Cowboy Wrestling At Virginia Duals This Week

Complete Release in PDF Format

Jan. 6, 2010

Oklahoma State Cowboy Wrestling This Week

at Virginia Duals

Jan. 8-9, 2010 :: Hampton Coliseum (Hampton, Va.)

TV: None

Radio: 93.7 KSPI-FM (first three duals) and 105.5 KGFY-FM (anything after the first three duals)

Announcers: Rex Holt and Roger Moore

Internet Radio: okstate.com

------------------------------------------

The Basics

The No. 4 Oklahoma State wrestling team (4-0-1 overall) is in action this week when it competes at the Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va., Friday and Saturday.

Virginia Duals Schedule Info

The top seed at the event, OSU squares off against Liberty at 8 a.m. Central time on Friday, then battles either Clarion or Old Dominion four hours later.

The Pokes will wrestle at least twice on Saturday, but could potentially compete three times if they lose either of Friday's duals.

On The Air

OSU's first three duals will be aired live on KSPI 93.7 FM radio in Stillwater with Rex Holt and Roger Moore on the call.

Any OSU action after those first three duals will be aired live on KGFY 105.5 FM radio in Stillwater.

Virginia Duals Field

Oklahoma State will be joined at the Virginia Duals by No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 11 Lehigh, No. 13 Kent State, No. 14 Penn State, No. 16 Edinboro, No. 23 Virginia, No. 25 Old Dominion, Clarion, Michigan, Ohio, Drexel, Virginia Tech, UC Davis, Bucknell and Liberty.

OSU At Last Year's Virginia Duals

Oklahoma State won three of its four matches at the 2009 Virginia Duals to place third at the event. The Pokes were 44-0 winners over Clarion and 34-3 victors over Navy on day one, then lost to Central Michigan by a 17-14 score in the semifinals before regrouping to hand Edinboro a 24-12 defeat in the third-place dual.

Last Time Out - OSU 21, No. 19 Cal Poly 13

125: No. 8 Chris Notte (OSU) dec. Micah Ferguson (CP), 11-5

133: No. 10 Boris Novachkov (CP) dec. No. 9 Jordan Oliver (OSU), 6-0

141: No. 8 Filip Novachkov (CP) dec. No. 3 Jamal Parks (OSU), 4-3

149: No. 20 Quinten Fuentes (OSU) dec. Eric Maldonado (CP), 8-4

157: No. 10 Chase Pami (CP) dec. No. 12 Neil Erisman (OSU), 8-3

165: No. 12 Alex Meade (OSU) MD Steven Vasquez (CP), 12-2

174: No. 14 Mike Benefiel (OSU) MD Travis Rasmussen (CP), 12-4

184: Ryan DesRoches (CP) MD Elliot Hellwege (OSU), 12-2

197: No. 9 Alan Gelogaev (OSU) dec. Ryan Smith (CP), 10-4

285: No. 3 Jared Rosholt (OSU) MD Jim Powers (CP), 13-3

Injury Update

Junior 184-pounder Clayton Foster could return to action as soon as this week after missing the Cowboys' last two duals and the Reno Tournament of Champions with an injury.

The owner of a 10-0 overall record with eight of those wins coming with bonus points, Foster was among OSU's top performers this season before getting hurt in practice prior to the Cowboys' dual at UC Davis.

Rosholt Could Hit Milestone Saturday

Senior Jared Rosholt, already a Big 12 champion and two-time All-American, continues to etch his name into the OSU record books.

Rosholt claimed his 100th career win when he toppled No. 10 Ben Berhow of Minnesota by an 8-6 score in sudden victory on Dec. 4,

With 107 wins now under his belt, he is only three wins away from cracking into the all-time top 25 at OSU, meaning that he could accomplish that feat in Virginia this week.

Cowboy Upper Weights Mean Business

As many observers expected going into the season, the upper weights at Oklahoma State have been a strong point.

The quartet of 174-pounder Mike Benefiel, 184-pounder Clayton Foster, 197-pounder Alan Gelogaev and heavyweight Jared Rosholt has combined to string together a 62-3 overall record and a 14-1 dual match mark.

OSU Starters Are Bonus Point Specialists

Oklahoma State wrestlers have not only been winning individual bouts this year, they have been dominating. With 48 combined pins, the 10 wrestlers who comprise the Cowboys' starting lineup have already exceeded the season pin total of last year's starting lineup.

The OSU starters have combined to rack up bonus points in 83 of their 148 victories this season (56.1 percent).

Notte Hitting His Stride

After a rocky start to the season, senior Chris Notte is finding his groove at 125 pounds. The Riverton, N.J., native lost each of his first three dual bouts, but has since rebounded to win seven of his last eight, with the lone loss coming to No. 3 Anthony Robles of Arizona State at the Reno Tournament of Champions.

Included in Notte's recent surge are three wins over ranked opponents, highlighted by two wins over top-10 foes.

