Oklahoma State wins unusual Bedlam dual 27-6 to capture the 2003 National Duals title

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John Fuller (TheMat.com)
01/20/2003


Columbus, Ohio - Anything can happen in Bedlam. Even on neutral ground.    For the eighth consecutive time, Oklahoma State (10-0) defeated in-state and conference rival Oklahoma (9-4). The Cowboys won eight of 10 matches on their way to a 27-6 pounding of the Sooners at the 2003 Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals.    The Cowboys won the final seven matches of the dual meet to run away with the victory. 174-pound Chris Pendleton sealed the win for Oklahoma State, defeating All-American Robbie Waller 6-4 in an action-packed match.    NCAA finalist Josh Lambrecht of Oklahoma forfeited at 184 lbs. due to a rib injury he suffered last night.    "I have to be pleased with our performance throughout this tournament," Oklahoma State head coach John Smith said following the win. Smith's team only allowed 31 team points in four dual meets.    "Obviously there have been some matches here that we have to improve on by March, but as a whole, I felt our team wrestled well together and we had different guys step up at different times for us. This is a grueling tournament and I was glad that our team was able to keep its focus and tune in on the task at hand," Smith added.    The Sooners, a team that entered the National Duals unseeded, won two of the first three matches to take a 6-3 lead over No. 1 seed Oklahoma State. 125-pound Bo Maynes and 141-pound Teyon Ware both pulled off upsets for the Sooners in helping them gain the early advantage.    Maynes defeated Skyler Holman 6-4 in overtime to get things rolling for the Sooners. Holman appeared to have the match under control, riding Maynes out for the entire second period. In the third, Holman chose bottom, a position he has struggled in all season, and Maynes quickly tilted Holman for two nearfall points to take a 2-0 lead.    Holman earned an escape and finished a single-leg to take a 3-2 lead with the one minute riding time advantage, but Maynes scored a reversal with eight seconds remaining to send the match to overtime. In the extra session, Maynes quickly scored on a spin-behind move for the win.    "Bo has been wanting this match for a while. They have not wrestled in over a year, and Bo feels that he has something to prove to himself and to everyone nationally," Oklahoma head coach Jack Spates said. "He fought through a lot in this match, and his never-give-up attitude paid off in the end."    After defending NCAA champion Johnny Thompson of Oklahoma State dominated Witt Durden in a 6-1 win at 133 lbs., Ware squared off with Zack Esposito in a matchup of true freshmen.    In their second meeting of the season, Ware would get the best of Esposito, sending the Cowboy freshman to his first loss of the season, 5-5 in a tiebreaker.    The two talents did not disappoint anxious fans waiting for this matchup. Esposito began the scoring with an inside-trip for a 2-0 lead. Ware quickly earned an escape and scored on a spin-behind to take a 3-2 lead. An Esposito escape would tie the score at 3-3 after the first period. In the second period, Esposito chose bottom and scored a reversal to take a 5-3 lead, but Ware tied the score at 5-5 with escapes in the second and third periods.    After a scoreless overtime, Esposito chose bottom in the tiebreaker, but was unable to escape, despite a controversial stalemate call midway through the tiebreaker when it appeared Esposito was on his way to earning an escape.    "That was a big win for Teyon. He was behind at two different times during the match, but he never got flustered. He just kept pushing and kept fighting," Spates stated.    The match was perhaps a preview of the next four years for the two freshmen.    "These two are going to be great rivals for the next four years. This was only a taste of what is to come of the future. It was a great battle tonight and it will be a great battle in future meetings as well," Spates added.    After that, it was all Cowboys as the Sooners made way with a makeshift lineup, using backups at 149 and 285 lbs. while also forfeiting at 184 lbs.    