Stalling out Monday, February 7, 2022
Cowboys lose after dropping three of final four matches Rowdy Baribeau Staff Reporter Following Wyatt Sheets’ decision victory at 157 pounds, No. 10 OSU held clear control. They led 12-0 after three matches. A trajectory familiar for the Cowboys as they had a similar bout against Northern Iowa two weeks ago with a similar lead. OSU would follow the same trajectory as they did against UNI, collapsing down the stretch and losing 21-20 against No. 12 Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. The Cowboys and Tigers started at 141 pounds, and Carter Young started the offense early. Young had two takedowns and a reversal along with securing riding time over Connor Brown, 7-3. No. 12 Allan Hart was the projected starter for Missouri, but was held out because of an undisclosed injury. No. 13 Kaden Gfeller secured the first bonus-point victory of the night over No. 23 Josh Edmond at 149, pinning him at 4:51 in the match. Gfeller continues to impress this season, extending his win streak to 12. Gfeller’s bonus point victory would be one of two bonus-point victories for the Cowboys, but the Tigers had significant bonus-point victories themselves. At 165, No. 10 Travis Wittlake and No. 2 Keegan O’Toole of Missouri were primed for the match of the night, and it didn’t disappoint. Both found themselves battling for riding time, but neither secured it. O’Toole started with a takedown followed by a Wittlake escape, and O’Toole maintained control of Wittlake to get a decision victory 3-2. In an upset, unranked 174-pounder Sean Harman battled No. 10 Dustin Plott. Plott found himself up early, but a strong third period boosted Harman over Plott 5-4. At 184 pounds, No. 11 Dakota Geer took on No. 24 Jeremiah Kent. Kent went scoreless on the board but came close to getting near-fall points on Geer along with a takedown. Geer used his strong defense as he got a reversal and a strong performance on top in the third to get riding time en route to a 3-0 decision victory. Despite a momentum-building win for No. 33 Luke Surber on Friday, he found himself in an irreversible situation against No. 19 Zach Elam. Surber, OSU’s heavyweight, got an early takedown on Elam and showed potential to control the match, but Elam pulled a reversal to get Surber on his back that eventually led to a pin with 35 seconds remaining in the first. The Elam name rang true in Sunday’s dual against OSU as the younger Elam, Rocky, the No. 9 ranked 197-pounder, defeated newcomer Gavin Stika. Stika’s points all came from escapes, whereas Rocky was able to get a few takedowns and stay on the offense to keep Stika from getting a good shot. No. 8 Trevor Mastrogiovanni was held out of the dual with a right ankle injury sustained in Friday’s dual. 125-pounder Alex Yokubaitis started against No. 18 Noah Surtin. Yokubaitis was dominated in the bottom position and only got points from escapes and Surtin was able to get a tilt that turned into a pin. Daton Fix, OSU’s 133-pounder, held control of Missouri’s Trey Crawford as he fought for a pin to tie the dual at 21. Fix’s only downfall in this match was the fact he kept scoring. Fix easily got the tech-fall on Crawford, winning 22-5, but it’s not what the Cowboys needed as they needed a fall to tie the dual.
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Molly Jolliff