Oklahoma Cowboys capture second-consecutive Big 12 Title
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Ted Witulski (USA Wrestling)
03/06/2004
The Oklahoma State Cowboys ran away with the Big 12 Championships Saturday in Ames, Ia., scoring some 31 points more than the second place Huskers. Host Iowa State took third, followed by Missouri and Oklahoma. The semifinals and even consolation rounds provided an exciting turn of events heading into the championship round. Sonner Teyon Ware surely wasn't expecting to wrestle in the consolation round, but the Big 12 has shown how deep its talent is. Ware faced J.P. Reese of Missouri and came out with a tight 5-3 OT win. Several times in the match Reese looked for a cement roll, only to have Ware's strength and balance stave off the takedown. Ware ended up with a third place finish by capturing his third overtime victory of the day against Ronnie Delk of Oklahoma State. Iowa State put together a strong consolation showing with five wins for third place. Iowa State moved into third place in the team-point standings with 43.5 points trailing Nebraska at 53.5 and Oklahoma State at 71.5 In an unexpected turn Travis Paulson who entered the tourney with a 19-4 record dropped a tough 3-2 decision to B.J. Wright of Nebraska. Later in the round, Travis Pascoe of Nebraska lost 6-4 to Kurt Backes, Pascoe had beaten Backes earlier in the day 10-3. Pascoe's loss forced a fourth place challenge match against Dyer in which Pascoe won 7-6 with a riding time point. Missouri's fortunes took a downward spiral in the consolations as all six of their consi contenders went winless in the wrestleback. Probably the biggest disappointment for the Tigers was Tyron Woodley who went from Big 12 Champion in 2002 to fifth place this year. B.J. Padden got back on track for Nebraska after Rusty Blackmon from OSU assured himself of an NCAA berth with the semifinal upset. Padden was dominant for third place with an 11-4 victory over Trevor Smith of ISU. As the matches third place concluded the Big 12 administrators and coaches began selecting the wildcards entries for the NCAA Nationals. Wildcards went to Travis Paulson, Iowa State; Jeff Ecklof, Oklahoma; Justin Dyer, Oklahoma; Mimi Miller, Oklahoma; Travis Pascoe, Nebraska; and Jeremy Spates, Missouri Going for Gold-The Championships 125 pounds: Sam Hazewinkel a freshman from Oklahoma pulled the upset when he faced off against Jason Powell of Nebraska. Powell, a lanky 125-pounder was in the unusual position of having to desperately escape from the bottom as Hazewinkel took a 4-1 lead into the 3rd period. Hazewinkel dominated on top securing riding time before relinquishing an escape late in the last stanza. Hazewinkel took home the 125-pound title in his first Big 12 outing. 133 pounds: The most anticipated bout of the night featured Zach Roberson of Iowa State vs. returning NCAA champion and three time finalist, Johnny Thompson of Oklahoma State. The hometown crowd was firmly behind Roberson as he looked for his shots against a solid but defensive opponent. Thompson wore a deep scowl on his face after a scoreless first period. Each wrestler exchanged escape before Thompson got in on a deep double in the third. Thompson exploded up lifting Roberson high into the air. Roberson in an acrobatic twist dived through Thompson's leg nearly scoring a counter takedown. After a scramble that had the crowd twisting in their seats the referee called a stalemate. As the match wore on Thompson went to his bread and butter, locking in a front headlock. Thompson hipped into Roberson and didn't waste his best opportunity of the match, taking the Cyclone to his back for the fall. 141 pounds: Nate Gallick of the Cyclones entered the finals against Matt Murray of Nebraska. Murray earlier in the day downed NCAA champion Teyon Ware in OT. Gallick, an Arizona native, took the #2 national ranking into the match looking for his first Big 12 Title. Neither wrestled scored in the first period before Gallick gained a second period escape. Murray quickly evened the score in the third with his escape. An impatient coach, Bobby Douglas occasionally shouted instructions far away in press row letting his assistants Zach Thompson and Chris Bono corner for Gallick. Before the round started Douglas noted, "if Gallick wants to be an NCAA champion then he has to win this match." The two took the match to overtime with neither wrestler finding any penetration on their shots. The first neutral position went nowhere when Murray started on bottom in the 30-second ride-out. Gallick dominated from top lifting Murray and returning him hard to the mat twice before solidly breaking him down for a total ride. Gallick quickly escaped from bottom but had to stave off a deep shot by Murray at the buzzer to gain his Big 12 Title. 149 pounds: Sophomore Zack Esposito of the Cowboys faced off against Travis Shuefelt of Nebraska who earlier had pinned Jeremy Spates of Missouri. Esposito took a quick 2-0 lead with a takedown before Shufelt surprised the Cowboy with a granby cradle. Shuefelt gained no nearfall but locked a tight near cradle from the ensuing scramble. Shuefelt squeezed the grip as Esposito looked for the edge, bringing jeers of fleeing from the crowd. Esposito got off the mat but was ridden out the rest of the period. In the second Shuefelt escaped at the 1:40 mark taking a 3-2 advantage. Shuefelt nearly forced a peekout on Esposito before the Cowboy counterattacked and gained his second takedown leading 4-3. Shuefelt quickly escaped and nearly locked in a cradle for a takedown when the buzzer sounded. Riding time did not appear to be a factor as Esposito escaped quickly to lead 5-4. Esposito scored another takedown with a deep double, locking his hands behind his opponent's hamstrings as he lead 7-4. Another escape made the score 7-5. A stall warning came late in the period but nothing changed as Esposito exited the mat a 7-5 winner becoming a Big 12 Champion. 157 pounds: Johnny Hendricks, a freshman for Oklahoma State looked for his first Big 12 title as he stepped onto the mat against Kenny Burleson of Missouri. Burleson a senior had experience on his side against the freshman Cowboy. Burleson tried to reverse course from the National Dual finals where he dropped a 3-1 decision to Hendricks. Early in the match the wrestlers parried with Burleson, carrying a lanky build, intent on shooting sweep singles. Neither wrestled scored in the first and Hendricks escaped in the second for a 1-0 lead. Hendricks nearly scored a go-behind before scrambling out of bounds from the front headlock position. Hendricks kept the pressure on gaining a second stall call for another point grabbing a 2-0 lead at the end of the second. Burleson got on the board with an escape, but nearly gave up a takedown in front of the Cowboy coaches. Hendricks desperately worked the edge looking for control. Burleson dominated the ties and the center of the mat off-balancing his opponent as the two worked from control in the front head position. With 25 seconds left in the third period Burleson swung behind Hendricks on a wild go-behind. Hendricks leapt for the edge when Hendricks ran down a leg. Burleson only briefly grasped the far ankle when the referee called a takedown that for the Cowboy coaches seemed fleeting as the momentum took the wrestlers off the mat. To finish out the match Burleson had to ride out Hendricks with his 3-2 lead. Burleson tucked into an unorthodox ride that Hendricks tried to fight through using standard crack down high crotch offense. Casting, twisting and turning was not enough as Hendricks left the mat as a runner-up clearly disgusted with his inability to close out the match. 165 pounds: The hard throwing Tyrone Lewis took his #1 ranking to the mat against Jacob Klein of Nebraska. Lewis who has only one loss on the year from his recent dual against Minnesota was dominant in the semis dominating Charles Jones of Oklahoma 14-5. Jacob Klein the third seed of the tourney slipped Cyclone Nick Passolano 3-1 in the semis. Lewis wasted no time as he popped the elbows of Klein driving back to the center of the mat with a perfect