But it was Pendleton's win over Waller that gave the Cowboys the win. Waller took a 3-0 lead in the second period and using a tilt for three nearfall points. Pendleton later tied the match at 3-3 with an escape and a takedown, and he took control in the third period by scoring three nearfall points of his own on an arm-bar tilt. Waller added an escape, but was unable to score a takedown in the final seconds.    "I wrestled well," Pendleton said after his win. "There were some times that I felt the official could have counted more back points, but the important thing was to come out with a win here. We wrestled well as a team and that is a good sign as we go through the second half of the season."    The Cowboys also received wins from Jerrod Sanders (149 lbs.), Shane Roller (157 lbs.), Tyrone Lewis (165 lbs.), Muhammed Lawal (197 lbs.) and Willie Gruenwald (285 lbs.) in the win. Freshman Jake Rosholt picked up the win by forfeit at 184 lbs.    In a marquee individual match, Steve Mocco of Iowa defeated Tommy Rowlands of Ohio State 4-3 in a 285-pound battle in the third-place dual. With the score tied at 1-1 in front of a rowdy crowd, Rowlands was able to turn a single-leg into a double-leg and score a takedown for a 3-1 lead. Mocco quickly earned an escape and scored a takedown of his own for a 4-3 lead with 30 seconds remaining. Rowlands was unable to escape the claws of "The Bear" to send the match to overtime.    "I would say that the match between those two was the best they have had to date," stated Iowa head coach Jim Zalesky. "Both wrestlers were pretty offensive throughout the match and the flow was a lot more smooth than in some of the past meetings. Hopefully this will be a sign of things to come, especially the win."    Iowa dominated the dual against Ohio State 34-10 to capture third place.    Clint Wattenberg (184 lbs.) of Cornell, whose team placed sixth at the tournament, was named the Division I Most Outstanding Wrestler.    In Division II action, Nebraska-Kearney defeated Nebraska-Omaha 24-14 in another in-state rivalry. The Lopers won the first five matches of the dual meet, including pins by Adam Keiswetter (133 lbs.) and Gabe Re (141 lbs.). Frank Kuchera's win over Dan Vech at 174 lbs. sealed the win for Nebraska-Kearney.    157-pound Paul Carlson of North Dakota State was named the Division II Most Outstanding Wrestler.    In the Division III version of the Border Brawl, Wartburg defeated Augsburg for the second time this season en route to the National Duals title. With the dual meet tied at 13-13 going into the 197-pound match, the Knights received wins from Alain Djoumessi (197 lbs.) and Leroy Gardner (285 lbs.) to come away with the narrow win.    Augsburg's Marcus LeVesseur (157 lbs.) captured the award for the Division III Most Outstanding Wrestler.    Division I Final: Oklahoma State 27, Oklahoma 6  125 - Bo Maynes (O) dec. Skyler Holman (OSU), 6-4 ot  133 - Johnny Thompson (OSU) dec. Witt Durden (O), 6-1  141 - Teyon Ware (O) dec. Zack Esposito (OSU), 5-5 tb  149 - Jerrod Sanders (OSU) dec. Danny Rubenstein (O), 10-5  157 - Shane Roller (OSU) dec. Raef Maturino (O), 7-3  165 - Tyrone Lewis (OSU) dec. Wes Roberts (O), 3-2  174 - Chris Pendleton (OSU) dec. Robbie Waller (O), 6-4  184 - Jake Rosholt (OSU) won by forfeit  197 - Muhammed Lawal (OSU) dec. Tom Grossman (O), 11-7  285 - Willie Gruenwald (OSU) dec. Jake Hager (O), 6-5    Division II Final: Nebraska-Kearney 24, Nebraska-Omaha 14  125 - Bryce Abbey (UNK) dec. Dan Hilario (UNO), 5-0  133 - Adam Keiswetter (UNK) pin Mitch Waite (UNO), 2:51  141 - Gabe Re (UNK) pin Roderick Ratcliff (UNO), 6:14  149 - Brandon Pfizenmaier (UNK) dec. Christian Alt (UNO), 9-5  157 - Aaron Dalton (UNK) dec. Nick Blanchard (UNO), 9-6  165 - Blu Wahle (UNO) dec. Riley Ross (UNK), 8-6  174 - Frank Kuchera (UNK) dec. Dan Vech (UNO), 6-3  184 - Zach Stalder (UNO) dec. Curtis Brown (UNK), 7-4  197 - Chad Wallace (UNO) maj. dec. Jeff Sylvester (UNK), 11-3  285 - Les Sigman (UNO) maj. dec. Bob Murphy (UNK), 16-5    Division III Final: Wartburg 19, Augsburg 13  125 - Heath Ropp (W) dec. Rich Miller (A),