Oklahoma State wins 7th straight Big 12 Championship, 6 Cowboys claim titles

Six Oklahoma State wrestlers won Big 12 Championship titles as the Cowboys rode away with their seventh consecutive team title Sunday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

OSU won the team title by 43.5 points over Iowa State. Northern Iowa was third at 82 points, followed by Oklahoma at 78 and Fresno State at 59.5 to round out the top five.

The Cowboys went 6-1 during the final round with Nick Piccininni (30-0) at 125 pounds, Daton Fix (30-1) at 133, Kaden Gfeller (26-5) at 149, Jacobe Smith (26-3) at 174, Preston Weigel (11-0) at 197 and Derek White (28-1) at heavyweight.

Piccininni and Weigel both won their third Big 12 title. Piccininni escaped in the second and rode out North Dakota State’s Brent Fleetwood for a 2-0 decision. Weigel had a commanding 10-0 major decision over Iowa State’s Willie Miklus that included four separate two-point nearfall points.

Fix made it 2-0 for OSU in the finals with his 4-2 decision over Wyoming’s Montorie Bridges. Fix scored a takedown in the first, but was whistled for locked hands after a coaches challenge for a 2-1 lead entering the second. Fix escaped in the second and rode out Bridges in the third for a 4-2 decision with riding time.

Then the Cowboys’ momentum stopped when Kaid Brock (19-6) was pinned by Oklahoma’s Dom Demas in 54 seconds at 141. Brock previously dropped a 7-6 decision to Demas in the Bedlam dual in December.

Gfeller got the Cowboys their third Big 12 individual champion with a 6-5 decision over Iowa State’s Jarrett Degen. Gfeller grabbed a takedown with less than 20 seconds remaining and was able to hold down Degen just long enough for the win after the Cyclones’ coaches challenge was denied.

Smith kept things rolling with a back-and-forth 6-4 decision over Northern Iowa’s Taylor Lujan. In the third period, Smith escaped then got a takedown before Lujan reversed him and Smith escaped again for the victory.

Weigel and White ended the tournament with back-to-back bonus-point victories for the Cowboys. White scored five takedowns, including three in the third period, in his 20-5 technical fall against Fresno State’s AJ Nevills.

Big 12 team standings

1. Oklahoma State — 158

2. Iowa State — 114.5

3. Northern Iowa — 82

4. Oklahoma — 78

5. Fresno State — 59.5

6. Utah Valley — 59

7. Wyoming — 58

8. North Dakota State 53.5

9. West Virginia — 46

10. South Dakota State — 18.5

11. Air Force — 18

12. Northern Colorado — 17

Big 12 finals

125: Nick Piccininni (OSU) dec. Brent Fleetwood (North Dakota State), 2-0

133: Daton Fix (OSU) dec. Montorie Bridges (Wyoming), 4-2

141: Dominick Demas (Oklahoma) fall Kaid Brock (OSU), :54

149: Kaden Gfeller (OSU) dec. Jarrett Degen (Iowa State), 6-5

157: Chase Straw (Iowa State) dec. Justin Thomas (Oklahoma), 3-2

165: Demetrirus Romero (Utah Valley) dec. Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State), 8-6 SV1

174: Jacobe Smith (OSU) dec. Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa), 6-4

184: Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. Sam Colbray (Iowa State), 4-1

197: Preston Weigel (OSU) major dec. Willie Miklus (Iowa State), 10-0

285: Derek White (OSU) TF AJ Nevills (Fresno State), 20-5