and Keegan Moore went 2-and-out dropping his first match to the tournament to the 4 seed and getting pinned on the consolation side.

The next round on the championship is a big one for the Cowboys. A lot of team points are scored if you win here. It’s also a very difficult one for them. Nick Piccininni matches up with Spencer Lee who beat him in the dual earlier this season, Dean Heil wrestles 3-seeded Yianni Diakomihalis, and Boo Lewallen and Derek White wrestle two of the best wrestlers on the planet in Zain Retherford and Kyle Snyder. Kaid Brock will be the only one who is favored as he takes on Wilson from NC State, a guy he tech’d earlier this year.

The Cowboys have a reasonable shot to win with Heil and Piccininni, but aren’t favored. Brock should win comfortably, but it’s hard to see any way that Boo and White win. Any Pokes that lose here have a good chance to come back on the consolation side and become All-Americans. They’ll all need to for OSU to finish in the top 4.

Round 2 — Consolation side

165: No. 8 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) TF Bryce Martin (Indiana)
184: Joe Heyob (Penn) WBF Keegan Moore (Oklahoma State)
197: Hunter Ritter (Wisconsin) INJ DEF over No. 9 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State)

On the consolation side Chandler Rogers has a very tough match against Logan Massa Friday morning. That’s an absolutely huge match for OSU in the team race. They can get a team trophy if he wins there. Jacobe Smith has a very winnable match against Bullard from NC State who he beat in the dual. Both of those matches are very big for the Cowboys as they won’t get the expected scoring at 197 with Weigel injury defaulting out.