With the win, the Cowboys improved to 8-0-1 on the year. Lehigh dropped to 9-3 overall. OSU's victory was its fifth over a ranked team this year.
OSU and Lehigh met at last year's Northeast Duals in Troy, N.Y., with the Mountain Hawks claiming an impressive 18-13 win over the then-No. 7 Cowboys. That loss was avenged in overwhelming fashion Saturday, as the Pokes dominated throughout by racking up 17 takedowns to Lehigh's five. OSU won eight of the 10 bouts.
Going in, it was thought that the premier bout of the day would come at heavyweight, but as it turned out, Jared Rosholt made quick work of No. 4 Zach Rey by pinning him at the 2:05 mark. Rosholt shot in with a takedown attempt and when Rey tried to counter, Rosholt caught him, turned him to his back and got the fall at the 2:05 mark. The two-time Cowboy All-American pinned three of his four opponents on the weekend and pitched a 3-0 shutout in the fourth bout.
While Rosholt's win was dominant, it wasn't even the quickest pin of the dual. That came at 133 pounds, where Jordan Oliver took Mitch Berger down immediately on the start then cut him loose, took him down again, locked in a cradle, turned him to his back and pinned him at the 35 second mark of his big win.
The Cowboys overwhelmed the opposition at the Virginia Duals, scoring a 36-6 win over Liberty in the first round, a 42-6 win over Clarion in the second round, a 24-13 win over No. 14 Penn State in the semifinals and a 30-6 win over No. 11 Lehigh for the title. The Cowboys claimed bonus point victories in 18 of their 31 bouts on the weekend.
Oklahoma State returns to action when it travels to Iowa City to tangle with top-ranked Iowa at 7 p.m. on Sat., Jan. 16. The Cowboys have beaten the Hawkeyes in each of their last four trips to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, including a 19-14 victory in their most recent visit in 2008.
"This what it's about," Coach John Smith said. "We have got to get excited with the schedule we have. We are Oklahoma State and we embrace the excitement of these big matches. We look forward to them and we get excited about them. Both Iowa and Iowa State are ranked number one and number two. It will be a great test for us, but let's not forget that this will be great test for them too. I'm very excited for the rest of our schedule in January and beyond."
No. 4 Oklahoma State 30, No. 11 Lehigh 6
125: No. 9 Chris Notte (OSU) dec. John McDonald (LU); 5-0
133: No. 6 Jordan Oliver (OSU) fall Mitch Berger (LU); 0:35
141: No. 7 Jamal Parks (OSU) dec. No. 13 Seth Ciasulli (LU); 5-2
149: Joey Napoli (LU) dec. Quinten Fuentes (OSU); 7-5
157: No. 12 Neil Erisman (OSU) dec. Sean Bilodeau (LU); 9-5
165: No. 14 Alex Meade (OSU) dec. No. 13 Mike Galante (LU); 9-4
174: No. 14 Mike Benefiel (OSU) dec. No. 17 Robert Hamlin (LU); 7-4
184: No. 15 David Craig (LU) dec. Chris McNeil (OSU); 5-2
197: No. 8 Alan Gelogaev (OSU) dec. No. 20 Joe Kennedy (LU); 10-3
285: No. 2 Jared Rosholt (OSU) fall No. 4 Zach Rey (LU); 2:05
125 pounds: Chris Notte started the dual with a 4-1 win over John McDonald. After a scoreless first period, Notte put a hard ride on McDonald for the entire second. The first points of the point didn't come until the third period when Notte reversed McDonald to go up, 2-0. McDonald got free for an escape, but Notte took him down again later in the period to go up, 4-1. The Cowboy senior's riding time point brought the final score to 5-1.
133 pounds: Jordan Oliver took Mitch Berger down immediately on the start then cut him loose, took him down again, locked in a cradle, turned him to his back and pinned him at the 35 second mark of his big win.
141 pounds: In a matchup of two wrestlers who squared off last season, Oklahoma State's Jamal Parks claimed a 5-2 win over No. 13 Seth Ciasulli. Parks and Ciasulli met at last year's Northeast Duals, with Ciasulli claiming an 8-6 win in that previous meeting. It was a different story on Saturday, however, as Parks scored a first-period takedown and slapped a hard ride on Ciasulli for 1:20. The second period opened with a quick escape by Parks. The only other point of the period came when Ciasulli was called for a technical violation for putting a choking maneuver on Parks. A Ciasulli escape opened the third period and brought the score to 4-2. It was the only point of the third and when Parks' riding time point was added, the Cowboy sophomore was a 5-2 winner.
149 pounds: A tough weekend for the Cowboy 149-pounders came to a fitting end when Quinten Fuentes lost a 7-5 decision to unranked freshman Joey Napoli. Fuentes was taken down twice and yielded a reversal and a riding time in his defeat. Fuentes's points came off three escapes and a late takedown. OSU's 149-pounders were a combined 0-4 at the Virginia Duals with three of the losses coming at the hands of unranked opponents.
157 pounds: Neil Erisman was a 9-5 winner over Sean Bilodeau. Erisman opened the scoring with a first-period takedown. A Bilodeau escape was the only other point of the first three minutes. An early escape from Erisman started the second period. The Cowboy junior then took Bilodeau down again with a single-leg takedown. An escape from Bilodeau brough the score to 5-2 after five minutes. Bilodeau escaped again to open the third period, then hit a nice takedown against Erisman to tie the score at five. Erisman regrouped, however, to escape and connect on another takedown to go up, 8-5. The riding time point brought the final to 9-5.
165 pounds: Cowboy freshman Alex Meade capped a strong weekend with a 9-4 win over No. 13 Mike Galante. Meade got things going with a thunderous double-leg takedown into a two-point nearfall to go up, 4-0. The Cowboy freshman added another two-point nearfall before the end of the first period and held a 6-1 lead through three minutes. The only scoring of the second period was a Meade escape. Galante opened the third period scoring with an escape, then added a second point when Meade got too physical with him and was slapped with a penalty point. Meade made up for his miscue by scoring a takedown to seal his 9-4 win.
174 pounds: Dominant all weekend, Mike Benefiel claimed a 7-4 win over No. 17 Robert Hamlin. The Cowboy sophomore took Hamlin down twice in the first period, added an escape early in the second period, another escape in the third and a riding time point to seal his win. Benefiel was a perfect 4-0 on the weekend with a win over a ranked opponent and three bonus-point victories.
184 pounds: In a bout that saw little action, No. 15 David Craig of Lehigh was a 5-2 winner over Chris McNeil. With a first-period takedown and a second period escape, Craig held a 3-0 lead going into the third period. McNeil reversed Craig to open the third and cut him loose, but was unable to score the winning takedown before time ran out. Craig's riding time point brought the final to 5-2.
197 pounds: A dominating showing from Alan Gelogaev at the Virginia Duals was capped by a 10-3 win over No. 20 Joe Kennedy. Gelogaev scored four takedowns and escape and added a riding time point to claim his victory over Kennedy. The Moscow, Russia native was a perfect 4-0 on the weekend with a win by technical fall, a win by fall and two comfortable wins by decision.
285 pounds: Going in, it was thought that the premier bout of the day would come at heavyweight, but as it turned out, Jared Rosholt made quick work of No. 4 Zach Rey by pinning him at the 2:05 mark. Rosholt shot in with a takedown attempt and when Rey tried to counter, Rosholt caught him, turned him to his back and got the fall at the 2:05 mark. The two-time Cowboy All-American pinned three of his four opponents on the weekend and pitched a 3-0 shutout in the fourth bout.
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