And A Freshman Shall Lead Them...

A pair of Oklahoma State starters are undefeated in duals this year, senior Jared Rosholt and freshman Alex Meade. It comes as little surprise that Rosholt's dual record remains unblemished, but Meade's 5-0 dual record and team-best 17 dual points are noteworthy. The Camden, Del., native ranks second on the squad with 14 dual match takedowns.

Z Streak

After a disheartening loss to No. 6 Eric Lapotsky of Oklahoma on Dec. 1, sophomore 197-pounder Alan Gelogaev has regrouped to win each of his last seven bouts. Included in that streak is a 14-5 major decision win over No. 15 Dennis Drury of North Carolina. Gelogaev has registered bonus points in two of his last four wins.

Benefiel Has a Smashing Debut

In his first week as part of Oklahoma State's varsity squad, sophomore Mike Benefiel was singled out as the Outstanding Wrestler of the Reno Tournament of Champions after pinning second-seeded Ryan DesRoches of Cal Poly in the first period of the championship bout. That result was indicative of Benefiel's day as a whole, as he recorded two falls and two major decisions in his conquest of the bracket. Not counting his two falls, Benefiel racked up at least 13 points in each of his bouts in Reno.

Benefiel redshirted as a true freshman at Northwestern in 2007-08 before transferring to St. Louis CC in Meramec, Mo. Benefiel enrolled at Northern Oklahoma College for summer school in 2009 before coming to OSU in time for the fall, 2009 semester.

Parks Getting Results vs. The Ranked

Sophomore 141-pounder Jamal Parks has won three of his last four bouts against ranked opponents. The Tulsa Union HS graduate was a 5-3 winner over No. 12 Zack Bailey of Oklahoma on Dec. 1 before coming back to hand No. 10 Mike Thorn of Minnesota a 4-1 defeat on Dec. 4. He added a 3-2 win over No. 10 Chris Drouin of Arizona State in the semifinals at the Reno Tournament of Champions.

Meade Takes Home Wrestler of the Week Honor

After his upset win over No. 2 Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota on Dec. 4, Oklahoma State redshirt freshman 165-pounder Alex Meade was recognized as the Big 12 wrestler of the week for the first time in his young career.

Winning Is The Family Business

Jared Rosholt is the second member of his family to hit the 100 career win mark at OSU, as older brother Jake was 104-21 from 2003-06.

The only other set of brothers to win 100 for the Cowboys were the Smiths. John's 152-8-2 record from 1984-88 leads all OSU wrestlers, with brother Pat going 122-4-2 from 1990-94 and Lee Roy going 114-13-4 from 1977-80.

Speaking Of Family...

John Smith is coaching a pair of his nephews this year in true freshmen Chris Perry and Zach White. Perry is the son of John's sister, Cathy and White is the son of Smith's sister Mary Ann.

Both Perry and White are expected to redshirt this season.

Trading Spaces

Three returning OSU starters from last year are suiting up at new weight classes this year, with Chris Notte moving from 133 pounds to 125 pounds, Chris McNeil moving from 184 pounds to 174 pounds and Clayton Foster moving from 197 pounds to 184 pounds.

All three were NCAA qualifiers last year, but are cutting down this year as a result of the increased talent in the OSU wrestling room.

Red, White and OSU

A quartet of Cowboys represented the United States on the international scene during the summer of 2009, with John Smith coaching the USA senior freestyle team at the FILA World Championships in Herning, Denmark, head assistant coach Eric Guerrero serving as head coach for Team USA at the FILA junior freestyle world championships in Ankara, Turkey and Jordan Oliver and Chris Perry both suiting up for Team USA at the FILA junior freestyle world championships.

Oliver won bronze in the 60-kilogram bracket and Perry placed sixth in the 84-kilogram bracket at junior worlds.

Foster Has Team USA Experience As Well

Though he did not suit up in the Stars and Stripes this past summer, 184-pounder Clayton Foster represented the USA at the 2008 FILA junior world freestyle championships and had a nice showing, winning the bronze medal at the event.

Call Him "Z"

Oklahoma State 197-pounder Alan Gelogaev is one of the most talked-about wrestlers in the country.

Born in Chechenya, Gelogaev claims Moscow, Russia as his hometown. Prior to enrolling at OSU, he trained for five years under Russian wrestling legend and nine-time world champion Buvaisar Saitiev in Siberia.

During his training in Siberia, he connected with former Cowboy Olympian Daniel Cormier and followed Cormier to Stillwater, where he is now mentored by six-time world champion John Smith.

His nickname, "Z" comes from his middle name, Zelim.

Fargo Champions Everywhere

The 2009-10 Oklahoma State roster includes a staggering seven different Fargo junior freestyle national champions. The list:

Clayton Foster 2006

Albert White 2006

Mike Benefiel 2007

Jon Morrison 2007

Jordan Oliver 2007

Jamal Parks 2007

Chris Perry 2008