OSU Wrestling: No. 5 Cowboys Handle No. 4 Iowa State 21-12

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STILLWATER — This young group of Cowboys now has a pair of top-five wins.

Oklahoma State handled Iowa State 21-12 on Saturday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Cowboys came into the dual ranked fifth nationally, one spot behind the Cyclones.

It wasn’t all that close, as OSU picked up a trio of bonus-point wins, one of which came from an unfamiliar source.

Freshman Jersey Robb filled in for an injured Luke Surber at 197 pounds to wrestle No. 30 Julien Broderson. Seeing a freshman backup wrestling a ranked senior, it would’ve made sense for Robb to go out there and just try to not give up bonus points. Well, all Robb must’ve heard was bonus points. He beat Broderson with a 15-6 major decision after exploding for 10 points in the first period.

Robb scored a pair of takedowns to start the bout and added four near-fall points to his second one. He went into the third period leading 11-5. After an escape to Robb and a stall point to Broderson to start the third, Robb wrapped things up with a takedown to secure his major decision.

It was Robb’s first dual win and his first win over a ranked opponent in his young career.

“How about Jersey Robb?” OSU coach John Smith said. “He steps out there. He’s had enough tough matches. We’ve thrown him to some wolves.

“… He’s got a good spirit about him, and he’s got will to him. Doesn’t beat himself up too much, and he comes to work every day — every day. He’s a hard worker.”

OSU’s other bonus points came in top-10 matchups.

At 133 pounds, No. 3 Daton Fix beat No. 7 Evan Frost via major decision 11-3.

Then at 184 pounds, No. 2 Dustin Plott came out like his hair was on fire against No. 10 Will Feldkamp. Plott crushed Feldkamp 17-3, scoring a takedown in the first, one in the second and three in the third. If the match would’ve lasted 30 more seconds, Plott probably would’ve secured a technical fall. Plott is in his first season at 184 pounds. Feldkamp was an All-American at the weight last season, and it wasn’t even close.

This comes after Plott dropped his Friday night bout to No. 1 Parker Keckeisen.

“He did a nice job of just bouncing back from yesterday’s loss against a good guy — he wrestled a good guy,” Smith said. “That guy’s good. You like to see that. That’s tough.”

Another good win for the Pokes came at 141, where No. 9 Tagen Jamison bested No. 8 Anthony Echemendia 4-1 in sudden victory. Jamison is on a run of wrestling ranked foes, and he lost his past two matches entering Saturday. So, the win was big for him.

Of interest elsewhere, Sammy Alvarez wrestled at 149 pounds. Alvarez has split time with Jordan Williams at the weight. Williams beat unranked Adam Allard via tech fall on Friday. Alvarez wrestled a much tougher foe in No. 10 Casey Swiderski, but it didn’t go well for Alvarez, as he fell 8-2.

There was a top-five bout at 165, where No. 3 David Carr took it to No. 4 Izzak Olejnik. Carr, a former national champion and national runner-up, won 8-1.

Although those results are a little disappointing, there’s no doubt about it that this was a big weekend for OSU wrestling.

The Cowboys advance to 10-0 on the season and will likely move up at least one spot in the next team ranking. OSU has five duals left, and two are against teams currently in the top five, as OSU travels to Columbia to wrestle No. 2 Missouri on Feb. 4. The Cowboys close the regular season with a home dual against No. 3 Iowa on Feb. 25.

Results

John Smith’s Post-Dual News Conference