Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Lead RTOC with 138 points Heading into the Finals
December 19, 2003 | Cowboy Wrestling
Finals of the ninth annual Reno Tournament of Champions are set for 6 p.m. at the Reno Livestock Events Center in Reno, Nev. Oklahoma State advanced six wrestlers to the finals, while Arizona State advanced five.
Oklahoma State leads the team standings with 138 points, while the Sun Devil's are in second with 117.5 points. Cal State Bakersfield is in third with 71.5 points, and Cal Poly and Oregon State round out the top five with 67.5 points each.
In the semifinals, Darrell Vazquez of Cal Poly knocked off Oklahoma State's Johnny Thompson, 5-3, to advance to the finals at 133 pounds. The loss handed Thompson his third loss of the year, the first time he has lost more than two matches in a season. Joining Vazquez in the finals will be Arizona State's Mike Simpson. The Sundevil escaped a 2-1 victory over Jason Harless of Oregon.
The 125 pound finals bout will feature Christian Staylor of Arizona State and Cal-State Bakersfield's Efren Ceballos. Staylor recorded a major decision over Eric Stevenson of Oregon State, 10-2, while Ceballos dropped The Citadel's Ryan McClester, 10-4.
At 141 pounds, former Cowboy Steve Esparza faced off with OSU's Ronnie Delk. Esparza, who now wrestles for Cal Poly, advanced to the semifinals after knocking off a pair of seeded opponents in Juan Mora and Levy Duyn. Delk ruined Esparza's hopes of making it to the finals after scoring a 14-4 major decision. Boise State's Jesse Brock advanced to the finals after edging out Clarion's top-seeded Frank Edgar, 5-2.
Zack Esposito of Oklahoma State built a 9-0 lead over The Citadel's Travis Piccard, before Piccard injury defaulted in the first period. Joining him, will be Arizona State's Patrick Williams, who earned a 3-2 decision over Cal Poly's Matt Cox.
At 157 pounds, fifth-seeded Johny Hendricks earned a trip to the finals after decisioning top-seeded Brian Stith of Arizona State. Hendricks earned the only takedown of the match en route to a 3-2 decision, and avenged a loss in the Missouri Open. Hendricks will face Oregon's Joey Bracamonte, who earned an 8-7 decision over Brian Cobb of Cal-State Bakersfield.
Oregon State's second-seeded Matt Ellis advanced to the 165-pound finals bout after defeating Michael Font of Davision, 6-4. Ellis will face the Cowboys' top-seeded Tyrone Lewis, who held on to a 3-2 decision over Clarion's Jeremy Reitz.
Oklahoma State's Chris Pendleton continued his dominant wrestling with a technical fall over Arizona State's Ron Renzi. Pendleton was down 2-0 early, but stormed back to capture his fourth straight bonus-point win. Jed Pennell of Oregon State will face the Cowboy in the finals after dropping Aaron Wright of Clarion, 6-2.
Jake Rosholt became the last Cowboy to advance to the finals. Rosholt dropped fifth-seeded Dan Pitsch of Oregon State, 16-6. Nine overtimes decided the 184 semifinal bout with Cal Poly's Ryan Halsey and Nick Frost of ASU. Halsey and Frost wrestled to eight overtimes before Halsey recorded a reversal in the ninth overtime series to record the 4-2 victory.
Ryan Bader of Arizona State dropped Oklahoma State's Rusty Blackmon, 8-2, to advance to the finals. Second-seed Matt Monteiro of Bakersfield scored a 9-0 major decision over sixth-seeded Landon Seefeldt of Fullerton.
At heavyweight, fourth-seeded Wes Balensifer will battle second-seeded Cain Velasquez in the finals. Southern Oregon's Balensifer notched a 3-1 decision over Boise State's Jacob McGinnis, while Arizona State's Velasquez cruised to an 8-1 victory over Willie McCowan of Central Missouri.
