Smith won his title at 157 pounds, taking out two top-20 opponents in the process. The true freshman put on a dominating show, tacking on bonus points to three of his five wins. In his first two matches, Smith scored a total of 47 points with a 24-10 major decision over Logan McQuillan of Iowa and a 23-8 technical fall over Ty Ethridge of Lindenwood, respectively. In the quarterfinals, he picked up a first-period fall, sticking Kevin Cooper of McKendree in 2:48. Waiting for him in the semifinals was No. 11 Joey LaVallee of Mizzou, who Smith defeated, in his closest bout of the day, 5-3. In the finals, Smith met up with No. 17 Dylan Cottrell. The Cowboy continued his winning ways and improved to 13-0 on the season with an 8-2 win over the Mountaineer.
Competing at 174 pounds, Rogers earned the second title for the Cowboys. Rogers proved to be dominant as well as he open his tournament with three-consecutive wins by fall. Between the three matches, Rogers spent less than 12 minutes on the mat with each fall coming in the second period. In the semifinals, the Cowboy faced Jacobe Smith of Northeastern Oklahoma. Rogers came out on top with a 12-6 win and secured his spot in the finals, where he would meet up with Zeb Wahle of Maryville. The two took the match into overtime, but it was Rogers who walked away with a 9-7 win and the title at 174 pounds.
Seven other Cowboys earned top-five finishes.
At 149 pounds, Jonce Blaylock produced a third-place finish, taking out Neal Malloy of Indianapolis, 8-4. Earlier in the day, the Cowboy advanced to semifinals after taking out Derek Miller of Grand View with a 6-0 decision and Mech Spraggins of McKendree with a 12-3 major decision. In the semis, he faced John Fahy of SIUE. Fahy got the win, 8-5, sending Blaylock to the back half of the bracket. There, Blaylock picked up two more wins to finish third.
Ryan Blees also finished third at the tournament. At 157 pounds, Blees started strong with a 10-0 major decision in his first bout and a first-period fall in his second bout. In the semifinals, Blees faced LaVallee in a high-scoring match, but it was LaVallee who took the 18-15 win. In the consolation bracket, Blees came back, winning four matches, including an 8-4 win over Logan Thomsen of Iowa to finish third.
Nick Piccininni competed for the Pokes at 125 pounds, where he finished fourth. The freshman picked up two solid wins in the championship round, including a fall over senior Tristan Bundy of Grand View, before falling to eventual champion Barlow McGhee of Missouri in a 3-1 bout. Piccininni battled back to earn his spot in the third-place match but fell just short to Aaron Assad of Missouri, 8-6.
Dusty Hone followed suit at 141 pounds, collecting his own fourth-place finish. Similar to Piccininni, Hone picked up two wins, including a 15-0 technical fall before getting knocked to the consolation bracket by Missouri's LeRoy Barnes with 6-4 match. Fighting his way back, Hone won three matches to advance to the third-place bout but was outlasted by Mizzou's Matt Manley, 3-2.
Junior Austin Schafer also earned a fourth-place finish. At 197 pounds, Schafer picked up a 12-3 major decision to start the tournament but was defeated by 2014 NCAA champion and No. 2 J'Den Cox of Mizzou in the quarterfinals. In the consos, Schafer won two-consecutive matches by technical fall before defeating teammate Andrew Marsden to earn a spot in the third-place bout. There he was pinned by Ryan Beltz of Maryville to finish fourth.
At 141 pounds, Tristan Moran finished fifth, defeating Will Roark of Mizzou in his final match of the day, 5-1. Moran earned five wins on the day.
Also earning a fifth-place finish was Andrew Marsden at 197 pounds. The true freshman stuck Benedictine's Stephen Loosbrock in just 30 seconds to finish fifth. Marsden snatched two 30-second falls on the day.
Also competing for the Pokes in the Gold Division was Eli Hale (125), Lincoln Olson (133), Dalton Moran (157), Preston Weigel (197) and Tanner Allen (285). Garrett Beier (285) competed in the Black Division.
The Cowboys are back in action next weekend as they travel to Brookings, South Dakota, to face the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Nov. 27, before heading back to Stillwater to take on Minnesota in the home opener on Nov. 29 at 2 p.m..
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