Oklahoma State wrestling: No. 1 Cowboys ride past No. 3 Iowa to remain undefeated

One second. Two seconds. And a few down-to-the-wire matches.

That was the scene Sunday at Gallagher-Iba Arena as top-ranked Oklahoma State, behind three victories which they were the lower seed, snapped a three-dual losing streak to No. 3 Iowa with a 24-11 victory.

The biggest upset for the Cowboys (6-0) was the highly-anticipated match at 133 pounds.

After Iowa’s Thomas Gilman, ranked No. 1 at 125, pulled away late in the third period for a 12-4 major decision over No. 11 Nick Piccininni, Kaid Brock faced Iowa’s other top-ranked wrestler in Cory Clark at 133.

Brock, ranked No. 6, jumped out to a 5-0 lead with takedowns to open the first two periods. Clark, a three-time All-American and returning NCAA finalist, responded with two takedowns and an escape to tie it with 20 seconds left in the third. Brock slipped away for an escape to keep Clark’s riding time under a minute for a 7-6 win.

Iowa head coach Tom Brands challenged the call, but after review the riding time was confirmed at 59 seconds and Brock was awarded his second victory over a top-ranked opponent in his young Cowboy career. His first came against Cody Brewer of Oklahoma in his Cowboy debut a season ago.

Dean Heil, the reigning national champion at 141, kept the momentum going for OSU with a scrappy 8-5 decision against No. 18-ranked Topher Carton. Heil’s 15th victory of the season gave the Cowboys a 6-3 lead, one it wouldn’t relinquish.

The Cowboys second upset came at 149 pounds with OSU’s No. 3-ranked Anthony Collica facing No. 2-ranked Brandon Sorensen in a rematch of last year’s NCAA semifinals. It was the third career meeting between the two and seven minutes of regulation wasn’t enough to decide a winner.

The match went the distance, a full 12 minutes, and was decided in two 30-second tiebreakers. The only points scored were escapes. Collica earned eight seconds of riding time in the first tiebreaker. Sorensen held on for six seconds before the OSU redshirt senior escaped with a 4-3 decision for a 9-4 OSU lead.

Iowa got back on the board with No. 2-ranked Michael Kemerer’s 4-3 win over No. 5-ranked Joe Smith at 157.

The Cowboys grabbed a straggle hold of the dual with back-to-back wins. With Joey Gunther, ranked No. 20 at 165, out of the lineup No. 4-ranked Chandler Rogers gave the Cowboys their first bonus-point win on the afternoon. Rogers wasted little time with two takedowns before a fall with 42 seconds left in the first period against unranked Skyler St. Johns.

Rogers’ win gave OSU a 15-7 lead, and fifth-ranked Kyle Crutchmer followed with a 5-2 decision over No. 13 Alex Meyer at 174 to pad the lead.

Sammy Brooks, ranked fifth, gave Iowa some live at 184. Brooks nearly pinned No. 4 Nolan Boyd twice in a 13-3 major decision for Iowa’s final points of the dual.

Leading 18-11 with two bouts left, No. 4 Preston Weigel rode out the final two minutes and added a four-point nearfall for a 6-0 win against unranked Cash Wilcke to clinch the dual victory.

With the dual in hand, ninth-ranked heavyweight Austin Schafer added a cherry on top with a third-period takedown for a 5-4 decision to edge sixth-ranked Sam Stoll.

The Cowboys return to the mat next weekend with a pair of Big 12 home duals against West Virginia at 7 p.m. Friday and against South Dakota State at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Notes

Brock, Heil and Collica are the only OSU starters still undefeated. Brock and Heil each have 15 wins on the season while Collica reached double digits Sunday with his 10th victory... .The Cowboys improved to 6-0 to start the season for the first time since 2013. That season the Cowboys fell short of the NCAA team title by four points to Penn State, who won their third consecutive title.

No. 1 Oklahoma State 24, No. 3 Iowa 11

125: No. 1 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) maj dec No. 11 Nick Picininni, 12-4
133: No. 6 Kaid Brock (OSU) dec No. 1 Cory Clark, 7-6
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec No. 18 Topher Carton, 8-5
149: No. 3 Anthony Collica (OSU) dec No. 2 Brandon Sorensen, 5-4 TB2
157: No. 2 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) dec No. 6 Joe Smith, 4-3
165: No. 6 Chandler Rogers (OSU) pin Skyler St. John, 2:18
174: No. 5 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) dec No. 13 Alex Meyer, 5-2
184: No. 5 Sammy Brooks (Iowa) maj dec No. 5 Nolan Boyd, 13-3
197: No. 4 Preston Weigel (OSU) dec Cash Wilcke, 6-0
285: No. 9 Austin Schafer (OSU) dec No. 6 Sam Stoll, 5-4