The Sooners (11-1, 2-1) won five-straight bouts, two by major decision, to claim the victory over the Cornhuskers, marking OU's second straight win in Big 12 action.
“It was a great dual, but a tough dual,†Jack Spates said. “I was disappointed in some of the bouts, but our guys wrestled hard. Those guys (Nebraska) came out throwing punches. We punched back and punched hard. That's what you've got to do in bouts like this.â€
The Big 12 showdown began with a 197-pound bout between OU's Keldrick Hall and Nebraska's Andy Johnson. Hall fell behind 4-0 early after giving up a takedown and near fall points in the first period. In the second period, Hall had an escape to put the score at 1-4.
However, Johnson added an escape, takedown and 1:02 of riding time to earn an 8-2 decision.
Facing a 3-0 deficit Oklahoma's Nathan Fernandez, ranked No. 10, and Nebraska's 12th-ranked Tucker Lane took to the mat. Fernandez led 1-0 going into the third period but gave up an escape and takedown to give Lane the 4-1 decision.
Jarrod Patterson got the Sooners on the board after he blanked NU's David Klingsheim at 125 pounds. After a scoreless first, Patterson had an escape and added 3-near fall points to go along with 1:51 in riding time.
OU's Jordan Keller evened the score, 6-6, after he earned a 5-0 decision over the Cornhuskers' Ridge Kiley. Keller led 3-0 going into the third period after acquiring an escape and takedown closed out the bout with an escape.
The Sooners captured their first lead of the dual, 10-6, after OU's reigning All-American Zack Bailey earned a major decision victory over Nebraska's Mike Koehnlien. Bailey accumulated four takedowns, a reversal and added 2:11 of riding time to run away with the Sooners first major decision match of the night.
At 149-pounds Oklahoma's Matt Lester rode his way to a 9-0 major decision win over NU's Ross Grande. Lester had a takedown and a total of six near fall points in the first period to lead 8-0. Lester then rode-out his opponent throughout the entire second period to give him a total of 4:08 of riding time.
Oklahoma extended its lead to 11 after Chase Nelson earned a last-second victory over Nebraska's Tyler Koehn. Nelson trailed by one going into the second, but had an escape and takedown to take a 4-3 advantage into the third period. In the third, Koehn earned an early escape to even the score at four, but Nelson secured the bout with a pivotal takedown at the 0:13 mark.
The highly anticipated 165-pound bout between OU's second-ranked Tyler Caldwell and the Cornhuskers' top-ranked Jordan Burroughs was a battle that saw Caldwell fall just short of his second-straight win over a top-10 opponent. Burroughs held a 2-1 advantage heading into the third period and added two takedowns and 1:26 of riding time to take the match, 7-3.
In the 174-pound bout OU's Jeff James and Nebraska's Caleb Kolb went to sudden-victory overtime before Kolb secured a takedown with 0:30 remaining to get Nebraska a 5-3 decision and cut OU's lead to five.
At 184-pounds Nebraska's Josh Ihnen gave the Sooners' Erich Schmidtke a scare after he turned the Sooner to earn a two-point near fall in the second period. Schmidtke dropped the final bout of the evening by an 8-0 major decision, making the final count 17-16.
“You're not going to win all these meets easily,†Spates said. “You've got to fight, scrap and claw and that's what our guys did tonight. They found a way to win.â€
Up next, the Sooners host their second of four straight home duals against No. 7 Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. at the McCasland Field House.
Results:
197 - Andy Johnson (NU) dec. Keldrick Hall (OU), 8-2
285 - Tucker Lane (NU) dec. Nathan Fernandez (OU), 4-1
125 - Jarrod Patterson (OU) dec. David Klingsheim (NU), 5-0
133 - Jordan Keller (OU) dec. Ridge Kiley (NU), 4-2
141 - Zack Bailey (OU) MD Mike Koehnlien (NU), 12-3
149 - Matt Lester (OU) MD Ross Grande (NU), 9-0
157 - Chase Nelson (OU) dec. Tyler Koehn (NU), 6-4
165 - Jordan Burroughs (NU) dec. Tyler Caldwell (OU), 7-3
174 - Caleb Kolb (NU) dec. Jeff James (OU), 5-3
184 - Josh Ihnen (NU) MD. Erich Schmidtke (OU), 8-0
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