Cowboys take commanding lead at Big 12 Championships

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Heather Van Peursem (USA Wrestling)
03/02/2001


STILLWATER, OK  - A crowd of 5,000 filled Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., to watch the five wrestling schools of the Big 12 conference do battle. After the pigtail and semifinal matches, Oklahoma State sits at the top of the team scoring with 60 points, followed by Oklahoma with 45.5, Iowa State with 37, Nebraska with 33, and Missouri with 0.    Tonight's matchups included some barn-burner matches, one of which is still under protest.     At 125 pounds, ISU's Jacob Moore withdrew from the tournament before weigh-ins due to an injury. As a result Justin Spates of Missouri advanced to the semifinals were he lost a 3-1 decision to #1 seed Matt Ridings from Oklahoma. Nebraska's Jason Powell, the #2 seed, won the semifinal against #3 seed Matt Brown from OSU. The finals matchup at 125-pounds pits Powell (NU) against Ridings (OU).      In semifinals action at 133 pounds, Nebraska's Todd Beckerman won a 6-2 decision against Oklahoma's Will Durden, while Johnny Thompson of OSU decisioned Iowa State's Matt Azevedo, 4-2. Beckerman and Thompson will meet in the finals tomorrow.    Oklahoma's #1 seed at 141 pounds, Michael Lightner, received a forfeit from Missouri's JP Reese to advance to the finals. He will face Cowboy Charles Walker, who won a 5-2 semifinal decision against Iowa State's Zach Roberson (ISU).    Long-time rivals Reggie Wright (OSU) and Jared Frayer (OU) will meet in the 149-pounds finals tomorrow. Wright won a 6-2 semifinal decision over Iowa State's Billy Maldanodo, while Frayer tech falled Missouri's Kenny Burleson, 15-0 in the semis.    The 157-pound semifinal match woke up the home crowd as Iowa State's Cole Sanderson pinned Oklahoma's Shane Roller with just 35 seconds left in the first period. Sanderson will face #1 seed Bryan Snyder from Nebraska, who won a major decision over Oklahoma's Brian Burrows, 19-7, in the finals.    No doubt the most controversial match of the night, the 165-pound semifinal between Oklahoma's Robbie Waller OSU's Chris Pendleton ended with Waller's 11-9 overtime decision against Pendleton. The match, which has been protested by Oklahoma State, ended with Waller taking down Pendleton in sudden victory overtime. As the overtime match began, Pendleton got a quick takedown at the whistle, but the official had stopped the match because the time on the score clock had not been set correctly. With the clock reset, the overtime was restarted and ended with Waller's takedown. At press time, the protest committee had not ruled on the protest.    The other 165-pound semifinal, a rematch of last year's semifinal match, pitted Iowa State's Joe Heskett against Nebraska's Tony Denke. Heskett won a major decision over Denke, leaving him to face either Pendleton or Waller in the finals, depending on the outcome of the protest.    In 174-pound action, the Cowboy's Tyrone Lewis decisioned Missouri's John Kopinsky, 6-4 while Cyclone Perry Parks won an 8-3 decision over Oklahoma's Michael Barger. Nebraska's Ati Conner, who has lost to each wrestler in the bracket this year by a single point, lost his pigtail match against Kopinsky 8-7. He drops to the consolation bracket and will face Oklahoma's Michael Barger tomorrow.    At 184 pounds, #1 seed Cael Sanderson (ISU) pinned Missouri's Ry Stone in 5:16, while on the next mat, Cowboy Daniel Cormier pinned Oklahoma's Josh Lambrecht in 4:28.     The finals match at 197 pounds is a rematch of last year's Big 12 final with OSU's Mark Munoz against defending National Champion Brad Vering from Nebraska. In semifinal action, Vering decisioned Oklahoma's Waymond May 4-2, while Munoz won a 4-2 decision over long-time nemesis Zach Thompson from Iowa State.    Both semifinal matches at heavyweight ended in pins. Sooner Leonce Crump pinned Missouri Tiger Scott Barker in 6:48, while OSU's James Huml pinned Cyclone Mark Knauer at 8:05 in 2OT.    The Cowboys advanced seven wrestlers into the finals, while the Sooners take five, the Husker take four, and the Cyclones take four. Although the Missouri Tigers advanced four wrestlers from pigtails into the semifinals, they failed to advance a single wrestler to the final round.    The consolation matches will be wrestled at 10 a.m. Central time, with the Finals set for 2 p.m. Central. The results of all matches will be updated in real-time on TheMat.com.    Finals Matches  125 - Jason Powell (NU) vs. Matt Ridings (OU)  133 - Todd Beckerman (NU) vs. Johnny Thompson (OSU)  141 - Michael Lightner (OU) vs. Charles Walker (OSU)  149 - Reggie Wright (OSU) vs. Jared Frayer (OU)  157 - Bryan Snyder (NU) vs. Cole Sanderson (ISU)  165 - Joe Heskett (ISU) vs. Robbie Waller (OU)**  174 - Tyrone Lewis (OSU) vs. Perry Parks (ISU)  184 - Cael Sanderson (ISU) vs. Daniel Cormier (OSU)  197 - Brad Vering (NU) vs. Mark Munoz (OSU)   285 -  Leonce Crump (OU) vs. James Huml (OSU)