NORMAN, Okla. – Jack Spates entered Sunday’s 164th edition of the Bedlam Series with a 3-32-3 record against Oklahoma State. In his final dual as head coach of the University of Oklahoma he hoped to go out in style.

But what he got was a Cowboy squad pushing toward the postseason.

In improving to 14-2-1 third-ranked Oklahoma State won 7 of 10 bouts in beating No. 8 Oklahoma, 24-9, on Sunday afternoon at McCasland Fieldhouse.

“Just a good win on our part, winning close, tough matches,” said OSU head coach John Smith. “Scoring takedowns in the first, second, third periods. That’s what I like to see. The bonus points are the foundation of our program in big matches. You don’t win 34 national titles unless you are scoring bonus points and I liked our aggressiveness (Sunday).

“A lot of good things. Just a good feeling as we head back north to Stillwater.”

In his last Bedlam, Cowboy senior 197-pounder Clayton Foster (20-0) didn’t have to go seven minutes, ending his bout with Keldrick Hall at 20-4 with 54 seconds left. It put OSU up 11-3.

Three bouts later Cowboy sophomore Jordan Oliver, ranked No. 1 at 133 pounds, all-but-secured all-time victory No. 128 in the rivalry with another dominating performance, beating Jordan Keller, 17-4. It pushed the Pennsylvania native’s record to 22-0 and put the visitors up 18-6 with three matches to wrestle

“It’s a bit different than it’s been, we’ve been doing a lot more wrestling,” said Foster, an All-American a year ago. “Our bodies feel better. We’ve actually gotten a couple of days off.”

“Good effort on Clayton’s part,” said Smith. “Good memories for him. He got to wrestle his last match at Gallagher last week and to wrestle his last Bedlam … just good memories. What can you say about how he wrestled (Sunday) … a tornado. Jordan (Oliver) continues to wrestle the same way … aggressive. Attack, attack, attack, that is what we are about. When we get away from that we are in trouble, trouble, trouble.”

Spates, who finishes with 317 dual meet victories, would have liked a better finale.

“It’s not going to sink in until a couple of months from now,” said Spates. “It will sink in when I’m sitting on my couch all alone and I’ll be thinking ‘wow where’s wrestling?’

I’m retiring from coaching but I’m not retiring from wrestling. I’m going to be an Oklahoma wrestling fan.”

OU All-American Zack Bailey (23-2) pulled an 11-8 victory out of the fire against a game freshman, Josh Kindig, at 141 pounds. Bailey scored a takedown late for an 8-6 lead but Kindig quickly scored a reversal to tie it. Bailey, a senior, slipped to an escape then scored a takedown at the buzzer. 

It gave the hosts life, cutting the deficit to 18-9. But sixth-ranked Jamal Parks’ 3-1 win over Matt Lester at 149 wrapped it up.

OSU senior Neil Erisman (10-4) put an exclamation point on the afternoon, beating Chase Nelson, 8-4, at 157 pounds.

“Coach (Smith) has been preaching start strong, finish strong and get stronger as the match goes on,” said Erisman, one of only two seniors in the Cowboy lineup. “We’ve really focused on finishing strong.”

At 285 pounds OU senior Nathan Fernandez (19-4) avenged a December loss to Blake Rosholt, using a bear-hug for five in the opening period and cruising to a 9-2 win.

But O-State rookie Jon Morrison (18-5) avenged his December loss to Jarrod Patterson, using a second period double-leg and 1:07 of riding time for a 4-1 decision at 125 pounds to put the Cowboys up 14-6.

“As disappointed as I am I really feel like this team has a lot of character, a lot of fight the rest of the way,” added Spates. “(OSU) has a really good team. I think they might have been a little more relaxed than they’ve been the last couple of years.”

OSU redshirt-freshman Chris Perry (21-5) edged Erich Schmidtke, 4-3, at 184 pounds. Schmidtke, who beat Perry back in November at the OCU Open, tied the bout at 3-3 midway through the final period. But an escape, and Schmidtke’s inability to mount any offense down the stretch put the visitors up 6-3 after three bouts.

Second-ranked Tyler Caldwell (28-4) won a tough scramble for two midway through the second period for 3-0 then rode out the third period for a 4-0 victory over No. 10 Dallas Bailey at 165 pounds to start the dual.

Mike Benefiel (14-5) had little trouble in beating Sooner senior Jeff James, 8-1, at 174 pounds to tie the dual after two bouts.

Both of Oklahoma’s dual losses this season came to Oklahoma State, who won the first meeting 22-12 in December. Thirty-three of Spates’ 96 losses at OU came to the Cowboys.

Both squads return to action at the Big 12 Championships in Ames, Iowa, March 5.

No. 3 Oklahoma State 24, No. 8 Oklahoma 9

165-Tyler Caldwell (O) dec Dallas Bailey, 4-0

174-Mike Benefiel (OS) dec Jeff James, 8-1

184-Chris Perry (OS) dec Erich Schmidtke, 4-3

197-Clayton Foster (OS) tech fall Keldrick Hall, 20-4 (6:06)

285-Nathan Fernandez (O) dec Blake Rosholt, 9-2

125-Jon Morrison (OS) dec Jarrod Patterson, 4-1

133-Jordan Oliver (OS) maj dec Jordan Keller, 17-4

141-Zack Bailey (O) dec Josh Kindig, 11-8

149-Jamal Parks (OS) dec Matt Lester, 3-1

157-Neil Erisman (OS) dec Chase Nelson, 8-4