Heavyweight Austin Schafer had the biggest highlight of the day, upsetting No. 5 Michael Kroells for the first ranked win of his career with a thrilling 3-2 decision that was decided in the final 30 seconds. Adding to Schafer's big win, four Cowboys recorded bonus point victories to put the Gophers away, including a first-period fall by Chandler Rogers at 165 pounds.
"Overall, I'm pleased," head coach John Smith said after the match. "You obviously have some matches that you kind of scratch your head at. I don't think any of our guys really felt like they were in any kind of rhythm today, but that's okay. It's tough to get in that rhythm."
Following up Preston Weigel's loss to No. 2 Brett Pfarr at 197 pounds after halftime to cut the Cowboy lead to 18-3, Schafer killed whatever momentum the Gophers had. Tied at one with under a minute to go in the final period, the senior made his move. Schafer's decisive takedown came with 30 seconds on the clock, and while Kroells would escape for a final effort, the Cowboy heavyweight held on for the 3-2 decision.
"The score was tight, but I felt confident," Schafer said. "He hadn't been opening up on his feet and I just knew to stay in good position and that I'd find my shot. I just stayed confident and kept pursuing that."
Starting the match at 149, third-ranked Anthony Collica recorded a 6-4 decision with riding time over Fredy Stroker of Minnesota in his first true match of the season. Collica sat the Cowboys' opening dual out after defeating third-ranked Lavion Mayes in the All-Star Classic the previous day, but the match didn't count toward his NCAA record.
Jonce Blaylock kept things rolling, moving up to 157 to fill in for third-ranked Joseph Smith against Minnesota's Carson Brolsma. Trailing 4-3 in the third period, Blaylock dropped Brolsma for a takedown in the final 30 seconds of the match to gut out a 5-4 decision.
Rogers recorded the first bonus point win for the Cowboys Sunday afternoon, pinning Minnesota's Brandon Kingsley nearly a minute and a half into the match. It marked Rogers' second pin of the season and the second-quickest of his career, moving him to 5-0 overall for his redshirt sophomore campaign.
Seniors Kyle Crutchmer and Nolan Boyd both recorded decisions to give the Cowboys an 18-0 lead at the intermission. Crutchmer survived a late push from No. 14 Nick Wanzek to get the 7-5 win. Boyd got out with a 2-1 decision over Robert Steveson.
After Schafer's match put the win well in hand, redshirt freshmen Nick Piccininni and Kaid Brock, along with top-ranked Dean Heil buried the Gophers with bonus-point wins in their matches.
Piccininni was relentless in his match against Skyler Petry at 125 pounds, piling up points to get the 17-1 tech fall. The East Setaucket, N.Y., product moved to 6-0 on the season, and boosted his dual point total to 10 after tech falls in both of the first two dual matches of his career.
Brock came out of the gate hot, dropping Minnesota's Mitch McKee in under 10 seconds. Leading 3-2 after one, Brock pulled away in the second with the help of a four-point nearfall. The Stillwater native would finish off the match with a 10-2 major decision.
"With Kaid, although (McKee) was a freshman, he's one of the better guys in the country," Smith said. "He was actually higher ranked than Kaid coming out of high school. We knew collegiately, this was a chance to get that monkey off of his back. He hasn't beaten that kid at least the last two times they've wrestled. It was a good effort."
Dean Heil closed out the match with a 12-3 major decision over Gannon Volk to move to 6-0 on the season. The 2016 NCAA Champion was dominant throughout, recording five takedowns to pick up the riding time point easily with just over four minutes on top.
The Cowboys now look ahead to next weekend, which will take them to Norman, Okla., for a Bedlam battle with No. 17 Oklahoma on Friday night before heading home for a matchup with No. 21 Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon.
Results:
149: No. 3 Anthony Collica (OSU) dec. Fredy Stroker (MINN) 6-4
157: Jonce Blaylock (OSU) dec. Carson Brolsma (MU) 5-4
165: No. 4 Chandler Rogers (OSU) fall Brandon Kingsley (UM) 1:24
174: No. 4 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) dec. No. 14 Nick Wanzek (UM) 7-5
184: No. 5 Nolan Boyd (OSU) dec. Robert Steveson (UM) 2-1
197: No. 2 Brett Pfarr (UM) dec. No. 6 Preston Weigel (OSU) 7-2
HWT: Austin Schafer (OSU) dec. No. 5 Michael Kroells (UM) 3-2
125: No. 10 Nick Piccininni (OSU) TF Skyler Petry (UM) 17-1
133: No. 6 Kaid Brock (OSU) MD Mitch McKee (UM) 10-2
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) MD Gannon Volk (UM) 12-3
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now