Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
NCAA Championships
Roller Finishes Third; Pokes in Third
March 17, 2001 | Cowboy Wrestling
March 17, 2001
IOWA CITY, St. -- Oklahoma State's wrestling team heads into this afternoon's finals at 1 p.m. in third place.
The Cowboys finished the Saturday morning session with 111.5 points. OSU has three finalist in Johnny Thompson (133), Daniel Cormier (184) and Mark Mu?oz (197).
Minnesota has all but locked up its first NCAA Championship with 138.5 points. History was made, as the state of Minnesota will become only the fifth state to win an NCAA Championship.
The states of Oklahoma and Iowa have won 66 of the previous 70 NCAA Championships.
Iowa heads into the finals in second place with 117.5 points.
Shane Roller completed his run through the NCAA tournament with a improbable third-place finish. The sophomore from Bixby decisioned Minnesota's sixth-seeded, Luke Becker, 12-10. Roller is one of four first time All-America's for the Cowboys.
Roller bounced back from his semifinal loss and beat fifth-seeded Kirk White of Boise State for the second time in this tournament. Tied at 1-1 after overtime, Roller rode White the entire 30 second tiebreaker for the win.
Tyrone Lewis wrapped up an impressive freshman campaign with a 30-6 record. The El Reno, Okla. native whipped Iowa's Gabe MaMahan 11-5 in the fifth-place match.
Lewis and and 133-pound finalist, Johnny Thompson, are the first freshman to earn All-America honors since OSU's strength and conditioning coach Eric Guerrero place fifth in 1996, Guerrero went on to be a three-time NCAA champ and a four-time All-American.
At 125 pounds, Matt Brown completed an outstanding junior year with a sixth-place finish. Brown lost a heartbreaker to Lehigh's Mario Stuart by a score of 3-2.
Matt Brown (125) and Tyrone Lewis (174) lost close decisions in the consolation semifinals to drop into the fifth-place match.
Team Scores:
1. Minnesota 138.5
2. Iowa 117.5
3. Oklahoma State 111.5
4. Oklahoma 89.5
5. Illinois 81.0
Third Place
157: No. 12 Shane Roller (OSU) dec. No. 6 Luke Becker (Minn.), 12-10
Fifth Place
125: Mario Staurt (Lehigh) dec. No. 6 Matt Brown (OSU), 3-2
174: No. 4 Tyrone Lewis (OSU) dec. Gabe McMahan (Iowa), 11-5
Consolation Semifinals
125: No. 3 Leroy Vega (Minn.) dec. No. 6 Matt Brown (OSU), 6-3
157: No. 12 Shane Roller (OSU) dec. No. 5 Kirk White (Boise St.), 1-1, tb
174: No. 10 Jacob Volkman (Minn.) dec. No. 4 Tyrone Lewis, 5-2
