Oklahoma State Opens Season with Orange-Black Match; Black defeats Orange, 23-10

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Ryan Teubner (OSU Sports Information)
11/08/2002


TILLWATER, Okla. (OSU Athletics ) * Oklahoma State's wrestling team kicked off the season with its annual Orange-Black match Thursday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena in front of 1,482 fans.    The Black team won six of the nine bouts en route to a 23-10 victory over the Orange team. The dual consisted of 11 bouts with two exhibition matches that did not count toward the team score.    "It is hard to judge everything on ranking matches," head coach John Smith said. "Overall, I would consider it a success tonight. I think we needed to make weight, and it showed on some of them. This gives us a lot of things to go back on that you tend to neglect when you go into competition."    Senior All-American Skyler Holman defeated Derek Stevens, 6-1, to give the Black team an early 3-0 lead.    The Orange team pulled ahead, 4-3, after two-time All-American Johnny Thompson used 10 takedowns before securing the major decision over redshirt freshman Ryan Roberts, 22-9.    Sophomore Ronnie Delk gave the Black team a 6-4 advantage after defeating sophomore Clark Shouse, 10-3. The Orange team then regained the lead at 7-6 after senior Jerrod Sanders defeated freshman Kyle Shelton, 5-4.    The Orange team saw its lead vanish for good after two-time All-American Shane Roller major decisioned freshman Eric Dabbs. The senior from Bixby, Okla., used three takedowns in the 8-0 victory over Dabbs.    The Black team notched six more team points after two-time All-American Tyrone Lewis injured his knee during his match with sophomore Brett Munson.    "He (Lewis) was favoring his knee and I didn't think he needed to keep on wrestling two more periods,2 Smith said. "He will get another day or two on the mat this week. I don't think it is very serious, but there was no point in continuing the match."    In the only bout that required overtime, sophomore Chris Pendleton outlasted senior Chad Reid, 3-1. The score was knotted at 1-1 heading into overtime, but Pendleton scored a takedown 20 seconds into the period to notch the victory.    In his first appearance as a Cowboy, senior Muhammed Lawal garnered six takedowns and a two-point nearfall before recording the major decision over redshirt freshman Rusty Blackmon, 15-6.    The Orange team recorded its final points of the night after junior Willie Gruenwald defeated sophomore Mike Christian, 8-4.    The Cowboys will open the regular season on Nov. 16 against Tennessee-Chattanooga at Gallagher-Iba. The dual is slated to start at 7 p.m.    Match Results        125 -  Holman (O) dec. Stevens (B); 6-1      133 -  Thompson (B) maj. dec. Roberts (O); 22-9      141 -  Delk (B) dec. Shouse (O); 10-3      149 -  Sanders (O) dec. Shelton (B); 5-4      157 -  Roller (B) maj. dec. Dabbs (O); 8-0      Exh. - Holman maj. dec. Fleenor; 12-0      165  - Munson (B) injury def. Lewis (O)      174  - Pendleton (B) dec. Reid (O); 3-1      197  - Lawal (B) maj. dec. Blackmon (O); 15-6      285  - Gruenwald (O) dec. Christian (B); 8-4      Exh.  - Fleenor dec. Stevens; 8-4