Head coach John Smith made a bold move pulling freshman Dakotah Simpson out of redshirt, but Simpson made him look like a genius as he recorded a first period fall to lead Oklahoma State to a 22-13 victory over rival Iowa at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
“It is about finding a way to win,” Smith said. “It came at the right time for a freshman since we had momentum after winning the first three weights. I am real pleased with effort from our guys down low, but I was disgusted with some of our upper weights.”
OSU improves to 9-1 on the season and advances to the semifinals to face Big 12 rival and top-seeded Missouri. Iowa suffers its first loss and moves to 6-1 on the year.
The Cowboys silenced the Iowa faithful early by winning the first three matches to go up in the dual 9-0. Tyler Shinn got a late takedown to defeat Charlie Falck. Coleman Scott cruised to a decision over No. 12 Mario Galanakis, before Nathan Morgan put OSU up 9-0 in the dual with a decision over eighth-ranked Alex Tsirtsis.
That set the stage for Simpson who wrestled his first varsity match for Oklahoma State. The Cushing, Okla. native appeared to get taken down by Iowa's Alex Grunder, but Simpson rolled right through it and came out on top of Grunder and pinned him in 1:17.
Simpson's fall gave OSU a commanding lead in the dual at 15-0.
Iowa finally got on the board at 157, but it took a second tie-breaker before Ryan Morningstar defeated Newly McSpadden. Johny Hendricks silenced the Iowa crowd again with a victory over third-ranked Mark Perry.
Hendricks got a late takedown towards the end of the second period to go up 3-0. In the third period, Hendricks hit a six-point move when he hit a cradle and took Perry down to his back for three near fall points. Hendricks rode him out and recorded a major decision over the Stillwater native. Hendricks' win iced the dual for the Pokes as they extended the lead to 19-3.
Iowa tried to climb back in it by winning each of the next three matches. The Hawkeyes closed the dual to 19-13 going into the heavyweight match. Iowa's fifth-ranked Matt Fields needed a fall, but could not even score a takedown. Jared Rosholt controlled the match as he rode Fields for most of the third period and got a point for riding time to win, 2-1.
OSU wrestles top-seeded Missouri tomorrow at 11 a.m. The Tigers defeated Penn and eighth-seeded Northwestern to advance to the semifinals. The dual can be heard live on KSPI 93.7 FM.
No. 4 Oklahoma State 22, No. 5 Iowa 13
UNI Dome * Cedar Falls, Iowa
125- Tyler Shinn (OSU) DEC Charlie Falck (Iowa); 5-4
133- #3 Coleman Scott (OSU) DEC #12 Mario Galanakis (Iowa); 8-2
141- #3 Nathan Morgan (OSU) DEC #8 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa); 4-2
149- Dakotah Simpson (OSU) FALL Alex Grunder (Iowa); 1:17
157- #15 Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) DEC Newly McSpadden (OSU); 2-1 tb2
165- #1 Johny Hendricks (OSU) MDEC #3 Mark Perry (Iowa); 9-1
174- #5 Eric Luedke (Iowa) DEC #14 Brandon Mason (OSU); 3-2
184- Phillip Keddy (Iowa) DEC Jack Jensen (OSU); 7-3
197- Dan Erekson (Iowa) MDEC Jared Shelton (OSU); 11-1
285- #10 Jared Rosholt (OSU) DEC #5 Matt Fields (Iowa); 2-1
