Oklahoma State Sends 7 to Quarterfinals at NCAA Wrestling Championship

Oklahoma State sent seven wrestlers to the quarterfinals on Thursday in the NCAA Championship.

Nick Piccinnini and Chandler Rogers were the stars of day one as they both picked up falls and bonus point victories in their wins, with both facing their opponents from the Big 12 Championship finals in the second round. Kaid Brock also picked up a great major decision in his first round bout.

It was a great day for Cowboy wrestlers. While there is a bit of sour taste in our mouths with Kyle Crutchmer, Kyle Snyder, and Anthony Collica being sent to the Wrestlebacks early, the Cowboys are still in fine shape to continue their run on Day 2.

“Overall, we won 17 out of 20 and those are good numbers,” head coach John Smith said. “Is it good enough? I don’t know, but we need to come out a little bit more tomorrow and go for it. I thought we held back a little bit in some of our matches today. We focused on the win rather than bonus points. Overall, it was a good day. Seven advanced to the quarterfinals. That’s a big number and that’s a number you need. I know it’s going to be a little bit tougher for us tomorrow, but we need to get tougher.”

In Crutchmer’s first bout, a slight mistake showed how difficult it is to win in the NCAA tournament. Crutchmer went for the fireman’s carry take down, his opponent defended and capitalized on the mistake, and it cost Crutchmer the bout. In his second bout of the day he went back to his double leg, which is nearly unstoppable, and picked up the major decision victory. The best thing that Crutchmer can do now is continue to win by bonus points in the consolation bracket.

The same goes for Collica and Schafer. It is disappointing that the two were upset so early in the tournament, but they must overcome and continue to score points for the team.

Penn State is currently dominating their competition, picking up bonus points in nearly every bout. Retherford and Nolf, however, have been unable to secure victories by fall… and while they are still picking up 1.5 bonus points from tech points, they have left 2 whole points on the table by not getting the fall.

Things will continue to get interesting this morning and this evening. The picture will become more clear, and if the Cowboys continue to win then their chances of bringing home championship 35 are still great.

Championship Quarterfinal Round Schedule (Friday Morning, 10am)
125: No. 8 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 1 Thomas Gilman (Iowa)
133: No. 3 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 11 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo)
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 8 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri)
157: No. 5 Joe Smith (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 4 Tyler Berger (Nebraska)
165: No. 9 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois)
184: No. 4 Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 12 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa)
197: No. 6 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State)

Consolation Round Two Schedule (Friday Morning 10am)
149: No. 2 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State) vs. Joshua Maruca (Arizona State)
174: No. 7 Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 8 Ethan Ramos (North Carolina)
285: No. 6 Austin Schafer (Oklahoma State) vs. Doug Vollaro (Lehigh)