2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships: 3 Cowboys advance to semifinals

Oklahoma State dropped to fourth place overall after rough quarterfinal round. The Cowboys send three wresters to the semifinals: Dean Heil, Anthony Collica and Alex Dieringer, but they also dropped four bouts.

All three Cowboys clinched a top eight finish and All-American status.

Collica, No. 11 seed at 149 pounds, earned his first All-American honor with a 3-2 upset win over No. 3 seed Lavion Mayes of Missouri. Collica fell one win short last year of All-American status. He will look for his third upset of the tournament when he faces No. 2 seed Brandon Sorenson of Iowa in the semifinals.

Top-seed Heil avenged his only loss this season with an 8-3 decision over Joey Ward of North Carolina at 141 pounds. It is the second All-American honor of his career. He'll face No. 4 Anthony Ashnault of Rutgeres in the semifinals.

Two-time defending national champion Dieringer became the 14th four-time All-American in Cowboys history with an 11-5 decision over Tanner Weatherman of Iowa State, who he beat two weeks ago for his fourth Big 12 championship. Dieringer will grapple against No. 4 Daniel Lewis of Missouri in the 165 semifinals.

Penn State went 5-for-6 in the quarterfinals and is in first place with 68.5 points. The Nittany Lions' only loss came at 133 where Jordan Conaway fell to returning national champion Cody Brewer of Oklahoma. Defending champion Ohio State is second at 54 points, Iowa is third at 48.5 points and Missouri rounds out the top five with 42.5 points.

The Cowboys went 3-4 during the quarterfinals, while Preston Weigel picked up two wins at 197 in the consolation bracket to stay alive. Joe Smith (157) and Chandler Rogers (174) both dropped major decisions to higher seeded Penn State wrestlers, and Gabe Dean of Cornell avenged his lone loss this season to No. 8 Nolan Boyd at 184 with a 10-4 decision. Fourth-seeded Austin Marsden suffered just his second loss of the season with a 3-2 decision to Adam Conn of Michigan.

OSU will have five wrestlers competing in the famed "blood round" with a chance to become All-Americans and remain alive in the tournament to make a push for the program's 35th national title.

The fourth session begins at 7 p.m. CT and semifinal matches can be seen on ESPN.

Team Standings

1. Penn State - 68.5

2. Ohio St. - 54.0

3. Iowa - 48.5

4. Oklahoma St. - 46

5. Missouri - 42.5

6. Nebraska - 35.5

7. North Carolina St. - 32.5

8. Michigan - 32

9. Virginia Tech - 30.5

10. Cornell - 28.5

Quarterfinals results

141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. No. 8 Joey Ward (UNC), 8-3

149: No. 11 Anthony Collica (OSU) dec. No. 3 Lavion Mayes (MIZ), 3-2

157: No. 3 Jason Nolf (PSU) major dec. No. 6 Joe Smith (OSU), 11-3

165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) dec. No. 9 Tanner Weatherman (ISU), 11-5

174:  No. 1 Bo Nickal (PSU) major dec. No. 9 Chandler Rogers (OSU) , 15-4

184: No. 1 Gabe Dean (COR) dec. No. 8 Nolan Boyd (OSU), 10-4

285: No. 5 Adam Conn (MICH) dec. No. 4 Austin Marsden (OSU), 3-2

Consolation results

197: Preston Weigel (OSU) dec. Sam Wheeler (CSU), 3-2

197: Preston Weigel (OSU) dec. No. 13 Jake Smith (WVU), 4-0

Semifinals schedule

141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) vs. No. 4 Anthony Ashnault (RUT)

149: No. 11 Anthony Collica (OSU) vs. No. 2 Brandon Sorenson (Iowa)

165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) vs. No. 4 Daniel Lewis (MIZZ)

Consolation schedule

157: No. 6 Joe Smith (OSU) vs. Dylan Cottrell (WVU)

174: No. 9 Chandler Rogers (OSU) vs. No. 13 Alex Meyer (Iowa)

184: No. 8 Nolan Boyd (OSU) vs. No. 6 Bryce Stauffer (ASU)

197: Preston Weigel (OSU) vs. No. 7 Brett Harner (PRIN)

285: No. 4 Austin Marsden (OSU) vs. No. 15 Tanner Harms (WYO)