Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Seek Fifth Straight Title at Reno Tournament of Champions
December 19, 2006 | Cowboy Wrestling
Last Time Out
OSU got back on the winning track by defeating Cal Poly, 25-12, on Monday. The Cowboys got falls from Ethan Kyle and Johny Hendricks to help put distance between themselves and the Mustangs. Fourth-ranked Coleman Scott defeated fifth-ranked Darrell Vasquez in the highlight match of the dual at 133. Also collecting wins for OSU were Tyler Shinn, Brandon Mason and Jack Jensen.
Scouting the Field
Oklahoma State heads a field that includes four ranked teams. The Cowboys are ranked fourth and will be joined in Reno by fellow top 10 teams, ninth-ranked Northwestern and No. 10 Central Michigan. Cal Poly will also be competing ranked No. 20. Those four schools will bring their fair share of nationally ranked wrestlers to make for some intriguing brackets. At 141, the top two wrestlers in the country will be competing in Northwestern's Ryan Lang and UC-Davis' Derek Moore. Third-ranked Nathan Morgan will not wrestle due to a minor knee injury. Nine of the 10 brackets will have as many as three ranked wrestlers. The most challenging bracket of the tournament is at heavyweight where five ranked wrestlers are in attendance led by Northwestern's third-ranked Dustin Fox and Oregon State's fourth-ranked Ty Watterson. Cal Poly's Cody Parker is not ranked, but he is coming off of wins over No. 16 Jared Rosholt and Cal State-Fullerton's No. 12 Wade Sauer, on Monday. At 133, there could be a rematch of fourth-ranked Coleman Scott and fifth-ranked Darrell Vasquez in the finals. Scott helped lead OSU to a dual victory over Cal Poly on Monday with a win over Vasquez. There is a total of 10 wrestlers who are ranked in the top five of their respective weight classes. The Cowboys enter the tournament ranked fourth nationally, but could be considered underdogs to ninth-ranked Central Michigan who has five wrestlers ranked, four of which are in the top 10. OSU just has four wrestlers ranked without Nathan Morgan in the lineup. The key will be how well the other wrestlers fare to see who claims the team title.
Last time at Reno Tournament of Champions
Oklahoma State ran away with the team title, parading nine wrestlers into the finals and finishing with 194.5 team points. It was disappointing after that as OSU only won three of those nine matches, including upsets at 125, 133, 165 and 197. All three champs from last year are no longer in the program as the Cowboys got titles at 141 from Daniel Frishkorn, 149 from Zack Esposito and at heavyweight from Steve Mocco.
Finals
125- Jeremy Mendoza (ASU) Dec. Coleman Scott (OSU), 1-0
133- Matt Keller (UTC) Dec. Nathan Morgan (OSU), 8-6
141- Daniel Frishkorn (OSU) Dec. Dewiit Driscoll (Penn), 6-4
149- Zack Esposito (OSU) Dec. Mark DiSalvo (CMU), 7-6
157- Brian Stith (ASU) Dec. Kevin Ward (OSU), 3-2
165- Joey Bracamonte (UO) Fall Johny Hendricks (OSU), 1:19
174- Jake Herbert (NW) Fall Brandon Mason (OSU), 2:05
197- Wynn Michalak (CMU) Dec. Jake Rosholt (OSU), 5-1
285- Steve Mocco (OSU) Dec. Cain Velasquez (ASU), 5-3
Third-place
157- Newly McSpadden (OSU) Dec. Nathan Galloway (PSU), 4-0
Fifth-place
184- Rusty Blackmon (OSU) Fall Greg Gifford (FSU), 4:29 Cowboys FOURTH!
Oklahoma State is ranked fourth in the latest USA Today/Intermat/NWCA Coaches' Poll. The last time the Cowboys were as low as fourth was when they finished the 2002 NCAA Championships fifth in Albany, N.Y. The Cowboys have never finished a season lower than seventh and have finished first or second in 45 of the 75 NCAA Championships in which they have competed. Missouri was ranked first in the poll becoming just the 11th school to earn the No. 1 ranking, replacing OSU after its loss to Minnesota on Dec. 6.
