NCAA Wrestling: Cowboys Go 5-5 In Opening Session, Fix Pins Maida

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TULSA — The Cowboys essentially went chalk in their first round of matches at the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Outside of Carter Young, who was obviously not at 100% after suffering an injury in the Big 12 tournament, every Oklahoma State wrestler seeded above his opponent won; every OSU wrestler seeded below his opponent lost. The result was OSU going 5-5 in the opening session. That’s good enough for a tie for 14th place in the team standings after one session.

All eyes are on Daton Fix as he is after an elusive individual title after finishing second three times. The second-seeded Fix made quick work of American’s Jack Maida, pinning the 31 seed in 2:16. It was the Cowboys’ only bonus-point victory of the morning session. It’s Fix’s sixth pin of the season as he advances to 27-0 on the year. Fix’s career record is now 99-4, meaning if he beats Northern Iowa’s Kyle Biscoglia Thursday night, Fix will get career win No. 100. Fix beat Biscoglia 8-1 on Jan. 28.

On the other side of the 133-pound bracket is two-time NCAA champ Roman Bravo-Young. Bravo-Young beat Appalachian State’s Ethan Oakley with a 12-3 major decision. Seth Duckworth also said to watch out for Fix’s potential semifinal opponent Vito Arujau. Out of Cornell, Arujau won his first round matchup 12-6.

Young suffered a lower body injury in the Big 12 tournament, where he finished fifth. If the knee pad wasn’t evident enough that Young wasn’t 100%, he fell to Minnesota’s Jakob Bergeland 5-0. Young got in on a shot in the first period but was unable to finish it. And once Bergeland got Young down, there was little he could do.

The Cowboys closed the session well in the heavier weight classes, going 3-1 from 174 pounds and up with Dustin Plott, Travis Wittlake and Luke Surber all winning via decision. Konner Doucet dropped his opening match in the heavyweight bracket 2-1.

The second session starts at 6 p.m. Thursday and will be televised on ESPN.

Oklahoma State Results

Weight	Result
125	No. 2 Glory (Princeton) Fall No. 31 Witcraft (OSU), 0:32
133	No. 2 Fix (OSU) Fall No. 31 Maida (American), 2:16
141	No. 20 Bergeland (Minn.) dec. No. 13 Young (OSU), 5-0
149	No. 10 Blockhus (Minn.) dec. No. 23 Voinovich (OSU), 3-2
157	No. 10 Gfeller (OSU) SV-2 No. 23 Pappas (George Mason), 7-5
165	No. 2 O’Toole (Missouri) MD No. 31 Sheets (OSU), 13-5
174	No. 5 Plott (OSU) dec. No. 28 Augustine (Pitt), 3-2
184	No. 10 Wittlake (OSU) dec. No. 23 Connell (Illinois), 4-0
197	No. 15 Surber (OSU) dec. No. 18 Harvey (Oregon State), 8-1
HWT	No. 13 Gordon (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 20 Doucet (OSU), 2-1

Team Standings

	Season Team	Points
1	Penn State	16
2	NC State	12.5
3	Iowa	12
4	Northern Iowa	10
4	Ohio State	10
6	Minnesota	9
6	Missouri	9
6	Wisconsin	9
9	Nebraska	8.5
10	Cornell	8
10	Illinois	8
10	Iowa State	8
10	Michigan	8
14	Air Force	7
14	Arizona State	7
14	Oklahoma State	7