Oklahoma State University Athletics
Zack Esposito
October 06, 2005 | Cowboy Wrestling
2004: Posted a record of 33-2 during his sophomore season ... won a tournament championship at the Reno Tournament of Champions ... used a tech. fall over David Garcia of Cal State-Bakersfield and a major decision over Oregon's Orlando Perez to advance to the semifinals ... pinned Arizona State's Patrick Williams to take the title ... took third-place at the Missouri Open ... was pinned by Indiana's Matt McIntire in 52 seconds and was sent to the consolation bracket ... came back to beat ASU's Williams with a 10-6 decision and Oklahoma's Jeff Eckloff with a 5-3 decision to take third-place in the tournament ... was one of just two Cowboys (Chris Pendleton the other) to win every dual match they had this season ... scored 73 dual points for the team ... recorded three falls and two tech. falls on the season ... his quickest fall came in 1:03 ... had 11 major decisions ... led the team with seven reversals in dual matches and was second with 49 takedowns ... had 11 near fall counts on the year ... had a 19-1 record against ranked opponents with the only loss coming to top ranked Jesse Jantzen of Harvard in the NCAA title match ... posted an 11-1 record against top 10 competition ... had a major decision over sixth-ranked Jeremy Spates of Missouri ... pinned 14th-ranked Williams of Arizona State ... had a major decision over fifth-ranked Dustin Manotti of Cornell ... recorded a major decision over 10th-ranked Jeff Eckloff of Oklahoma ... had a major decision over seventh-ranked Trent Paulson of Iowa State ... defeated seventh-ranked Paulson and third-ranked Travis Shufelt of Nebraska to claim the Big 12 Championship ... at the NCAA Championships, recorded a major decision over Anthony Baza of Cal State Bakersfield ... had decisions over Northern Iowa's Jeff Harrison, Spates and Manotti to advance to the title match ... squared off with top ranked Jesse Jantzen of Harvard and lost a 9-3 decision ... served as a training partner for Jamill Kelly during the Olympic Games in Athens.
2003: Posted a record of 25-5 as a true freshman ... the Junior FILA National Champion won his first 16 matches before falling to OU's Teyon Ware in the National Duals ... among his 25 victories, 10 came by fall, with the quickest coming in 1:06, and four by major decision ... he defeated 13 ranked opponents, and defeated J.P. Reese, Luke Moffitt and Dylan Long twice, including pins over Reese and Moffitt ... he also helped the Cowboys defeat Iowa State after winning an 8-3 decision over defending National Champion Aaron Holker in Ames ... Esposito won two tournaments and notched Outstanding Wrestler honors at the Omaha Open ... he was a vital asset to the Cowboy team, and sparked the Cowboys to a victory over arch-rival Iowa when he pinned Moffitt to put the Cowboys back on top for good ... at the first Bedlam match, the Cowboys were down 16-3 heading into the 141-pound match between Esposito and Nate Parker ... Esposito fueled a 20-point run by the Cowboys after pinning Parker in 3:40 ... Esposito finished second at the Big 12 Championships and posted a 3-2 record at the NCAA Championships.
High School: Esposito notched three state championships at Blair Academy under the direction of Jeff Buxton ... he placed fourth at Prep Nationals in 1999 and won back-to-back titles in 2000-01 ... after graduating, he won the FILA Junior National Championships.
Personal: Zack is the son of Roxanne and Peter Esposito ... was born on Sept. 9, 1983 ... has three brothers, Matt, Dave and Pete, who all wrestled in college ... is majoring in social studies education.
