"We knew we were wrestling a great team today and that it had a chance to go down to the wire," head coach Jack Spates said. "We knew we were not wrestling badly and that if we would keep wrestling hard, good things would happen. That's exactly what happened."
Senior Kyle Terry posted Oklahoma's first points of the day with a 4-0 decision over Vicente Varela. Fifth-ranked Terry recorded a takedown in the first, an escape in the second and rode the Sun Devil for the entire third period to post his sixth win of the season.
Shane Vernon then chipped away at ASU's lead by outlasting Te Edwards at 157 pounds, 17-10. The Sooner senior recorded five takedowns, a near-fall and a reversal to extend his perfect season to 6-0.
The gap closed to an 11-9 ASU advantage after OU true-freshman Tyler Caldwell posted a 5-2 decision over Kyle DeBerry at 165 pounds. It was the Wichita, Kan., product's first dual appearance and win of his young career, pushing his season record to 13-3.
Oklahoma took its first lead of the afternoon, 12-11, after Jeff James extended his perfect season (6-0) by edging Eric Starks by a 4-3 final. James trailed 2-1 after the opening period but posted a takedown and an escape in the second period to overtake the Sun Devil.
At 184 pounds, a takedown and escape in the second period proved to be enough Erich Schmidtke, as the redshirt freshman claimed a 3-1 victory over Jake Meredith.
Senior Eric Lapotsky, ranked No. 7 nationally, then needed just 47 seconds to record a pin over ASU's Anthony Pike at 197 pounds. With the fall, Lapotsky (6-0) ensured an Oklahoma victory by putting Oklahoma on top, 21-11, entering the final bout.
"It is my goal to come out looking for the pin," Lapotsky said. "It was big because it clinched the win."
The pin was Lapotsky's fifth of the season in six victories.
"Eric is a leader on this team in terms of aggressiveness," Spates said. "He is always looking for the pin and is a great example and role model for this team."
In the heavyweight battle, Nathan Fernandez and Erik Nye were locked at one late in the third period. With one minute 22 seconds remaining, the Sooner junior posted a takedown to lead 3-1. Nye could only muster an escape the rest of the way to give Fernandez the win, 3-2.
Arizona State All-American Anthony Robles, ranked third in the country at 125 pounds, recorded four near falls and two takedowns to win by a 16-0 technical fall over Justin Forrest to begin the match. Ben Ashmore then recorded a 7-5 decision over OU's Alex Ekstrom at 133 pounds to put the Sun Devils up by a 8-0 team score.
It became an 11-0 lead for ASU after fifth-ranked Chris Drouin downed 18th-ranked Sooner Zack Bailey at 141 pounds, 3-1.
"This was a great win today," Spates said. "Our guys are improving every day and we are really concentrating on us early in the season, not our opponents."
The Sooners will return to the mat this Saturday, Nov. 28 when they host a double-dual against Oklahoma City and North Carolina State at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. Oklahoma will wrestle OCU at 9 a.m. and the Wolfpack at 4 p.m.
Results:
125: No. 3 Anthony Robles (ASU) tech fall Justin Forrest (OU), 16-0
133: Ben Ashmore (ASU) dec. Alex Ekstrom (OU), 7-5
141: No. 5 Chris Drouin (ASU) dec. No.17 Zack Bailey, 3-1
149: No. 5 Kyle Terry (OU) dec. Vicente Varela (ASU), 4-0
157: Shane Vernon (OU) dec. Te Edwards (ASU), 17-10
165: Tyler Caldwell (OU) dec. Kyle DeBerry (ASU), 5-2
174: No. 9 Jeff James (OU) dec. Eric Starks (ASU), 4-3
184: Erich Schmidtke (OU) dec. Jake Meredith (ASU), 3-1
197: No.7 Eric Lapotsky (OU) fall Anthony Pike (ASU), 0:47
285: No. 13 Nathan Fernandez (OU) dec. Erik Nye (ASU), 3-2
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