Oklahoma State wrestling: Nick Piccininni gets 100th win as No. 9 Cowboys thump No. 10 Pittsburgh, 30-10

Nick Piccininni won his 100th career match in the No. 9-ranked Oklahoma State wrestling team’s 30-10 dual victory against No. 10 Pittsburgh on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.

Piccininni, who is ranked No. 4 at 125 pounds, was taken down twice by Louis Newell early in the first period, but answered a reversal and takedown in the final 30 seconds to tie it 4-4 heading into the second. The redshirt senior Cowboy escaped then scored a takedown near the boundary line before recording the fall at 4:15 to become the 44th wrestler in program history to join the 100-win club.

Reece Witcraft looked like he was going to build the momentum with a throw and four-point nearfall at the end of the first period against No. 6 Micky Phillippi. But the experienced Panther wrestler escaped in the second then scored a takedown and locked up the true freshman Witcraft in a cradle for the fall in 4:04 to tie the dual 6-6. Witcraft also lost 4-3 to Phillippi at the Southern Scuffle.

OSU (7-1, 3-0 Big 12) then won seven straight matches against Pitt (5-2, 0-0 ACC), including two by bonus points to capture the Cowboys’ first top-10 win of the season. Third-ranked Boo Lewallen improved to 13-0 with a 19-4 technical fall against Luke Kemerer at 149 pounds. Andrew Shomers, who is wrestling up to 174 while No. 11 Joe Smith is out with an undisclosed injury, upset No. 17 Gregg Harvey of Pitt with a dominant 10-0 major decision.

At 157 pounds, Wyatt Sheets managed to hold on for a 9-8 win against Taleb Rahmani in a thrilling back-and-forth bout. Trailing by one point to start the third, Sheets scored a reversal then was hit with a stalling point before Rahmani escaped for a 7-6 lead. Sheets scored a takedown in the closing seconds, and Rahmani escaped again to tie it 8-8, but Sheets secured the win with 1:02 riding time.

In the second Scuffle rematch of the dual, OSU came out on top with No. 9 Travis Wittlake improving to 2-0 this month against No. 11 Jake Wentzel with a 9-2 decision at 165. Wittlake tossed Wentzel to the mat with a headlock in the second period then scored a reversal to star the third and rode out Wentzel for the rest of the match.

The Cowboys built a 27-6 lead with back-to-back upsets from Shomers and Anthony Montalvo, who knocked off No. 7 Nino Bonaccrosi with a 6-4 decision at 184.

Montalvo raced out to a 4-0 start with a takedown a two-point nearfall, but Bonaccrosi escaped and scored a takedown of his own near the boundary line then tied it 4-4 when the Cowboy was called for illegals hands to the face. Montalvo escaped in the third and rode out Bonaccorsi to secure the win.

After being pinned in 1:07 by No. 2 Noah Adams of West Virginia on Friday, Dakota Geer responded with a 6-2 win with more than two minutes of riding time against Kellan Stout at 197. Austin Harris, who sat out Friday for Cornelius Putnam to make his OSU debut, dropped a 14-3 major decision to the bigger No. 8 Demetrius Thomas for the 30-10 final.

What’s next

The Cowboys travel to Iowa for back-to-back Big 12 duals at No. 18 Northern Iowa and at No. 16 Iowa State. OSU visits UNI at 7 p.m. Saturday and ISU at 2 p.m. Sunday. Both duals will be broadcasted on FloWrestling.

No. 9 Oklahoma State 30, No. 10 Pittsburgh 10

125: No. 4 Nick Piccininni (OSU) def. Louis Newell (PITT), FALL 4:15

133: No. 6 Micky Phillippi (PITT) def. Reece Witcraft (OSU), FALL 4:04

141: Dusty Hone (OSU) def. Cole Matthews (PITT), 7-1 DEC

149: No. 3 Boo Lewallen (OSU) def. Luke Kemerer (PITT), 19-4 TF

157: Wyatt Sheets (OSU) def. Taleb Rahmani (PITT), 9-8 DEC

165: No. 9 Travis Wittlake (OSU) def. No. 11 Jake Wentzel (PITT), 9-2 DEC

174: Andrew Shomers (OSU) def. No. 17 Gregg Harvey (PITT), 10-0 MD

184: Anthony Montalvo (OSU) def. No. 7 Nino Bonaccorsi (PITT), 6-4 DEC

197: No. 11 Dakota Geer (OSU) def. Kellan Stout (PITT), 6-2 DEC

285: No. 8 Demetrius Thomas (PITT) def. Austin Harris (OSU), 14-3 MD