AMES, Iowa – Oklahoma State won its first conference team title in 1917 as part of the Southwest Conference.

In 2011 the tradition-rich Cowboys won a 44th league title, covering a century of wrestling in the Southwest, Missouri Valley, Big Eight and Big 12.

The third-ranked Cowboys crowned five champions and outdistanced runner-up Missouri, 77-60. It was OSU 44th overall championship and second straight in the Big 12. The Tigers finished ½ point in front of Oklahoma, who went 0-5 in Saturday night’s finals. Nebraska was fourth and host Iowa State limped into fifth place.

“It was good to see us win five championships today," said OSU Head Coach John Smith. "What we did today was show that we has a lot in the gas tank when it counted. This is a well-conditioned team."

The Cowboys qualified eight wrestlers for the 2011 NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, March 17-19. Missouri and Nebraska will each send seven with Oklahoma taking six. Iowa State qualified just four.

Jordan Burroughs needed a third period reversal with 35 seconds left to edge Tyler Caldwell, 2-1, in the 165-pound finale. It moved the Husker senior’s record to 31-0 and gave him a third league title on a day in which two No. 1 seeds lost – OSU’s Jon Morrison in the 125-pound semifinals and OU’s Zack Bailey in the 141-pound final.

Iowa State's Jon Reader (34-0), Oklahoma State's Jordan Oliver (24-0) and Clayton Foster (22-0) remained unbeaten, winning titles at 174, 133 and 197, respectively. 

Reader was names the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler after beating Oklahoma State's Mike Benefiel, 15-3 in the finals. It was good news on a otherwise tough day for the Cyclones. 

"This program is drenched with all kinds of tradition," said Reader. "Just because there is one down year doesn't mean the fans or the program are going to go away. This is an amazing university and I am completely confident in my coaching staff, that they will get this thing going again.

"It was great to win a Big 12 title, especially at home, but I still don't think I've wrestled my best match yet. Benefiel is no slouch, but I was ready to go for seven minutes today."

Oliver, now a two-time league champ, opened the festivities for the Cowboys with another dominating performance, beating Oklahoma’s Jordan Keller, 15-3, in the 133-pound final. In 12 career matches against conference foes Oliver has 12 bonus-point victories.

Jamal Parks (25-3) and Neil Erisman (12-4) picked up back-to-back finals victories at 149 and 157, respectively. Parks, now a two-time league champ, beat Missouri’s Kyle Bradley, 4-0, while Erisman, a senior, beat MU’s Nick Gregoris, 4-2.

Foster beat Iowa State’s Jerome Ward for a second time this year in another tough bout. Ward scored the initial takedown but Foster, the champ at 184 a year ago, rallied with two takedowns and a riding time point for a 9-5 win.

"I was trying to push the action and what I wanted to do was get the fall for the team point," said Oliver, who had a first period pin in the semi-finals. "I like to give the fans what they want and that's a match with a lot of action and a lot of scoring. I'm having a lot of fun out there."

"It means a lot to be a part of two Big 12 champion teams," added Erisman. "In my first year wrestling, we finished 16th (at the NCAAs) and 4th at the Big 12s. That is not what Oklahoma State does."

The Sooners, in head coach Jack Spates’ final season, suffered an early setback in Saturday night's finals when Jarrod Patterson was knocked off by Nebraska’s David Klingsheim, 2-0, in the 125-pound final. Klingsheim entered the tournament 8-9 but beat the top-seeded Morrison of Oklahoma State in overtime in the semifinals before riding out Patterson in the second period and earning a penalty point in the final two minutes of the match.

Bailey fell 3-2 to Missouri’s Todd Schavrien (26-6) in the finals. It was Bailey’s third loss in 27 matches this season. Missouri's Dom Bradley finished off the tournament with a 3-1 win over Oklahoma's Nathan Hernadez at 285 pounds.

The Big 12 finals featured just six All-Americans competing. 

Oklahoma State took a narrow 1 ½ point lead over Oklahoma into the finals. Missouri was seven points back. The Cowboys took a big hit when Morrison was upset by Klingsheim in the semifinals and injury defaulted out of the tournament.

The Sooners got a big boost from Fernandez, who caught Nebraska’s Tucker Lane on his back for a pin in the semifinals.

Nineteen of the first 39 bouts – there were four injury defaults – were decided by two points or less (49 percent) with five needing overtime.

