NCAA Wrestling Championships: Pokes Fall Short in Day 2 with no Semifinalists

The Cowboys had a rough quarterfinal round on the championship side of the bracket, dropping every match and not having one semifinalist for the first time since 2009.

The Cowboys were only truly favored in one match. Nick Piccininni has been wrestling well, but really was dominated by Spencer Lee in their rematch before being pinned in the second. Kaid Brock just kept going for throws against a guy he tech’d earlier in the season and dropped the only championship match the Cowboys were favored in.

Dean Heil started off strong in what looked like a match he could win over the 3 -eed Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell. He got a TD and rideout late in the first and looked to be in a good spot to win from there. He then gave up a TD in the second and another in the third to drop the match and his shot at a third NCAA title.

At 149 pounds, Boo Lewallen was dominated by an incredible wrestler in Zain Retherford. Probably the brightest spot of the matches in this group was Derek White at 285. He was a big underdog taking on Olympic Gold Medalist Kyle Snyder and managed to take him down. That’s not a common thing. Snyder’s only been taken down maybe twice in the last two years, so that’s incredible that White was able to get that.

On the consolation side the Cowboys bounced back nicely picking up two wins at both 165 and 174 against pretty good competition. Chandler Rogers took out Logan Massa in OT and also beat Anthony Valencia in the next round. That Massa win was a huge win for him, Massa finished third at the NCAA tournament last year and beat Rogers. Valencia is also a good wrestler. Jacobe wrestled really well here also and even picked up bonus points over a higher seed in his consolation match.

Consolation Round 4

In blood rounds (the rounds where if you win you become an All American) OSU had seven guys with a shot to become All-Americans. They were very hot and cold in this round. Piccinninni got hammered on bottom by one of the best top wrestlers in the country. Brock wrestled well dominating a good wrestler in Mueller from Virginia.

Dean Heil unfortunately was rolled and pinned and will not be an All American for the 4th time. It was a funky throw, but it’s always a toss up as to how guys will react when their goal is a title and they lose. Boo Lewallen dominated the 6-seed and has had a really good tournament so far. His only losses were to the top two seeds. Rogers and Smith both won close matches against very good wrestlers. That’s tough to do after coming back on the consolation side. These were very good wins and great matches for both of them.

125: No. 8 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) TF No. 6 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State), 16-0, 4:19
133: No. 4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) MD No. 10 Jack Mueller (Virginia), 16-7
141: Chad Red (Nebraska) fall No. 6 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State), 2:22
149: No. 8 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 6 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan), 9-4
165: No. 8 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 4 Chad Walsh (Rider), 11-9
174: No. 13 Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 7 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa), 10-8
285: No. 11 Mike Hughes (Hofstra) dec. No. 9 Derek White (Oklahoma State), 6-1

Derek White as a whole had a good tournament, but he definitely struggles with really big guys. He’s a small heavyweight and when he goes down against a bigger heavyweight he struggles to get out, and that’s what happened here.

Consolation Quarterfinals

Brock went on to pick up a good win in the next round and Lewallen, Smith, and Rogers all dropped their matches and will wrestle for seventh tomorrow. All told, four Pokes will earn All-American status.

133: No. 4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 8 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming), 12-7
149: No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) MD No. 8 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State), 13-3
165: No. 9 Chance Marsteller (Lehigh) dec. No. 8 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State), 9-7
174: No. 6 Bo Jordan (Ohio State) MD No. 13 Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State), 16-2

Overall, definitely disappointing for the Cowboys. Piccinnini doesn’t match up well with Lizak, or really anyone that’s a hammer on top, and it showed. Tough to see him drop two straight in that fashion though. He’s better than that.

Brock has the talent to be a NCAA title contender and dropping matches like that to guys he’s better than isn’t what should be happening. All bets are off when a two-time champ drops a match on how they’ll come back and obviously Heil didn’t bounce back like you’d prefer. Boo, Chandler, and Jacobe all bounced back and wrestled fairly well.

All will finish at or above seed and that’s a positive. White had an OK tournament, but I hoped to see a little more in that last match. As I said he just doesn’t match up well with the “big” heavyweights. A lot of seniors clear out there though, and he could definitely be a top five guy next year if he continues to develop.

Weigel’s injury was heartbreaking. The two semifinalists on his side of the bracket he beat comfortably this year. Healthy, he potentially could’ve been an NCAA champion.

The Cowboys have 35.5 team points, which puts them at 12th place in the team standings. Here’s a look at the four matches slated for Saturday morning, which will be the final matches for OSU wrestling this season.

Consolation Semifinals

133: No. 4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 3 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State)

Seventh-Place Match

149: No. 8 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 10 Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State)
165: No. 8 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 16 Jonathon Chavez (Cornell)
174: No. 13 Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 11 David Kocer (South Dakota State)