2019 Big 12 Wrestling Championship: Oklahoma State in 1st place after Session 1

Oklahoma State leads the Big 12 Championship with 65.5 points and eight semifinalists after the first session Saturday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Iowa State is second at 48.5 points, followed by Northern Iowa (35.5), Wyoming (31.5) and Fresno State (28.5) in the top five.

The Cowboys went 15-2 during the opening session, with nine bonus-point victories: three falls, three technical falls and three major decisions. OSU went 7-0 in the preliminary round with six bonus-point wins.

In the quarterfinals, No. 1 seeds Nick Piccininni at 125 pounds, Jacobe Smith at 174 and heavyweight Derek White posted bonus-point victories. Piccininni remained undefeated this season with a 17-2 technical fall over Utah Valley’s Mitch Brown, Smith pinned Fresno State’s No. 8 Dominic Kincaid with one second left in the first period and White had a 12-3 major decision against Air Force’s No. 8 Kayne Hutchinson.

Fellow No. 1 seeds Daton Fix at 133, Kaden Gfeller at 149 and Preston Weigel 197 made the semifinals along with No. 3 Dakota Geer at 184 and No. 5 Kaid Brock at 141.

Gfeller and Geer both won their quarterfinal matches on riding time.

Gfeller had a back-and-forth bout with No. 8 Jaden Van Maanen of North Dakota State that saw the Cowboy score a reversal in each of the first two periods. Gfeller landed on his right hip during a shot attempt and was still able to pick up a low-single takedown with 1:15 left in the third then rode out Van Maanen until there was 23 seconds to go for the win.

Geer escaped 13 seconds into the second period then scored a takedown and rode out No. 6 Will Sumner of Utah Valley the rest of the frame for a 6-3 lead. Sumner escaped just 16 seconds into the third, but Geer’s defense was too strong as the Wolverine didn’t get a takedown until there were only 8 seconds remaining.

OSU’s No. 4 Wyatt Sheets at 157 and No. 7 Joe Smith at 165 both dropped their quarterfinal matches. Sheets fell by 10-1 major decision to No. 4 Luke Weber of North Dakota State in a match he couldn’t find his late heroics. A tired Joe Smith gave up a takedown with 44 seconds to go and was turned to his back for four points in a 12-8 decision loss to No. 2 Demetrirus Romero of Utah Valley.

It was Smith’s first time wrestling at 165 after winning a wrestle-off for the spot earlier in the week against Chandler Rogers, who was a two-time All-American at the weight. Smith, who was a two-time Big 12 champion and NCAA All-American at 157 in 2016 and 2017, will now head to the consolation bracket with Sheets.

The semifinals and consolation quarterfinals begin at 5 p.m. Saturday on FloWrestling.org.

Big 12 Championship team standings

1. Oklahoma State - 65.52
2. Iowa State - 48.53
3. Northern Iowa - 35.54
4. Wyoming - 31.55
5. Fresno State - 28.56
6. North Dakota State - 277
7. Oklahoma - 268
8. Utah Valley - 239
9. Northern Colorado - 13.5
10. South Dakota State - 11
11. West Virginia - 9
12. Air Force - 2

OSU’s results at Big 12 Championship

125: Nick Piccininni (No. 1)

• First round: Bye
• Quarterfinal: 17-2 TF at 5:59 over Brown (UVU)

133: Daton Fix (No. 1)

• First round: 6:01 fall over Molitor (SDSU)
• Quarterfinal: 7-3 dec over Joint (FS)

141: Kaid Brock (No. 5)

• First round: 15-0 TF at 5:13 over Williams (SDSU)
• Quarterfinal: Injury default over Findlay (UVU)

149: Kaden Gfeller (No. 1)

• First round: 14-2 major dec over Opsal (AFA)
• Quarterfinal: 9-8 dec over Van Maanen (NDSU)

157: Wyatt Sheets (No. 4)

• First round: 5-3 dec over Rea (WVU)
• Quarterfinal: 10-1 major dec loss to Weber (NDSU)

165: Joe Smith (No. 7)

• First round: 1:02 fall over Flanagan (UNCO)
• Quarterfinal: 12-8 dec loss to Romero (UVU)

174: Jacobe Smith (No. 1)

• First round: Bye
• Quarterfinal: 2:59 fall over Kincaid (FS)

184: Dakota Geer (No. 3)

• First round: Bye
• Quarterfinal: 7-6 decision over Sumner (UVU)

197: Preston Weigel (No. 1)

• First round: 15-0 TF at 6:08 over Shedenhelm (UNI)
• Quarterfinal: 3-0 dec over Davidson (WYO)

285: Derek White (No. 1)

• First round: 11-0 major dec over Boyd (OU)
• Quarterfinal: 12-3 major dec over Hutchinson (AF)

OSU’s semifinal schedule

125: No. 1 Nick Piccininni (OSU) vs. No. 4 Rico Montoya (UNCO)

133: No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) vs. No. 4 Matt Schmitt (WVU)

141: No. 5 Kaid Brock (OSU) vs. Chris Sandoval (UNCO)

149: No. 1 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) vs. No. 5 Khristian Olivas (FS)

174: No. 1 Jacobe Smith (OSU) vs. No. 5 Hayden Hastings (WYO)

184: No. 3 Dakota Geer (OSU) vs. No. 2 Drew Foster (UNI)

197: No. 1 Preston Weigel (OSU) vs. No. 5 Jake Woodley (OU)

HWT: No. 1 Derek White (OSU) vs. No. 4 Tate Orndorff (UVU)

OSU’s first round consolation schedule

157: No. 4 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) vs. Paden Moore (UNI)

165: No. 7 Joe Smith (OSU) vs. No. 8 Jeremy Thomas (OU)