"I think we knew there were going to be battle matches today," head coach John Smith said. "We won several of them, and we stretched some of the scores out. I think 125 was an important match, and 184 became real important. It wasn't our best match by far, but it's important to be able to struggle in matches and still find ways to win."
Each team took five matches in the dual, but technical falls from Nick Piccininni and Nolan Boyd, and a dual-clinching victory from heavyweight Austin Schafer lifted the Cowboys to their ninth win of the season.
Nick Piccininni opened the dual at 125 pounds with his third consecutive technical fall, shutting out Aaron Assad, 15-0, to give the Cowboys an early lead. Leading, 5-0, heading into the final period and opening the frame on top, Piccininni finished strong. The redshirt freshman turned Assad for a pair of nearfalls to boost his lead to 13-0. Thanks to Assad's second stall warning and the riding time point, Piccininni was able to finish off his fifth tech fall win of the season.
The Cowboys expanded their lead to 11-0 after Kaid Brock and Dean Heil turned in decisions at 133 and 141, respectively.
Brock, who held a 12-1 lead after the first period in his match with 14th-ranked John Erneste, outlasted a flurry from Erneste to open the second that cut his lead to 15-7. Erneste would pick up a point off Brock's second stall warning in the third, but the Cowboy was able to come out on top with the 15-8 decision.
Heil pushed his undefeated record on the season to 18-0 with an 8-6 win over No. 9 Jaydin Eierman. Trailing late in the match, Eierman scored a takedown on Heil with just 10 seconds left, but it wouldn't be enough as Heil, who was in control for most of the bout, staved off one last Eierman attack to pull out the victory.
Senior Anthony Collica took his first loss of the season at 149 pounds, coming up short to fourth-ranked Lavion Mayes in a back-and-forth battle. With the match tied at five after two periods, Mayes would pull away in the third beginning with a quick escape and takedown to open the frame. Collica would get the reversal to cut the deficit to one, but couldn't finish, dropping the 9-7 decision.
The Cowboys took an 11-6 lead into intermission after Joe Smith dropped a 6-1 decision to sixth-ranked Joey Lavallee.
Missouri picked up their second and third-straight wins out of halftime, as Chandler Rogers and Kyle Crutchmer both gave up decisions. Rogers dropped a narrow, 11-10, decision at 165 after No. 8 Daniel Lewis was awarded a decisive takedown at the buzzer. At 174 pounds, Crutchmer dropped a 4-1 decision to Dylan Wisman that would give the Tigers a 12-11 lead.
OSU got back on track at 184 pounds, as senior Nolan Boyd earned his fourth-straight bonus-point win with a 20-5 tech fall over Missouri's Matt Lemanowicz. Boasting a 7-0 lead heading to the third, Boyd used five takedowns in the final frame to wrap up his third-straight tech.
After Preston Weigel dropped a 12-2 major decision at the hands of top-ranked J'Den Cox to tie the dual score at 16, it was senior heavyweight Austin Schafer that stepped up to seal the win for the Pokes.
Taking on Austin Myers, Schafer was in control throughout his match, overwhelming the Tiger redshirt freshman on the way to a 9-1 major decision that pushed the Cowboy senior to 17-1 on the season.
"Regardless of the score, you go into every match wanting to win, wanting to find a way to win no matter what and rack up points on them," Schafer said. :It was a little different tonight, because you had to be more conservative and had to keep the team score in mind."
The Cowboys will now travel to Ames, Iowa for a Sunday battle with Big 12 foe Iowa State at 2 p.m.
Results:
125: No. 11 Nick Piccininni (OSU) TF Aaron Assad (MIZZ) 15-0
133: No. 3 Kaid Brock (OSU) dec. No. 14 John Erneste (MIZZ) 15-8
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. No. 9 Jayden Eierman (MIZZ) 8-6
149: No. 4 Lavion Mayes (MIZZ) dec. No. 2 Anthony Collica (OSU) 9-7
157: No. 6 Joey Lavallee (MIZZ) dec. No. 5 Joe Smith (OSU) 6-1
165: No. 8 Daniel Lewis (MIZZ) dec. No. 6 Chandler Rogers (OSU) 11-10
174: Dylan Wisman (MIZZ) dec. No. 8 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) 4-1
184: No. 6 Nolan Boyd (OSU) TF Matt Lemanowicz (MIZZ) 20-5
197: No. 1 J'Den Cox (MIZZ) MD No. 8 Preston Weigel (OSU) 12-2
HWT: No. 6 Austin Schafer (OSU) MD Austin Myers (MIZZ) 9-1
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