Bedlam hits the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals as Oklahoma State and Oklahoma will square off in tom
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John Fuller (TheMat.com)
01/19/2003
Columbus, Ohio - Bedlam has struck the 2003 Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals. Top-seeded Oklahoma State will face unseeded Oklahoma in the finals of the historic dual tournament tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. (EST). Oklahoma State extinguished host Ohio State in their semifinal match 22-14 to advance to the finals. Skyler Holman (125 lbs.) got things started for the Cowboys with a 19-4 drubbing of Nathan Costello, but defending NCAA champion Johnny Thompson (133 lbs.) had to score a late takedown against Ohio State's Jesse Leng for a 3-2 decision. Thompson finished a double-leg with 21 seconds remaining in the match to take a 3-1 lead and held off a late attack by Leng for the win. "Johnny has to wrestle better than he did today in a couple of matches," Oklahoma State head coach John Smith said. "He looked somewhat tired, but he also let his opponent dictate the pace of the match, which is not how we want to wrestle." Freshman sensation Zack Esposito extended the Cowboys lead to 10-0 after holding on for a 13-10 win over Jeff Ratliff at 141 lbs. Ratliff dominated the first period, taking an 8-5 lead into the second, but a vibrant Esposito eventually wore Ratliff down and slow the pace of the match down. 149-pound Jerrod Sanders posted an 11-2 major decision win over Josh Daugherty of Ohio State to give Oklahoma State a 13-0 cushion after four matches. At 157 lbs., Keaton Anderson finally put Ohio State on the scoreboard with an impressive 8-5 win over Shane Roller. Anderson was able to score nearfall points twice on Roller, with the final three coming in the third period on a cradle. However, the momentum was short-lived for the Buckeyes as Tyrone Lewis downed Johnny Clark at 165 lbs. by a 9-6 score. Lewis used his favorite move, an ankle pick, to dominate Clark from neutral in the win. Chris Pendleton (174 lbs.) and Muhammed Lawal (197 lbs.) of Oklahoma State both earned wins to put away the Buckeyes. 184-pound Casey Kaputksa pinned Jake Rosholt in the second period and defending NCAA champion Tommy Rowlands recorded a 26-11 technical fall over Willie Gruenwald at 285 lbs. to complete the scoring for Ohio State. "For the most part, we have wrestled well," Smith said. "We are continuing to improve, but we made a lot of mistakes tonight. We know what we have to do to beat Oklahoma. They are a solid team with a lot of heart right now. This team has battled through some adversity this year, which makes them that much more dangerous." Oklahoma advanced to the Bedlam finals by defeated Iowa 18-18, winning on a tiebreaker criteria for most nearfall points recorded in the dual. 125-pound Bo Maynes of Oklahoma got things rolling for the Sooners, recording a 7-2 win over NCAA finalist Luke Eustice, but the see-saw affair was only beginning. Iowa's Cliff Moore recorded an upset with an 8-3 win over Witt Durden at 133 lbs. to tie the team score at 3-3. True freshman Teyon Ware then gave the Sooners, once thought to be left for dead this season, a lift with a third-period pin over Luke Moffitt at 141 lbs. Ware flirted with the pin numerous times throughout the match, but he was finally able to use a front headlock to throw Moffitt over to his back as time was expiring in the match. "I can't tell you how big Teyon has been for us since we decided to pull him out of redshirt," Sooners head coach Jack Spates said. Spates is still recovering from a mild heart attack he suffered in December, but is progressing well and has lost 21 lbs since the accident. "We needed someone to provide a lift for this squad, and that is just what Teyon did," Spates added. Iowa tied the team score at 9-9 with wins by freshmen Ty Eustice (149 lbs.) and Joe Johnston (157 lbs.). That is when the Sooners took control. 165-pound Wes Roberts recorded a 9-5 decision over Adam Fellers before All-American Robbie Waller downed Tyler Nixt of Iowa 4-1 at 174 lbs. Waller used a first-period takedown and a second-period escape to take a 3-1 lead into the third period. In the final stanza, Nixt chose bottom but was unable to earn an escape. The two wins gave Oklahoma a 15-9 lead after seven matches. At 184 lbs., Jessman Smith held on for a 6-5 win over Oklahoma's Josh Lambrecht. Smith jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first period, but made the mistake of choosing the bottom position to start the second period. Lambrecht locked up a cradle 30 seconds into the second period, but Smith held it off until the very end, when Lambrecht was able to turn Smith for three nearfall points to tie the match at 4-4. In the final period, Lambrecht earned an escape to take a 5-4 lead, but Smith finished a shot near the edge of the mat to take a 6-5 advantage before riding Lambrecht out for the remainder of the match. Tom Grossman's 8-7 win over Ryan Fulsaas at 197 lbs. proved to be the winner for the Sooners. The win gave Oklahoma an 18-12 lead heading into the final match before Oklahoma heavyweight Joel Tapler injury defaulted to Steve Mocco in the first period. "Teyon, Robbie and Tommy stepped up for us tonight," Spates said. "Our whole team stepped up, but when we needed big wins, those guys were there for us. This just shows you how hard this team fights, and even though we came into this thing unseeded, we have survived to be one of the top two dual teams in the nation." The in-state rivals will square off tomorrow afternoon at St. John Arena on the campus of The Ohio State Univ. Oklahoma State defeated Oklahoma 23-16 in Norman, Okla. earlier this season. In the consolation semifinals, No. 2 seed Iowa will battle No. 3 seed Minnesota for the second of three times this year and upstart Cornell, seeded fourth, will face off with No. 5 seed Ohio State. The winners will battle for third place and the losers will wrestle for fifth place. Michigan and Arizona State will square off in the seventh-place match tomorrow. Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals Finals Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma Projected Lineups 125 - Skyler Holman (OSU) vs. Bo Maynes (O) 133 - Johnny Thompson (OSU) vs. Witt Durden (O) 141 - Zack Esposito (OSU) vs. Teyon Ware (O) 149 - Jerrod Sanders (OSU) vs. Matt Grice (O) 157 - Shane Roller (OSU) vs. Raef Maturino (O) 165 - Tyrone Lewis (OSU) vs. Wes Roberts (O) 174 - Chris Pendleton (OSU) vs. Robbie Waller (O) 184 - Jake Rosholt (OSU) vs. Josh Lambrecht (O) 197 - Muhammed Lawal (OSU) vs. Tom Grossman (O) 285 - Willie Gruenwald (OSU) vs. Joel Tapler (O)