Oklahoma State Tops West Virginia 28-7

STILLWATER — The Cowboys had one of their better performances of the season Sunday.

Oklahoma State topped West Virginia 28-7 in Gallagher-Iba Arena in a battle of Top 25 Big 12 programs. West Virginia came into the dual ranked 23rd in the country at 7-2, but the Cowboys seemed to always be in control of Sunday’s dual. The Cowboys picked up a trio of bonus-point victories and looked to have a major edge in endurance against the Mountaineers.

“It was probably, for our team, one of our best outings this year,” OSU coach John Smith said. “It’s good to see a handful of them stretch their lungs out. That’s the key is making sure you stretch your lungs out and you can wrestle when you’re huffing and puffing and you can go as hard as you want. Your body is strong. Keep your mind strong in those scenarios.”

There were five ranked-vs-ranked matchups in the dual, where the Cowboys went 4-1, two of those wins earned the Cowboys’ bonus points.

No. 11 Kaden Gfeller topped No. 28 Alex Hornfeck 5-3 at 157 pounds. Gfeller scored a takedown in the first and a reversal in the second to secure the win.

No. 22 Wyatt Sheets had a close bout with No. 12 Peyton Hall but fell 6-2. It was 3-2 in the third period after a Sheets escape, but in pushing for offense, Sheets got taken down in the third and a riding time point wrapped it up.

At 184, No. 12 Travis Wittlake dismantled No. 30 Anthony Carman, taking the Mountaineer down seven times en route to a 16-7 major decision. Wittlake also scored seven takedowns against Northern Colorado’s Branson Britten on Friday.

“He ought to feel really strong about where he is at right now,” Smith said.

No. 21 Luke Surber kept the takedown fest going in the next match. He took No. 32 Austin Cooley down six times (four times in the third period), earning a 14-5 major decision.

Then the heavyweight matchup saw No. 25 Konnor Doucet beat No. 26 Michael Wolfgram 3-1, scoring a crucial takedown in the final seconds of the first period before each wrestler scored an escape.

Dustin Plott found himself in an unexpected dogfight at 174 pounds with Scott Joll, who entered the match at 9-7 on the year. Joll came out firing against the No. 6 wrestler at the weight. Joll scored two takedowns in the first period, but two Plott reversals and a takedown had the match tied at 6 after one.

Plott escaped to start the second, but Joll was still going for it, scoring another takedown. Plott escaped and scored another takedown before Joll escaped to make it 10-9 Plott after two. Plott let Joll up to start the third before scoring a pair of takedowns and taking it 14-11. For those keeping count, seven takedowns and two reversals were scored in that matchup.

“That particular match, you don’t mind seeing those,” Smith said. “You never know when things don’t go your way and all of a sudden you’ve been taken down twice and you get taken down again in the second, and all of a sudden either your head spins or you stay focused on not wrestling the clock, wrestling your opponent. I think he did a good job of that.

“… I like seeing those matches. This is not a time to scold him because he gave up so many points. It’s a time to celebrate that he stayed focused in the match.”

Daton Fix scored his seventh bonus-point victory of the season. He built a 12-5 lead over Davin Rhoads in the third period before back points turned into a fall. It’s Fix’s third fall of the season.

“I’ve been wanting to get back points for I feel like the last couple matches, and I haven’t been able to,” Fix said. “I think I did a good job today of just wrestling and letting the back points come instead of really trying to force it. I think that’s probably how I’m going to get more opportunities to get back points is just to wrestle the match. If I wrestle how I did today, then I’ll wrestle myself into more back points.”

Results

John Smith’s Post-Dual News Conference