Cowboys claim three conference crowns, share team title

Mar. 8—TULSA — Math was the clear winner Sunday at the Big 12 Conference Wrestling Championships.

The number crunching all day was at a fever pitch as coaches, wrestlers and fans tried to figure out scenarios surrounding the four-team race for the conference title.

When the action on the mat finally dictated the end result, it was Oklahoma State coming back from a Day 1 deficit to tie Bedlam rival Oklahoma as co-champions. It marked the ninth-straight conference crown for the Cowboys.

"We definitely didn't want to be co-champions," Cowboy wrestling coach John Smith said. "... It kind of reminds each guy in these tight races like this, 'What more could we have done a little bit more to score one more point or a half. So maybe my message I've been preaching all week and at this tournament, sets in a little bit."

The scenarios and "what-ifs" swirled throughout the day.

There was talk of a penalty issued late Saturday — deducting a team point for the Cowboys — and there was a late-match reversal of points that took what was believed to be a major decision from Dakota Geer and turned it simply to a decision. The Sooners also benefited from a medical forfeit in the 197-pound fifth-place match, which awarded three team points to the OU for not even having to wrestle.

All scenarios could have led to OSU winning outright.

But in reality, Oklahoma State wouldn't have even tied with the Sooners had they not taken care of business Sunday.

The Cowboys won nine of 11 matches on the day, and when it mattered the most — facing an eight-point deficit heading into the finals — Oklahoma State's wrestlers rose to the occasion.

Veterans Daton Fix and Boo Lewallen went head-to-head with Sooners wrestlers in the championship round, and a loss by either of the top seeds would have knocked OSU out of a chance for the team title.

Fix was hopeful to get a bonus-point victory — something he'd done in every match this season leading up to the finals — because he knew if OSU swept their finals matches, a bonus point at 133 pounds likely could have given the Cowboys the solo title.

And the matchup was promising, as he had pinned his opponent, Tony Madrigal, in the regular season finale dual at Gallagher-Iba Arena. However, Fix — visibly a little upset after winning his second conference title — managed just a 6-1 decision.

"He had a good game plan to slow me down, and those are the type of people that I always have had trouble with my whole career," Fix said. "It's just something that I have to keep working on. I need to work on different ways to fire off late attacks and just really create more wrestling."

The Sooners got a boost in the standings at 141 pounds when Dom Demas knocked off No. 1 seed Ian Parker of Iowa State in overtime.

That's when the calculating Cowboy fans inside the BOK Center started to get nervous. Oklahoma State would have to win both of its remaining matches just for a chance to tie.

Lewallen did just that in his rematch with OU's Mitch Moore, but it wasn't easy for the Yukon native to win his third Big 12 title in his final year.

The pair of 149-pound finalists went back and forth in the first period, with each get a two-point nearfall to even the match after the first three minutes.

Lewallen then found himself down two points early in the second after giving up another nearfall from the bottom position. But after getting an escape, he landed a takedown in the final 15 seconds of the period to take a 7-6 lead headed to the third — where he rode out Moore for the 7-6 decision.

"That wasn't the easiest match, but he found a way to come out on top," Fix said of Lewallen. "During postseason, that's what he has to do. It's not always going to be easy. It's not always going to be pretty, but at the end of the day, if you get your hand raised, that's all that matters."

That set the stage for true freshman AJ Ferrari — the No. 4 seed at 197 pounds who beat the top seed in Saturday's semifinals — to face No. 2 seed Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming for not only an individual title, but for the team title.

The former No. 1 overall rated prospect out of high school carried over his performance Saturday into his finals match.

He controlled the action all the way through, to a point where he was working to get a major decision. It appeared he was close to having the eight-point margin needed for the bonus point late in the third after getting a takedown in which he took Buchanan to his back, but he didn't have him down long enough to get a two-point nearfall.

After exchanging takedowns after that, Ferrari ultimately finished with a 13-8 decision.

"He was like how I want to wrestle in every match," Fix said. "Say what you want about him, but he wrestles all seven minutes. That's really special for a true freshman to be able to go out there and compete like that.

"I couldn't be more proud of the way he competed. He tried to get a major decision on a very, very tough wrestler."

With winning possibly the best bracket — the top four seeds were all ranked in the top 10 — and beating the top seeds on his way to the title, the Allen, Texas, native was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

"I know he laid a lot on the line out there and really performed," Smith said. "... I don't think too many people will look at him as (an underdog) any more."

Next up for Oklahoma State will be the NCAA national tournament in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cowboys locked seven wrestlers in with automatic bids — Trevor Mastrogiovanni (125), Travis Wittlake (165), Dustin Plott (174) and Dakota Geer (184) will join the three conference champions.

There is still a slim chance Wyatt Sheets (157) and Austin Harris (285) get into the tournament, but they will have to wait until Wednesday to find out if they received at-large bids when the bracket is revealed on the NCAA website.

"They're at risk," Smith said. "Hopefully we'll get both of them in, but with the way the allocations occurred, you just don't know how many people out there that were ranked in the top 20 or top 25 that didn't get through already. It's going to be a challenge."