Cowboys Take Lead After First Session in Tight Team Race at the Big 12 Tournament

TULSA — The Cowboys had seven matches in the pigtail rounds of the opening day of the Big 12 tournament, and they left the first session in Tulsa with a lead in team race.

Oklahoma State leads the team race with 57 points in the Big 12 Tournament’s first session. Northern Iowa isn’t far behind with 55 points. Iowa State has 54 points.

Trevor Mastrogiovanni got the Cowboys started off with a comfortable 7-1 win over North Dakota State’s Lucas Rodriguez, but signaled some concerns for Oklahoma State fans as he was visibly limping off the mat at the end of the match. After giving up a third-period ride-out, Mastrogiovanni walked off clearly hobbled and in some pain.

Daton Fix dominated with a tech fall over Northern Colorado’s Dyson Kunz. Then Carter Young took the first loss of the day for the Cowboys. Young, who came in as the No. 5 seed, was upset by Utah Valley’s Ty Smith 6-2. This set Young on the consolation side of the bracket and with a potential future matchup vs. No. 1 seed Ian Parker of Iowa State, who was also upset in the opening round.

Kaden Gfeller continues to roll this season, picking up a fall and some much-needed bonus points for the Cowboys at 149. This was followed up by a major for Dustin Plott at 174.

At 197 Gavin Stika fell to OU All-American Jake Woodley 23-8. At heavyweight, Luke Surber avenged a regular-season loss, knocking off Tyrell Gordon with a 13-3 major decision.

Quarterfinal rounds produce a lot of points in a tournament like this, and the Cowboys put together a solid round.

After Mastrogiovanni’s first match, he looked a little hurt which was cause for concern for Oklahoma State fans, but it really didn’t show in the quarterfinal round. He beat the No. 5 seed, Missouri’s Noah Surtin, 4-2 to move to the semifinals.

Fix got another quick tech fall over Job Greenwood, and Gfeller added some more bonus with a major decision at 149.

At 157 OU’s Justin Thomas took out Wyatt Sheets in the Cowboys’ first quarterfinal loss. It was close late before a Thomas takedown closed things out to send Sheets to the consolation bracket.

At 165, Travis Wittlake wrestled North Dakota State’s Luke Weber, who beat Wittlake last year here at the conference tournament. Wittlake and Weber tied up early, and Weber attempted a throw. He wasn’t able to put Wittlake on his back, but finished a takedown and rode him out for the period. Wittlake just wasn’t able to get much else going the rest of the match and fell 4-0 to Weber.

Dustin Plott picked apart West Virginia’s Dennis Robin to a 12-3 major decision, and Dakota Geer made the semifinals after an 8-5 decision over West Virginia’s Anthony Carman.

Luke Surber avenged another regular-season loss in the quarterfinals to Zach Elam. Surber got a quick takedown to go up early, but Elam put him on his back in the second period then rode out the period to put himself in control going into the third. A takedown and ride out for Surber sent the match into overtime where Surber picked up this takedown to knock off the second seed in the tournament.

The Cowboys sit in first place by a slim margin with Iowa State and Northern Iowa nipping at their heels. The semifinal round Saturday night will be pivotal for the Cowboys with five wrestlers having a shot to make the finals.

First-round results

• 125-Champ. Round 1 – Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OK State) 1-0 won by decision over Lucas Rodriguez (North Dakota State) 0-1 (Dec 7-1)
• 133-Champ. Round 1 – Daton Fix (OK State) won by tech fall over Dyson Kunz (N. Colorado) (TF-1.5 6:17 (18-3))
• 141-Champ. Round 1 – Ty Smith (Utah Valley) won by decision over Carter Young (OK State) (Dec 6-2)
• 149-Champ. Round 1 – Kaden Gfeller (OK State) won by fall over Daniel Kimball (South Dakota State) (Fall 4:12)
• 174-Champ. Round 1 – Dustin Plott (OK State) won by major decision over Riley Habisch (North Dakota State) (MD 14-4)
• 197-Champ. Round 1 – Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) won by tech fall over Gavin Stika (OK State) (TF-1.5 7:00 (23-8))
• 285-Champ. Round 1 – Luke Surber (OK State) won by major decision over Tyrell Gordon (N. Iowa) (MD 13-3)

Quarterfinal results

• 125-Quarterfinal – Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OK State) won by decision over Noah Surtin (Missouri) (Dec 4-2)
• 133-Quarterfinal – Daton Fix (OK State) won by tech fall over Job Greenwood (Wyoming) (TF-1.5 3:47 (17-2))
• 149-Quarterfinal – Kaden Gfeller (OK State) won by major decision over Gaven Sax (North Dakota State) (MD 9-0)
• 157-Quarterfinal – Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) won by decision over Wyatt Sheets (OK State) (Dec 6-2)
• 165-Quarterfinal – Luke Weber (North Dakota State) won by decision over Travis Wittlake (OK State) (Dec 4-0)
• 174-Quarterfinal – Dustin Plott (OK State) won by major decision over Dennis Robin (West Virginia) (MD 12-3)
• 285-Quarterfinal – Luke Surber (OK State) won in sudden victory over Zach Elam (Missouri) (SV-1 6-4)