"The fact that we stopped a steak was a good feeling," coach John Smith said. "You have to give respect to them, 37 matches in a row, that is pretty impressive and I'm glad we had an opportunity to put it to an end."
The Cowboys picked up three team points after a nail-biter at 125 pounds, where No. 5 Eddie Klimara faced No. 10 Barlow McGhee. The bout was deadlocked at 1-1 after regulation, with each guy notching an escape. With no takedowns scored in sudden victory, the match went to a tiebreaker where Klimara picked up a quick escape in the first 30 seconds and rode out McGhee for the next 30 seconds to earn an exciting 2-1 win.
At 133 pounds, No. 11 Zach Synon picked up a takedown within the first 30 seconds over Gary Wayne Harding. A little more than a minute later, Harding cut the lead to 2-1 with an escape. The Cowboy also earned up an escape to start the second period and went on to score a late takedown to lead the Tiger, 4-2, going into the third period. Harding finished the match strong with a full-period ride-out to win the bout 5-2. The win over tenth-ranked Synon was Harding's first win over a ranked opponent.
"It feels good to win my positions," Harding said. "I have to break things down and wrestle all seven minutes as hard as I can go and if it takes more than that, wrestle that as hard as I can. I've just got to win my positions. I got a feel for his underhooks and his length, but mainly I just kept my pressure and kept wrestling. You could kind of feel the match start to weigh on him so I just kept pressing him and wrestled the whole seven minutes."
Top-ranked Dean Heil picked up his second-straight win over a top-five opponent as he defeated No. 9 Matt Manley, 3-1. The bout was scoreless after the first period, with Manley starting the second on bottom. Heil rode out Manley for the full two minutes in the second period, keeping the match scoreless. To start the final period, Heil hit a reversal to open scoring, 2-0. Shortly after, Manley picked up an escape but it was not enough as Heil, with the addition of riding time, earned a 3-1 win.
The Tigers won their first bout of the night at 149 pounds as No. 3 Lavion Mayes defeated No. 16 Anthony Collica, 5-2.
Joe Smith, son of Coach John Smith, wrestled his first match in Gallagher-Iba Arena on Friday, taking on LeRoy Barnes. Joe opened scoring with a quick takedown, but Barnes escaped just as quickly. The Cowboy managed another takedown late in the period to lead 4-1 after the first. Two more takedowns and an escape in the second gave Joe a 9-3 lead. With just an escape coming from Barnes in the third period, Joe earned a decisive 10-4 victory.
"It was definitely different [wrestling in Gallagher-Iba Arena]," Joe Smith said. "Your adrenaline gets pumping and the home crowd is definitely a lot bigger than anything at Stillwater High School so it was fun. Definitely the biggest dual crowd I've ever wrestled in front of. It was the first home so I'm glad it was big. I'm hoping they were there for the team and not just me. Your adrenaline starts pumping and then that lactic acid starts to hit you really hard in the arms when you're out there. But once I really got going I really started to feel my moves and techniques and it was fine."
The 165-pound match proved to be interesting as No. 1 Alex Dieringer faced No. 5 Daniel Lewis, a redshirt freshman for the Tigers. Dieringer picked up two takedowns in the first period, which would be the deciding factor in the match. With Dieringer leading 4-2, the Tiger rode out Dieringer for both the second and third periods. However it was not enough as Dieringer edged Lewis, 4-3.
At 174 pounds, third-ranked Kyle Crutchmer fell to No. 10 Blaise Butler in a sudden victory thriller, 3-1.
Nolan Boyd became the fifth Cowboy of the night to knock off a top-10 opponent as he put on a great performance against No. 4 Willie Miklus, who owned the series between the two. Boyd stormed out with a takedown in the first 30 seconds. He followed up with another takedown with just eight seconds left in the period to lead 4-1. The Cowboy went on to pick up a reversal in the second period and a 4:31 of riding time to dominate the No. 4 wrestler, 7-2.
"I think this was supposed to confirm that I have a different mindset," Boyd said. "I just going to take it and run with that. I saw Collica wrestle and realized that's the style that works for me -- keep my feet moving. That's what I did today."
The Tigers picked up their third and final win at 197 pounds as true freshman Andrew Marsden faced No. 2 J'Den Cox. The freshman put up a fight but fell, 7-3.
Fifth-ranked Austin Marsden was the only wrestler of the night to score bonus points, earning a 16-0 technical fall over James Romero in only 1:25. The Cowboy senior picked up a quick takedown and followed it with five nearfall counts, closing out an exciting team win for the Pokes.
"We have to recognize that we have just so much more that we left out there, and we still controlled the match and won the key matches," John Smith said. "If you ever start to settle in and think you're in a good place, that's taking some steps backwards. If we're going to challenge for the championship, I don't think Missouri is the team to beat. We just need to keep pushing."
Oklahoma State continues the weekend on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. as it hosts No. 16 Iowa State in a Big 12 battle.
Results:
125: No. 5 Eddie Klimara (OSU) dec. No. 10 Barlow McGhee (MU), 2-1 TB1
133: Gary Wayne Harding (OSU) dec. No. 11 Zach Synon (MU), 5-2
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. No. 9 Matt Manley (MU), 3-1
149: No. 3 Lavion Mayes (MU) dec. No. 16 Anthony Collica (MU), 5-2
157: No. 7 Joe Smith (OSU) dec. LeRoy Barnes (MU), 10-4
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) dec. No. 5 Daniel Lewis (MU), 4-3
174: No 10 Blaise Butler (MU) dec. No. 3 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU), 3-1 SV1
184: No. 19 Nolan Boyd (OSU) dec. No. 4 Willie Miklus (MU), 7-2
197: No. 2 J'den Cox (MU) dec. Andrew Marsden (OSU), 7-3
285: No. 5 Austin Marsden (OSU) tech. fall James Romero (MU), 16-0; 1:25
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