Oklahoma State captures 31st NCAA team title with two individual champions; Larkin named Most Outsta
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John Fuller (TheMat.com)
03/22/2003
Kansas City, Mo. - The drought is over for Oklahoma State. The most storied program in college wrestling history captured its 31st NCAA title with 143 team points. The Cowboys also crowned two individual national champions in Johnny Thompson at 133 lbs. and freshman Jake Rosholt at 184 lbs. The 143 team points is the highest point total ever for the Cowboys, who have not won a team title since 1994. Minnesota, winners of the last two NCAA team titles, finished second with 104.5 team points. They were followed in the top five by Oklahoma (78), Lehigh (69) and Arizona State (65). Thompson defeated Ryan Lewis of Minnesota 5-3 in a rematch of last year's championship match. Lewis began the scoring in the second period with an escape, but a Thompson double-leg gave the defending national champion a 2-1 lead. Thompson took a 3-2 lead in the third period with an escape and extended his lead to 5-2 with another takedown off a double-leg. Rosholt dominated Big XII champion Scott Barker of Missouri by a 13-5 major decision. In the first period, Rosholt took complete control of the match, scoring on a spin-behind and an inside-trip for a 4-1 lead. In the third period, Rosholt wisely chose neutral and scored a takedown off an ankle-pick to take a 6-3 lead and seal his win. 197-pound Damion Hahn captured the only individual title for Minnesota, which had three NCAA finalists in the tournament. Hahn defeated 2002 NCAA runner-up Jon Trenge of Lehigh with a sparkling finish. Trailing 3-1 in the third period, Hahn scored on an inside-trip to tie the score at 3-3 early in the period. Gopher coaches instructed Hahn to let Trenge go, a move that appeared to be costly to Hahn's title chances until he was able to score on a spin-behind with three seconds left in the match. The other finalist for Minnesota was Jared Lawrence, who dropped a 10-8 decision to Eric Larkin of Arizona State in the 149-pound final. Larkin was later named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Larkin appeared ready to capture his first NCAA title with ease after jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the first period. Lawrence, the defending national champion, came back, scoring on a reversal to cut the lead to 4-3 and then later scoring on a single-leg in the second period to cut the lead to 6-5. But Larkin persevered, scoring a reversal to extend his lead to 8-5 and then scoring a takedown in the third period to take a 10-5 advantage. Lawrence made a slight comeback at the end with an escape and a takedown, but it was too little, too late. True freshman Teyon Ware of Oklahoma was the second freshman to capture a national title in this tournament after posting a 6-4 overtime win over Dylan Long of Northern Iowa at 141 lbs. Long took a quick 2-0 lead after a single-leg takedown, but Ware took a 3-2 advantage with a counter-single late in the first period. After both wrestlers traded escapes, the score was tied 4-4 heading into overtime. In the extra session, Long shot a single-leg, but Ware was able to counter and spin behind for the win. At 125 lbs., sophomore Travis Lee of Cornell captured his first NCAA title with a thrilling 6-4 win. Fleeger looked to be in control of the match early on, scoring on a counter-single for a 2-0 lead, but Lee continued to battle, scoring on an ankle-pick late in the first period to take a 3-2 lead. In the second period, Fleeger took a 4-3 lead with an escape, but Lee quickly tied the score with an escape of his own in the third period. In the final stanza, Lee was able to score on a double-leg with only 22 seconds remaining in the match to earn the win. Ryan Bertin of Michigan became the first national champion for the Wolverines since Kirk Trost won the title in 1986. Bertin dominated freshman Alex Tirapelle of Illinois 7-3 in the finals. Bertin scored a takedown in the first period and racked up over 90 seconds of riding time. In the second period, Bertin scored takedowns off of a high-crotch and a single-leg to take a 6-2 lead. That lead held up until the end. 2002 NCAA finalist Matt Lackey of Illinois defeated freshman Troy Letters of Lehigh 6-3 for the 165-pound title. Lackey scored takedowns in the first and third periods and a reversal in the second period. At 174 lbs., Robbie Waller of Oklahoma ended his career with a national title, the second on the evening for the Sooners, after a 7-2 win over unseeded Carl Fronhofer of Pittsburgh. Waller was able to score on a high-crotch in the second period to take a 4-2 lead before finishing Fronhofer off with a low double-leg in the third period. Heavyweight Steve Mocco was seemingly the lone bright spot for Iowa, which placed eighth in the tournament. Last year's NCAA finalist dominated Kevin Hoy of Air Force 7-2 before showing more emotion than he has in his entire career to date. TheMat.com provided complete coverage of the 2003 NCAA Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. at Kemper Arena.