Banged up

Iowa State’s Andrew Sorenson suffered a late-season injury and was unable to get back in time for the conference tournament. The junior 165-pounder from Woden, Iowa, was 16-4 and ranked ninth. His replacement, sophomore Chris Spangler, still managed to get seeded fourth in front of Oklahoma State’s 11th-ranked Dallas Bailey, mainly on the strength of his victory over Oklahoma’s Tyler Caldwell at the Midlands Championships in December.

The Big 12 received five allocations for 165 pounds, but one of those was earned by Sorenson, who did not compete on Saturday. The weight class will have an additional at-large selection made by the NCAA Committee on March 9.

Spangler knocked off Bailey, 7-5, in the first round before falling to Burroughs. Spangler did score a first period takedown to tie it at 3-3 but eventually lost, 16-8, limping to the finish line. After falling to Bailey in the third place bout, Spangler made a go of it against Missouri’s Zach Toal in a fourth place challenge match but was unable to finish due to injury.

Top-seeded 125-pounder Jon Morrison of Oklahoma State was upset in the first round by Klingsheim in overtime. Klingsheim entered the weekend with an 8-9 record. Morrison injury defaulted the third place bout and also a fourth place challenge match to drop to fifth. At 18-5 entering the tournament and ranked among the Top 10, it is expected that Morrison will receive one of the five at-large picks for 125 pounds.

Another Cowboy, 285-pounder Alan Gelogaev, who was an All-American in 2010 at 197, was rumored to be set to wrestle this weekend. But the Russian did not make the trip due to lingering injuries that have kept him off the mat since November.

Iowa State’s Chris Drouin had a frustrating senior campaign. The Arizona State transfer and former All-American lost to Missouri’s Todd Schavrien in the semifinals, then dropped a 5-4 match to Nebraska’s Mike Koehnlein a round later. Drouin finishes 13-9 and will most likely not be one of those chosen for Philadelphia.

44 and counting

The conference title was the 44th in Oklahoma State’s history. Although the Big 12 will remain a four-team league, at least for next season, 2011 marked the final 5-team tournament with Nebraska heading to the Big Ten in 2010-11. OSU won 10 of the 16 conference tournaments from 1997-2011. Iowa State (3), Oklahoma (2) and Nebraska (1) combined for six team titles.

An at-large or two?

Along with Morrison, the Big 12 will hope to get a few other at-large picks. 

Oklahoma’s Matt Lester (17-7) was third at 149 and Chase Nelson (21-9) was third at 157, winning two overtime bouts in Ames.

Missouri’s Mike Larson (21-13) was fifth at 184, a weight which qualified four for Philly. 

2011 Big 12 Championships

Finals

125-David Klingsheim (N) def Jarrod Patterson (O), 2-0

133-Jordan Oliver (OS) maj dec Jordan Keller (O), 15-3

141-Todd Schavrien (M) dec Zack Bailey (O), 3-2

149-Jamal Parks (OS) dec Kyle Bradley (M), 4-0

157-Neil Erisman (OS) dec Nick Gregoris (M), 4-2

165-Jordan Burroughs (N) dec Tyler Caldwell (O), 2-1

174-Jon Reader (I) maj dec Mike Benefiel (OS), 15-3

184-Chris Perry (OS) dec Josh Ihnen (N), 3-2 (TB1)

197-Clayton Foster (OS) dec Jerome Ward (I), 9-5

285-Dom Bradley (M) dec Nathan Fernandez (O), 3-1

Third Place

125-Waters (M) dec Morrison (OS), by medical forfeit

133-McCormick (M) dec Cash (I), 5-0

141-Kindig (OS) dec Koehnlein (N), 9-4

149-Lester (O) dec Mayfield (I), 7-3

157-Nelson (O) pin Weatherman (I), 1:05

165-Bailey (OS) dec Spangler, 5-4

174-Henderson (M) dec James, 3-1 (SV1)

184-Schmidtke (O) dec Shafer (I), 3-1

197-Haynes (M) dec Johnson (N), 3-2 (TB1)

285-Lane (N) dec Simonson (I), by medical forfeit

Fourth Place Challenge

125-Jones (I) dec Morrison (OS), by medical forfeit

133-Kiley (N) maj dec Cash (I), 9-0

165-Toal (M) dec Spangler (I), by injury default at 5:30