Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Big XII
Cowboy Wrestling Team Finishes Second at Big 12 Championships
March 09, 2002 | Cowboy Wrestling
March 9, 2002
Oklahoma State's wrestling team captured three individual titles en route to a second place finish at the Big 12 Championships on Saturday in Norman, Okl., at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Junior Skyler Holman captured his first Big 12 title at 125 pounds by defeating Bedlam-rival Matt Ridings, 6-1. Holman used two takedowns before notching the Cowboys' first individual title of the championships.
Sophomore Johnny Thompson notched OSU's second individual title by defeating OU's Witt Durden, 4-0. The two-time Big 12 Champion took a 1-0 lead after two periods before recording a takedown to notch the victory. With the win, Thompson extended his overall lead with Durden to 6-0.
Junior Shane Roller, sophomore Tyrone Lewis and senior Pat Popolizio each finished second at 157, 165 and 184 pounds, respectively.
The 174-pound match featured the championships third OSU-OU match as Ty Wilcox battled Michael Barger for the third time this year.
Wilcox took an early 2-1 lead heading into the third period. Barger then knotted up the score at 2-2 after recording an escape.
The score remained tied heading into the tiebreaker. Wilcox chose bottom and reversed Barger to claim his second Big 12 title.
The heaveyweights featured the last of five OSU-OU matches with James Huml and Leonce Crump.
Huml and Crump were tied at 1-1 late in the third period but Crump recorded a takedown to notch the victory.
In the consolation semifinals, Willie Gruenwald snapped his seven-match losing skid by defeating Nebraska's Justin Ruiz, 7-4, to advance to the third-fourth place match.
In the third-fourth place matches, Gruenwald and Ronnie Delk were both pinned by OU's Tom Grossman and Nate Parker, respectively, to finish fourth.
Oklahoma captured its second Big 12 title by finishing with 87 points. OSU finished in second with 73 points, while Iowa State finished third with 63.5 points. Nebraska and Missouri finished with 32. 5 and 26.5 points, respectively.
The Cowboys will return to action on March 21-23 as they compete at the NCAA Championships in Albany, N.Y.
ResultsConsolation Semifinal 149- Travis Shufelt (NU) dec. Jerrod Sanders (OSU), 4-4 t.b. 197- Willie Gruenwald (OSU) dec. Justin Ruiz (NU), 7-4
Third-Fourth Place Match 141- Nate Parker (OU) fall Ronnie Delk (OSU), 3:21 197- Tom Grossman (OU) fall Willie Gruenwald (OSU), 4:00
Fourth Place Challenge Match 149- Jerrod Sanders (OSU) dec. Jeremy Spates (MU), 6-2
Championship Match (First-second place matches) 125- Skyler Holman (OSU) dec. Matt Ridings (OU), 6-1 133- Johnny Thompson (OSU), dec. Witt Durden (OU), 4-0 157- Bryan Snyder (NU) dec. Shane Roller (OSU), 6-2 165- Joe Heskett (ISU) dec. Tyrone Lewis (OSU), 3-1 174- Ty WIlcox (OSU) dec. Michael Barger (OU), 2-2 t.b. 184- Josh Lambrecht (OU) dec. Pat Popolizio (OSU), 3-0 285- Leonce Crump (OU) dec. James Huml (OSU), 3-2
