St. Louis, Mo. - The last time Oklahoma State placed this many wrestlers in the quarterfinals was in 2000, in the same Savvis Center in St. Louis. That year, the Cowboys had seven wrestlers competing in the quarterfinal round. But only one of those advanced to the semifinals.    Of course, things change, such as the arena name which was then the Kiel Center. Things also change with Oklahoma State's success.    This year, Oklahoma State had eight wrestlers in the quarterfinals, and while things started dark for the Cowboys with the first three wrestlers losing, the session ended on a bright note as Oklahoma State put five wrestlers in Friday night's semifinals.    The Cowboys sit with a major cushion in first place with 78.5 team points. Cornell is in second place with 55.5 points, followed by Michigan and Minnesota, which are tied for third with 47.5 points.    Leading the charge for the Cowboys were NCAA champions Chris Pendleton (174 lbs.), Jake Rosholt (197) and Steve Mocco (285), who have dominated their competition so far.    Pendleton won by a 17-1 technical fall over Northern Iowa's Eric Hauan to set up a matchup with one of Cornell's four semifinalists, Joe Mazzurco.    Rosholt downed Matt Delguyd of Northwestern 9-2. He will face Sean Stender of Northern Iowa, who last year was 10 seconds away from being in the NCAA finals.    Mocco defeated Matt Fields of Iowa, the wrestler brought in to replace Mocco, 4-0. The Cowboy heavyweight will meet up with Pat DeGain of Indiana, who weighs 50 pounds less than Mocco.    Also advancing to the semifinals for Oklahoma State were NCAA runner-up Zack Esposito (149) and All-American Johny Hendricks (165).    Esposito defeated Jon Masa of Hofstra 6-2, setting up a matchup with Michigan freshman Eric Tannenbaum, who squeaked out a 4-3 win against Oklahoma's Matt Storniolo.    Hendricks fought off a third-period 1-0 deficit to come back and pin Jon Sioredas of Tennesse-Chattanooga with 20 seconds remaining in the match. Hendricks took control by tying the match at 1-1 with an escape, and then earned a stalling point for a 2-1 lead before cradling Sioredas up late in the match. The win was vindication for Hendricks, who had lost earlier this year to Sioredas.    But even with Oklahoma State's dominance in the quarterfinal session, all eyes were on junior Joe Johnston of Iowa, who became the first wrestler at this year's tournament to defeat a No. 1 seed, dropping Alex Tirapelle of Illinois, a 2003 NCAA runner-up, 6-5 at 157 lbs.    Johnston dominated the match when the two were on their feet. Entering the third period tied at 2-2, Johnston chose neutral instead of going on bottom against the dangerous Illini wrestler. The move paid off, as Johnston scored a takedown for a 4-2 lead. After a Tirapelle escape and takedown, Johnston took the lead back with a reversal for a 6-5 advantage. He rode Tirapelle out for the remaining 17 seconds to earn the upset victory.    "It was a big win, but they're all going to big now. I can't say it's the biggest win of my life, because it was what I was expecting myself to do," Johnston said after the match. "I felt like I was being the aggressor."    Also at 157 lbs., defending NCAA champion Matt Gentry of Stanford was defeated 8-6 in double overtime by Trent Paulson of Iowa State.    Brothers Nick and Andy Simmons of Michigan State, both sophomores, also earned spots in the semifinals.    Nick won by technical fall over freshman Andrew Hochstrasser of Boise State at 125 lbs. and Andy pinned All-American Cory Cooperman of Lehigh late in the third period.    Two No. 11 seeds qualified for the semifinals, Michael Keefe of Tennessee-Chattanooga (141) and B.J. Padden of Nebraska (197).    Keefe upset third-seed Josh Churella of Michigan, 6-5 in the quarterfinals. Padden battled out an 8-7 win against surprise quarterfinalist Daren Burns of North Carolina-Greensboro.      Notes: Tennessee-Chattanooga's protest was denied for the match at 125 lbs. between Matt Pitts and Adam Smith of Penn State which Smith won 6-4… All wrestlers made weight this morning… Cornell's Travis Lee became the first Ivy League wrestler to earn All-American status four times with his semifinal win… Three wrestlers forfeited out of the tournament before Friday morning's session due to injury, Brandon Strong of Air Force (125), NCAA runner-up Matt Murray of Nebraska (141) and Joey Bracamonte of Oregon (165)… The fastest fall in this year's tournament took place at 197 lbs. as Ryan Flaherty of Wisconsin pinned Joe Phillips of Cleveland State in 11 seconds in the consolation round… Central Michigan was given an official warning for control of mat area… Oklahoma coach Jack Spates was given an official warning for questioning the referee…