DES MOINES, Iowa – The Oklahoma State Cowboys know a thing or two about winning NCAA wrestling titles.

OSU’s 34 team titles are the most in college history and the Cowboys came out firing during the medal round of the NCAA Championships on Saturday morning before 16,131 fans at Wells Fargo Arena.

Trailing top-ranked and two-time defending champion Penn State by 20.5 points at the start of the day, Oklahoma State stormed out strong and has cut PSU’s lead to just three points entering the finals.

Penn State, with nobody competing in this session with its five remaining wrestlers all in the finals, remains on top with 114.5 points. Oklahoma State, with two finalists, is second with 111.5 points. Minnesota, with one finalist, is third with 99 points.

“We had nine matches and won seven, but we needed to win all nine,” said Oklahoma State coach John Smith, whose team is seeking its first title 2006. “We did our best and wrestled well. We had a chance to pick up some bonus points, which is important. Now we’ve got to win some matches tonight.”

Freshman Alex Dieringer delivered a key pin in the third-place match at 157 pounds to highlight a strong session for the Cowboys. Teammate Alan Gelogaev capped the session with a 3-2 win over No. 1 seed Dom Bradley of Missouri to finish third at 285.

A pivotal match will be the first bout of the finals at 174 when No. 1 Chris Perry of Oklahoma State battles No. 2 Matt Brown of Penn State. A Brown win would clinch the team title for the Nittany Lions.

The finals are set for 7 p.m. Saturday in Des Moines and will be broadcast live on ESPN.

The highly anticipated finals battle between standouts Kyle Dake of Cornell and David Taylor of Penn State will be the last match of the tournament at 165.

Dake is seeking to become just the third wrestler to win four NCAA titles and the first to do it in four different weight classes. He has previously won NCAAs at 141, 149 and 157.

Dake has won 76 straight matches for Cornell. He is now 19-0 in this tournament in his career.

Taylor is the returning 165-pound champion and Hodge Trophy winner. Dake owns two close wins over Taylor this season.

2012 NCAA champion Steve Bosak of Cornell came back to place third at 184. Bosak fell to Penn State’s Ed Ruth, the 2012 NCAA champion at 174, in Frday night’s semifinals before winning twice on Saturday.

TEAM SCORING (Top 10)
Penn State 114.5, Oklahoma State 111.5, Minnesota 99, Iowa 69, Cornell 61, Missouri 56.5, Ohio State 55.5, Oregon State 48.5, Virginia Tech 43.5, Illinois 41.5, Iowa State 41.5

MEDAL MATCHES

125 Pounds
1st – Nico Megaludis (Penn State) vs. Jesse Delgado (Illinois)
3rd – Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) dec. Alan Waters (Missouri), 5-1
5th – Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota State) dec. Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech), 7-2
7th – David Thorn (Minnesota) pinned Tyler Cox (Wyoming), 1:17

133 Pounds
1st – Logan Stieber (Ohio State) vs. Tony Ramos (Iowa)
3rd – Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) dec. A.J. Schopp (Edinboro), 6-3
5th – Jon Morrison (Oklahoma State) dec. Chris Dardanes (Minnesota), 6-4
7th – Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) dec. Nathan McCormick (Missouri), 15-10

141 Pounds
1st – Mitchell Port (Edinboro) vs. Kendric Maple (Oklahoma)
3rd – Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) dec. Undrakhbayar Khishignyam (The Citadel), 12-4
5th – Michael Nevinger (Cornell) dec. Evan Henderson (North Carolina), 9-2
7th – Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) dec. Zach Neibert (Virginia Tech), 9-5

149 Pounds
1st – Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) vs. Jason Chamberlain (Boise State)
3rd – Steve Santos (Columbia) dec. Dylan Ness (Minnesota), 7-3
5th – Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) dec. Drake Houdashelt (Missouri), 6-5
7th – Ivan Lopouchanski (Purdue) dec. Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech), 5-3

157 Pounds
1st – Jason Welch (Northwestern) vs. Derek St. John (Iowa)
3rd – Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) pinned David Bonin (Northern Iowa), 1:39
5th – Roger Pena (Oregon State) dec. Jedd Moore (Virginia), 11-2
7th – James Green (Nebraska) dec. James Fleming (Clarion), 14-4

165 Pounds
1st – Kyle Dake (Cornell) vs. David Taylor (Penn State)
3rd – Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) dec. Peter Yates (Virginia Tech), 5-1
5th – Conrad Polz (Illinois) dec. Michael Moreno (Iowa State), 7-5
7th – Cody Yohn (Minnesota) dec. Nick Sulzer (Virginia), 8-5 TB1

174 Pounds
1st – Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) vs. Matt Brown (Penn State)
3rd – Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) dec. Logan Storley (Minnesota), 3-1 SV
5th – Nick Heflin (Ohio State) pinned Mike Evans (Iowa), 2:10
7th – Jordan Blanton (Illinois) dec. Cody Walters (Ohio), 4-3

184 Pounds
1st – Ed Ruth (Penn State) vs. Robert Hamlin (Lehigh)
3rd – Steve Bosak (Cornell) dec. Ben Bennett (Central Michigan), 2-0
5th – Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland), 6-2
7th – Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) dec. Mike Larson (Missouri), 8-0

197 Pounds
1st – Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) vs. Quentin Wright (Penn State)
3rd – Matt Wilps (Pittsburgh) won by tech. fall over Taylor Meeks (Oregon State), 18-2
5th – Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. Kyven Gadson (Iowa State), 6-2
7th – Alfonso Hernandez (Wyoming) dec. Blake Rosholt (Oklahoma State), 7-4

285 Pounds
1st – Mike McMullan (Northwestern) vs. Tony Nelson (Minnesota)
3rd – Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma State) dec. Dom Bradley (Missouri), 3-2
5th – Zac Thomusseit (Pittsburgh) dec. Jarod Trice (Central Michigan), 3-1
7th – Odie Delaney (The Citadel) pinned Matt Gibson (Iowa State), 2:44