Oklahoma State University Athletics
Noting The 2007-08 Oklahoma State Wrestling Season
March 26, 2008 | Cowboy Wrestling
Season In A Sentence
Led by 2008 NCAA champion Coleman Scott at 133 pounds and fellow All-Americans Nathan Morgan, Jack Jensen and Jared Rosholt (who was also the Big 12 heavyweight champion), the Oklahoma State wrestling team compiled a 16-3-1 overall record and tied for fifth at the 2008 NCAA Championships after taking third at the Big 12 Championship.
Scott Wins Elusive National Championship
For Oklahoma State four-time All-American Coleman Scott, the 2008 wrestling season was about one thing -- winning his first national championship. Not only did he accomplish that goal, but he did it in the most dominating fashion possible, pinning fourth-seeded Joey Slaton of Iowa in a mere 49 seconds in the NCAA title match. Scott caught Slaton with a left-handed high crotch, then took control of Slaton's head and locked in a cradle to eventually record the pin.
Scott's NCAA Title Win Was One For The Record Books
In needing only 49 seconds to pin Iowa's Joey Slaton in the NCAA title bout, Coleman Scott recorded the fastest fall in an NCAA title bout in 30 years. Scott's championship pin was the fastest since Ohio University's Andy Daniels pinned Cal-State Bakersfield's John Azevedo in 30 seconds for the 118-pound title in 1978.
Four Cowboys Earn All-America Honors
In addition to Coleman Scott's NCAA title performance, coach John Smith saw three of his other Cowboy wrestlers earn All-America honors in 2008, as 141-pounder Nathan Morgan placed fourth, losing only to the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the field, 184-pounder Jack Jensen turned in a remarkable showing to place seventh and heavyweight Jared Rosholt established himself as an early favorite for the 2009 NCAA title with a fourth-place showing.
Scott Joins Short List Of Four-Time Cowboy All-Americans
Oklahoma State senior 133-pounder Coleman Scott was the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class for the majority of the year and proved that he was, in fact, the nation's top wrestler in his weight class by winning the NCAA title.
In doing so, Scott joined an exclusive list by becoming only the 12th Cowboy ever to be a four-time All-American. The list:
Coleman Scott, 2005-08
Johny Hendricks, 2004-07
Jake Rosholt, 2003-06
Johnny Thompson, 2001-04
Tyrone Lewis, 2001-04
Eric Guerrero, 1996-99
Mark Branch, 1994-97
Pat Smith, 1990-92, 94
Kirk Mammen, 1989-92
Mike Sheets, 1981-84
Ricky Stewart, 1979-82
Richard Hutton, 1947-50
Morgan Earns Third Career All-America Honor
In addition to Coleman Scott becoming a four-time All-American, 141-pounder Nathan Morgan hit an impressive milestone of his own at the 2008 NCAA Championships by earning All-America honors for the third time in his career. Morgan took sixth at the NCAA Championships in 2006 before placing fourth in both 2007 and 2008.
Cowboys Send Eight To NCAA Championships
Oklahoma State sent eight of its wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, as 125-pounder Tyler Shinn, Scott, Morgan, 157 pounder Newly McSpadden, 165-pounder Jake Dieffenbach, 174-pounder Brandon Mason, Jensen and Rosholt all qualified for the national tournament.
OSU Beat Three Teams Who Were Ranked No. 1
The Cowboys beat three different teams that were ranked No. 1 in the nation at one point of the regular season, as OSU traveled to Iowa City to hand top-ranked Iowa a 19-14 defeat on Jan. 5, then beat both Iowa State (16-15 on Jan. 27) and Minnesota (18-14 on Feb. 3) at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Iowa State was the No. 1 team in the land from Dec. 4-10 and Minnesota was the top-ranked team in the nation from the preseason through Dec. 3.
Jared Rosholt: 2008 Big 12 Heavyweight Champion
Oklahoma State's top performer at the Big 12 Championship was 285-pounder Jared Rosholt, who pinned Nebraska's Jon May and beat No. 5 Jared Zabriskie of Iowa State to win the 2008 Big 12 heavyweight championship. In doing so, Rosholt became the 23rd conference heavyweight champion in school history and joined Steve Mocco (2005, 2006), Willie Gruenwald (2003) and Ben Lee (1998) as Cowboys to have won Big 12 heavyweight titles since the conference formed in 1996-97.
