OSU Wrestling: Cowboys Top Oregon State 27-9 to Remain Unbeaten

PHOTO GALLERY

STILLWATER — Gallagher-Iba Arena on Sunday was treated to a matchup that might next be featured on the national stage, and like with a lot of close bouts Sunday, the Cowboy won it.

Oklahoma State beat No. 16 Oregon State 27-9, as the No. 5 Cowboys advanced to 8-0 in duals this season.

The dual featured a top-five tilt at 184 pounds between No. 2 Dustin Plott and No. 4 Trey Munoz. The pair of All-Americans went into the third period tied at 1 before Plott scored the match’s lone takedown to win it 4-1. Plott moved to 18-1 on the season and dropped Munoz to 13-3.

Plott was sick earlier in the week and missed practice time ahead of this big matchup.

“Sick most of the week, and then came back really super excited for this match,” Plott said. “Trey’s a really tough opponent. Really wanted this match. Then also coming off illness, little bit of adversity, I really liked that component to it as well because I knew if I could get through this today and find a way today, I’ll find a way under a lot of different conditions.

“As far as my performance, little bit of mixed emotions. I didn’t wrestle the way I liked to wrestle and didn’t really attack as much as what I like to. But I am proud of myself for finding a way to get it done against a high-caliber opponent like Trey.”

It was a day full of close duals, as seven of the 10 bouts were decided by a takedown or less. The Cowboys won six of those matches.

Sudden victory was required at 149, 174 and 197, and the heavyweight bout went to tiebreakers.

The Cowboys have options at 149 between Jordan Williams and Sammy Alvarez after Alvarez performed admirably in Williams’ absence last week. The elder Alvarez got the call Sunday and faced off against No. 15 Nash Singleton.

The pair exchanged escape points in regulation before Alvarez took Singleton down in sudden victory to win the match. A senior, Alvarez transferred to OSU from Rutgers last January. He wrestled at 133 and 141 for the Scarlet Knights. He was 13-2 at 141 last season before transferring and was ranked as highly as eighth nationally at the weight. Williams is a redshirt freshman who won three state titles at Collinsville. Williams is ranked 23rd at 149 pounds nationally after his 9-4 start to the year. OSU coach John Smith said it’ll be a weight the Cowboys evaluate week to week.

Another sudden-victory bout came at 174 pounds, where true freshman Brayden Thompson beat Matthew Olguin 4-1 with a takedown in sudden victory. After starting the year 0-3, Thompson has gone on a spree that has seen him win six of his past seven.

Luke Surber bested Justin Rademacher in sudden victory at 197 with a trio of nearfall points, taking the match 9-6. The match had a wild third period to get to sudden victory. Surber had a 4-2 lead after an escape, but Rademacher took him down in the third to take a 5-4 lead. Then Surber scored a reversal to take the lead back at 6-5 before Rademacher escaped to send it to sudden victory.

No. 9 Konner Doucet and No. 11 Boone McDermott went to tiebreakers at heavyweight. Doucet was able to ride out McDermott before choosing to go neutral, where Doucet avoided a takedown long enough to secure the win.

“I will say this: it’s good to win one-[score] matches than lose them,” Smith said. “That’s important.”

The dual featured a trio of bonus-point matches, two of which came right at the start.

No. 19 Troy Sprately and No. 16 Brandon Kaylor wrestled a high-octane first period that saw Kaylor lead 6-4. Kaylor caught Sprately on his back in the second period and started the dual off with a pin. Kaylor got up and yelled “O-S-U,” presumably of the Oregon State variety, to a chorus of boos from the GIA crowd.

But then Daton Fix took the mat and answered with a 23-6 technical fall against No. 26 Gabe Whisenhunt. Fix played catch and release in the third period, wracking up four takedowns in the frame to secure his tech.

The last bit of bonus points came at 165 pounds, where Izzak Olejnik beat Kekana Fouret via a 10-1 major decision. Olejnik entered Sunday coming off his first loss of the season when he fell to No. 9 Peyton Hall of West Virginia last weekend. Olejnik is now 17-1 on the season with 10 of his wins coming with bonus points.

Results

John Smith’s Post-Dual News Conference