Cowboy Wrestling Advances Seven to the NCAA Quarterfinals

March 17, 2016 | Cowboy Wrestling

NEW YORK - Oklahoma State wrestling went seven-for-seven in the second round of the championship bracket at the 2016 NCAA tournament on Thursday evening.

The Cowboys end day one tied with Ohio State for second place with 24 points. Penn State is in first with 27.5 points.

"The seven guys advanced this past round that won this morning," coach John Smith said. "It was so important we did what we did. Collica getting the big upset; and having two freshmen in there getting wins; Dieringer doing his thing. It was a good round. It was as good of a second round as I can remember. You've got eight guys going right now, and that's a good number as we go into day two."

Dean Heil, ranked No. 1, started the squad with a win, securing a spot in the 141-pound quarterfinals. Notching another 4-1 win on the day, Heil scored on a takedown in the first period and a reversal in the second period over No. 10 Randy Cruz of Lehigh.

No. 9-seed Anthony Collica picked up one of the biggest wins of his NCAA Championships career, defeating returning national champion and sixth-seeded Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern to move on to the quarterfinals at 149 pounds. Tsirtsis was on the board first with an escape to start the second period. Collica notched a takedown shortly after and an escape in the third to seal the win.

"I've been working for a win like this for a long time," Collica said. "It feels good, but I'm ready to get back on the mat tomorrow and wrestle hard."

True freshman and sixth-seeded Joe Smith squared off with Bryce Steiert of Northern Iowa, who had already won twice earlier in the day and upset the No. 11 seed. Smith grabbed a takedown in the first and added an escape and takedown in the second to take a 5-1 lead. His riding time advantage at the end assured him the 6-2 decision and a spot in Friday's 157-pound quarterfinal round.

Alex Dieringer wrestled like Alex Dieringer, picking up his second pin of the day over No. 16 Devon Gobbo of Harvard in 3:26. Dieringer led Gobbo 9-1 before the stick. The Cowboy improves to 30-0 on the year and holds a 79-match win streak.

Chandler Rogers will go head-to-head with the No. 1 seed at 174 pounds as he advanced to the quarterfinals after handling Penn's Casey Kent. It looked as though Rogers would have to settle for a win by major decision, but with less than 10 seconds remaining in the match, the Cowboy put Kent to his back and was awarded a pin with one second left.

"I'm just excited," Rogers said. "I haven't gotten a pin in a while so it was good to get one, especially here. This was a great match for me because I had to grind it out all the way until the last second. Coach said that if I wrestle until the last second, then I win and I ended up catching the pin."

Nolan Boyd, seeded No. 8 in the 184-pound bracket, wrestled No. 9 Mathew Miller of Navy. The proximity of the seeding did not resemble the score of the match, however, as Boyd came away with a 10-3 decision. He jumped out to an early lead with a takedown in the opening minute and didn't look back, going on to score three more takedowns and secure the extra point with a big riding time advantage.

Fourth-seeded Austin Marsden became the seventh Cowboy of the night to advance to the quarterfinals. Wrestling Edinboro's heavyweight, Billy Miller, Marsden notched four takedowns, a set of nearfall points and an escape en route to a 12-3 major decision.

On the backside of the bracket, Preston Weigel capped off the session for the Pokes with an 18-1 technical fall over Anthony Abro of Eastern Michigan. Weigel picked up only one takedown in the match but accompanied it with two sets of two-point nearfalls and three sets of four-point nearfalls to wrap it up.

Senior Eddie Klimara and sophomore Gary Wayne Harding wrapped up their 2016 NCAA Championships, each going 0-2 at 125 pounds and 133 pounds, respectively.

The Cowboys return to the mat at 10 a.m. CT for the quarterfinals and consolation matches. Catch all the action on ESPN3 and ESPNU.

NCAA Championships Session Two
March 17, 2016 :: Madison Square Garden

Team Standings (top 10)
1. Penn State - 27.5
2. Oklahoma State - 24
2. Ohio State - 24
4. Nebraska - 20
T5. Iowa - 17.5
T5. Mizzou - 17.5
T5. Virginia Tech - 17.5
8. Michigan- 15
T9. NC State - 13
T9. Oklahoma - 13

Championship second round results
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. No. 10 Randy Cruz (LEH), 4-1
149: No. 11 Anthony Collica (OSU) dec. No. 6 Jason Tsirtsis (NW), 3-2
157: No. 6 Joe Smith (OSU) dec. Bryce Steiert (UNI), 6-2
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) fall No. 16 Devon Gobbo (HARV), 3:26
174: No. 9 Chandler Rogers (OSU) fall Casey Kent (PENN), 6:59
184: No. 8 Nolan Boyd (OSU) dec. No. 9 Matt Miller (NAVY), 10-3
285: No. 4 Austin Marsden (OSU) MD William Miller (EDIN), 12-3

Championship first round results
125: Conor Youtsey (MICH) dec. No. 6 Eddie Klimara (OSU), 7-6
133: No. 15 Josh Alber (UNI) dec. Gary Wayne Harding (OSU), 10-6
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. Javier Gasca (MSU), 4-1
149: No. 11 Anthony Collica dec. Joey Delgado (ORST), 11-8
157: No. 6 Joe Smith (OSU) dec. Jake Ryan (OHST), 11-9
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) fall Austin Trott (GW), 2:22
174: No. 9 Chandler Rogers (OSU) MD Rustin Barrick (BUCK), 10-2
184: No. 8 Nolan Boyd (OSU) dec. Alex Utley (UNC), 8-5
197: No. 3 Brett Pfarr (MINN) dec. Preston Weigel (OSU), 5-0
285: No. 4 Austin Marsden (OSU) dec. Riley Shaw (CSU), 5-1

Consolation first round results
125: No. 11 Ronnie Bresser (ORST) dec. No. 6 Eddie Klimara (OSU), 2-1 TB1
133: Jade Rauser (UVU) MD Gary Wayne Harding (OSU), 12-4
197: Preston Weigel (OSU) TF Anthony Abro (EMU), 18-1

Championship third round schedule
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) vs. No. 8 Joey Ward (UNC)
149: No. 11 Anthony Collica (OSU) vs. No. 3 Lavion Mayes (MIZ)
157: No. 6 Joe Smith (OSU) vs. No. 3 Jason Nolf (PSU)
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) vs. No. 9 Tanner Weatherman (ISU)
174: No. 9 Chandler Rogers (OSU) vs. No. 1 Bo Nickal (PSU)
184: No. 8 Nolan Boyd (OSU) vs. No. 1 Gabe Dean (CORN)
285: No. 4 Austin Marsden (OSU) vs. No. 5 Adam Coon (MICH)

Consolation second round
197: Preston Weigel (OSU) vs. No. 13 Jake Smith (WVU)