Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Wrestling Tests Top-Seed at Big 12 Tournament
April 16, 2003 | Cowboy Wrestling
The Cowboys begin their quest as Big 12 Champions this weekend as they travel to Columbia, Mo., to compete in the Big 12 tournament, hosted by the University of Missouri. The tournament will take place in the Hearnes Arena on March 8.
Season in Review
Blessed, is what sums up John Smith's 11th season as head coach of the Cowboy wrestling team.
Oklahoma State entered the year ranked second behind defending National Champion Minnesota. But when Iowa went into Minneapolis and defeated the Gophers, OSU went to the top.
Ten times this year the Cowboys held their opponents to single digits. The closest any team came to OSU was Bedlam-rival Oklahoma. The Sooners came within seven points of OSU, but the Cowboys were without the help of two All-Americans.
Three times the Cowboys defeated teams by 35 points, and eight times they won by 25 points or more.
OSU stormed out to a 6-0 record heading into the NWCA National Duals. Three of the wins came against top-five opponents; Oklahoma, Minnesota and Iowa.
The Pokes traveled to Norman and defeated the Sooners, 23-16. OSU fell behind 16-3, but came roaring back winning the final five matches to record the victory.
The Cowboys took a 4-0 record into the new year after defeating Boise State, 27-12, in Provo, Utah.
OSU opened up the new year by traveling to Minneapolis, Minn., to take on third-ranked Minnesota. The Cowboys rolled into the Target Center and won eight of the 10 bouts en route to the 26-6 victory, their largest margin of victory since the 1991-92 season when they defeated the Gophers 48-0 in Minneapolis.
The "Dynasty Dual" highlighted the nation's top two teams with OSU and Iowa. The dual marked the first 1-2 matchup since the 1997-98 season when OSU traveled to Iowa City, and defeated the Hawkeyes, 22-18.
OSU won six of the 10 bouts en route to the 24-15 win over the Hawkeyes. Zack Esposito sparked the Cowboys to victory after using a lateral drop to pin Luke Moffitt, to put the Cowboys on top for good.
OSU strung four consecutive wins at the NWCA National Duals to capture its seventh team title. The Cowboys defeated Northern Iowa, Arizona State, Ohio State and Oklahoma before coming out with the championship.
The Cowboys remained undefeated after defeating Oregon State and Oregon the following weekend.
The Pokes tested their top ranking when they traveled to Iowa to take on Northern Iowa and Iowa State for the last road trip of the season.
Johnny Thompson and Tyrone Lewis each recorded pins to lead Oklahoma State to a 30-14 victory over Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
The Cowboys moved to 3-0 in conference after defeating Iowa State in Ames. OSU won eight of the 10 bouts en route to a 26-9 victory over the Cyclones.
OSU finished the year with three home duals, including a pair of conference match-ups with Nebraska and Oklahoma. The Cowboys recorded three falls in a 34-6 romp over the Huskers, and defeated OU 38-3 to extend their winning streak over the Sooners to nine.
The Cowboys capped off their perfect season with a 27-9 victory over No. 10 Michigan State.
Last Time Out
Oklahoma State's wrestling team finished the season undefeated at 17-0 after whipping the Michigan State Spartans, 27-9, Friday night in Gallager-Iba Arena, in front of 2,582 fans.
Shane Roller and Muhammed Lawal wrestled in their last home match as a Cowboy, each picking up decisions. Roller picked up an 8-5 decision over MSU's sixth-ranked Gray Maynard, while Lawal decisioned seventh-ranked Nik Fekete, 5-3.
The Bixby, Okla., native scored an early takedown only to see Maynard tie the score after recording a reversal. Roller then notched a reversal of his own to take a 4-2 lead, which he would not relinquish. He went on to score two more reversal in picking up the win and moving his record to 23-3.
Lawal took an early takedown to grab a 2-1 lead heading into the second period. The Plano, Texas, native escaped Fekete in the second to extend his lead to 3-1. Fekete cut the lead to 3-2 after picking up an escape of his own. But that would be the closest he would get, as Lawal recorded another takedown before picking up the victory.
Zack Esposito and Tyrone Lewis picked up falls for the Pokes at 141 and 165 pounds, respectively.
Esposito recorded three takedown before using a lateral drop to pin L'Amoreaux in 6:07, while Lewis only needed 1:08 to notch the fall.