Noting OSU's Senior Class of 2008
NCAA Individual Championships: Coleman Scott (2008)
NCAA Team Championships: Ryan Freeman (2004, 05, 06), Jack Jensen (2004, 05, 06), Sam Lewnes (2004, 05, 06), Brent Parkey (2004, 05, 06), Jake Duke (2005, 06), Nathan Morgan (2005, 06), Coleman Scott (2005, 06), Chaz Cointment (2006)
All Americans: Coleman Scott (2005, 06, 07, 08), Nathan Morgan (2006, 07, 08), Jack Jensen (2008)
Big 12 Individual Champions: Nathan Morgan (2005, 06, 07), Coleman Scott (2005, 07)
NCAA Championships Qualifiers: Nathan Morgan (2005, 06, 07, 08), Coleman Scott (2005, 06, 07, 08), Jack Jensen (2007, 08), Jake Dieffenbach (2008)
NWCA All-Academic Team: Nathan Morgan (2006, 07)
Academic All-Big 12: Nathan Morgan (2006, 07, 08), Chaz Cointment (2008), Ryan Freeman (2008), Sam Lewnes (2008), Brent Parkey (2008), Jake Duke (2008)
Big 12 Wrestler of the Week: Nathan Morgan (2006), Jake Dieffenbach (2008), Coleman Scott (2008)
Scott A Big 12 Wrestler of the Week
Oklahoma State senior 133-pounder Coleman Scott earned Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors the week of Jan. 29-Feb. 4.
Scott claimed wins over a pair of top-10 opponents during that time to lead the Cowboys to victories over two teams that were both ranked No. 1 at one point of this season when he handed No. 7 Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State a 6-2 defeat as part of OSU's 16-15 win over the No. 9 Cyclones on Jan. 27, then came back to beat No. 5 Mack Reiter of Minnesota by a convincing 8-2 decision as part of the Cowboys' 18-14 win over the No. 4 Gophers on Feb. 3.
Dieffenbach Earned TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week
Oklahoma State senior Jake Dieffenbach was named TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week for Jan. 1-7. TheMat.com is the official web site of USA Wrestling.
Each week, TheMat.com selects an Athlete of the Week, based upon performance within wrestling for that week. The selection committee considers any level of wrestling, from youth programs through the Senior level.
Dieffenbach scored a 5-3 win over eventual NCAA champion and second-ranked Mark Perry of Iowa to key No. 6 Oklahoma State to a 19-14 win over the No. 1 Hawkeyes on Jan. 5 in front of 14,332 black-and-gold-clad fans in Iowa City.
Dieffenbach A Big 12 Wrestler of the Week
Oklahoma State senior wrestler Jake Dieffenbach was recognized as Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for the week of Dec. 3 through Dec. 9.
Dieffenbach improved his season record to 5-0 with a 13-4 major decision win over Penn State's Dave Rella on Dec. 9. He scored a takedown in each of the three periods and had a three-point near-fall in the second stanza. A two-time NAIA national champion while at Lindenwood University before earning his degree and enrolling as a graduate student at Oklahoma State, Dieffenbach already owns a pair of dual match wins over ranked opponents this year, as he knocked off No. 8 Mike Cannon from American, 11-7, and handed No. 16 Max Dean of Oklahoma a 3-2 defeat.
John Smith: NCAA's Winningest Active Coach
Under coach John Smith, Oklahoma State has won five NCAA team championships (1994, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). No other active coach has won more than three NCAA team championships. Minnesota's J Robinson won NCAA titles in 2001, 2002 and 2007 and Oregon State's Jim Zalesky won three championships while coaching Iowa in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
No active coach has mentored more individual national champions than Smith, who has produced 23 NCAA individual champs. The next closest coach is Robinson with 11 champions, despite coaching in seven more NCAA meets.
Smith's Wrestlers Perform At The Highest Level
The most successful active coach, John Smith also ranks among one of the all-time great coaches in the sport. In his 16 trips to the NCAA Championships, Smith has coached 84 All-Americans for an average of 5.25 All-Americans per year. His per-year average ranks second all-time only to former Iowa coach Dan Gable, who coached 7.24 All-Americans per year during his career.
Smith is one of only eight coaches ever to average more than one individual national champion per year, with his average of 1.44 champs per year trailing only Ed Gallagher (2.85 per year), Dan Gable (2.14 per year), Art Griffith (2.08 per year), Myron Roderick (1.54 per year) and Tommy Evans (1.46 per year).
OSU Leads League With Nine All-Academic Selections
Oklahoma State led the Big 12 by placing nine student-athletes on the Academic All-Big 12 Wrestling Team. No other school had more than two representatives on the 17-member squad and 2008 marks the fourth consecutive year and the ninth time in 12 years of the Big 12's existence that OSU has led the league in wrestling all-academic selections.
The wrestling academic all-league team consisted of 13 first-team members (3.20 grade-point average or higher) and four on the second team (3.00 to 3.19 GPA). Of the 13 first-teamers, seven hailed from Oklahoma State, with two of the four second-teamers coming from OSU.
The Cowboys' first-team honorees were Chaz Cointment (graduate student: economics), Ryan Freeman (MBA), Sam Lewnes (senior: hotel and restaurant administration), Newly McSpadden (junior: applied sociology), Brandon Mason (junior: biology/pre-medicine), Nathan Morgan (senior: civil engineering) and Brent Parkey (senior: broadcast journalism).
Jake Duke (senior: hotel and restaurant administration) and Neil Erisman (freshman: business) represented Oklahoma State on the second team.
