Oklahoma State University Athletics
Wrestling Heads To Conference Championship
March 02, 2000 | Cowboy Wrestling
March 2, 2000
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State's sixth-ranked wrestling will venture to Lincoln, Neb., Sunday to attempt to return the Big 12 Championship trophy to Stillwater.
After winning the first two Big 12 titles in 1997 and 1998, Oklahoma State had it slip through its fingers last year as the Oklahoma Sooners claimed their first title. Oklahoma State head coach John Smith knows this year his Cowboys not only have to deal with the fourth-ranked Sooners, but thrid-ranked Iowa State as well.
"I think OU and Iowa State have to be favored," Smith said. "Coming into the year, they were favored to win it, and I don't think that that's changed a whole lot. I think that we have entered the picture. That's one of the things that we hoped to accomplish, to put ourselves in the position to win it."
Smith's Cowboys are 12-5-1 on the season and 3-1-1 in Big 12 action. Iowa State won the regular season title with a 4-1 record.
The Cowboys only returning Big 12 Champion, 149-pounder Reggie Wright, enters Sunday's competition with a 31-2 record and ranked first by Intermat and third by Amateur Wrestling News.
The 197 pound weight class features four of the top five ranked wrestlers nationally. AWN has Nebraska's Brad Vering at No. 1 with OSU's Mark Mu-oz ranked second, ISU's Zach Thompson ranked fourth and OU's Orville Palmer ranked fifth.
"When you look at winning this Big 12 Championship, it's going to take all ten of us," Smith said. "If one guy doesn't place or isn't really in the picture, it's going to be tough for us to win. It's that competitive of an event. We need to push as many guys as we can into the finals, and that's going to tell the story of whether we win or not. The nice thing is that we've put ourselves in a position to challenge for the Big 12 Championships. Early in the year, it didn't look like that was possible."
At 184 pounds, ISU's Cael Sanderson is 33-0 on the season and remains undefeated in his college career. Sanderson is the overwhelming favorite headed into the Championships. OSU's No. 4 Daniel Cormier will be his chief competition.
"The best wrestler in the country is Cael Sanderson," Smith said. There's no question that he has the tenacity to really make things happen on the mat. I think that he's really proved that throughout the year. Daniel (Cormier) will have to go out and wrestle hard for seven minutes. If someone wrestles anything less, Cael Sanderson has shown that they will pay the price."
Oklahoma's second-ranked Michael Lightner and the Cowboys fifth-ranked Jamill Kelly will vie for the title at 141 pounds. The two have met 10 times previously with Lightner holding a 7-3 lead.
The Big 12 Championships are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. with the championship round to begin at 7 p.m.
Oklahoma State's Probable Starting Lineup
125 #6 Jeff Ragan, 25-9
133 #7 Charles Walker, 28-5
141 #5 Jamill Kelly, 26-5
149 #3 Reggie Wright, 31-2
157 #16 Shane Roller, 23-15
165 #8 Ty Wilcox, 27-6
174 Tony Gansen, 22-13
184 #4 Daniel Cormier, 23-2
197 #2 Mark Munoz, 29-3
285 #20 Dave Anderton, 22-10
