37 and Won

The Oklahoma State Cowboys pulled away late from the fourth-ranked Missouri Tigers Friday night at Gallagher Iba Arena in a 23-9 victory. Impressive outings from Nolan Boyd and Austin Marsden helped seal the dual, and the Cowboys ended the Tigers' dual win streak at 37.

Starting out the night at 125 was No. 5 Eddie Klimara for OSU and No. 10 Barlow McGhee for Missouri. In what was initially a slow start, the match took an exciting turn when Klimara made a crucial escape; his escape later proved to be the difference, as Klimara was claimed victor and OSU took an early lead 3-0 over the Tigers.

Coming in at 133, OSU's Gary Wayne Harding was considered an underdog in his match against No. 10 Zach Synon. Harding came out wrestling with an offensive stand point from the start. Synon capitalized on Harding's early mistakes, but it was Gary's effort in the 2nd and 3rd period that won the match. With Synon's defeat, OSU went up 6-0 over the Tigers.

In what proved to be a vital victory for the pokes, No. 1 Dean Heil defeated Oklahoma native No. 5 Matt Manley of Missouri. The match took a slow pace as each wrestler filled each other for the first period. The second period saw Dean take top, gaining one advantage point. The third period was more of the same with an exception of a late reversal ending the match 3-1 in favor of the Cowboys. With the conclusion of the third match, the Cowboys found themselves up 9-0.

At 149 for the Pokes was No. 16 Anthony Collica against No. 3 Lavion Mayes. Mayes, an undefeated junior, took his time with Collica with a slim three point victory. Missouri was now on the board with three team points putting the score at 9-3.

Next in at 157 was Joe Smith, who came into the match with an impressive record of 24-2. Smith, a freshman, is the son of OSU head coach John Smith. Taking on Missouri's LeRoy Barnes, Smith took no time on offense, scoring within a matter of seconds from the whistle blowing. Joe dominated most of the match making it look easy as he had his way with Barnes. In the second period, Joe chose to start in the top position, gaining an advantage riding point. Coach Smith told his son to cut Barnes in an attempt to get one more takedown, which would have given Oklahoma State a major victory and four team points. In the last seconds of the match, Smith was in on a leg and only seconds away from another takedown, but fell up short. Joe won the match 9-3, giving OSU the advantage and a team score of 12-3

Alex Dieringer, the returning national champion at 165, looked winded as he faced No. 5 Daniel Lewis. Starting out strong, Dieringer looked to dominate with the first take down. But as the first period unfolded, Lewis looked more determined to win. Despite looking fatigued for most of the match, Derringer was able to pull off a win 4-3, allowing Lewis to rack up an impressive two minutes of riding time. With Dieringer's win, OSU took a 15-3 lead over Missouri.

No. 3 Cowboy Kyle Crutchmer looked to turn the tide as he faced No. 9 Blaise Butler. Both wrestlers looked matched up evenly, each only giving up escapes from one another. The match ended up going into overtime where Butler gained the edge as he took down Crutchmer with a beautiful outside single in a 3-1 sudden victory. Missouri looked to rally back late with performances from their heavier weights, bringing the team score to 15-6.

At 184, Missouri looked to gain bonus points from No. 4 Willie Miklus, who was facing off against OSU's Nolan Boyd. The match was one-sided for all three periods; unfortunately for Missouri, it wasn't in their favor. Boyd took control of the match early with a take down in the first period. With the aid of an extra point from riding time, Boyd dominated. With time running out in the first, he reversed Miklus once again. Boyd went on to win the match 7-2 in what was a huge victory for Boyd. Boyd put up his Cowboys 18-6 and regained momentum in favor of the home team.

At 197, Missouri showcased their best wrestler J'den Cox, a national champion who was ranked 2nd in the nation. Cox faced the young freshman Andrew Marsden. In the first period, J'den went to work, gaining an early take down against Marsden; still, Marsden showed no fear and wrestled his match. Missouri looked to gain bonus points from this matchup, but Marsden held his own; he lost by only three and only gave up three team points. Cox's victory made the team score 18-9 in favor of the Pokes.

The final match was anything but a normal heavy match. No. 5 Austin Marsden handled Missouri heavyweight James Romero. The start of match came with a bear hug which almost led to a fall. Marsden then went to work on top, tilting his way to a tech fall, something you do not see everyday from the heavier weights.

As mentioned earlier, this win over Missouri snapped a 37 win streak for the Tigers; coincidentally, their last defeat was January 31, 2014 in Stillwater.

Stay tuned to Oklahoma State wrestling, as they are back in action this Sunday against conference opponent Iowa State in Gallagher Iba Arena.