Fix, White Advance to Finals at NCAA Wrestling Championships

Brackets After Session IV
Session IV Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Oklahoma State's 133-pounder Daton Fix and heavyweight Derek White advanced to the finals of the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Friday night, as the Cowboys wrapped up day two of the three-day event in third place in the team standings.

In addition to those two, Nick Piccininni (125), Dakota Geer (184) and Preston Weigel (197) each earned All-America honors with their performances Friday, marking the 58th time in school history OSU has had at least five wrestlers earn the honor. It also stretches the program's streak of multiple All-Americans to 10 years and gives OSU 467 All-Americans in its history, far more than any other program.

Fix reached the 2019 finals with a 4-2 decision over No. 5 Luke Pletcher of Ohio State. Just a minute into the match, Fix jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a takedown on the edge of mat and rode out the rest of the period. He added an escape in the second and fended off a late push from Pletcher to seal the win and his spot in the national championship match. Fix becomes just the 10th freshman finalist at the NCAA Championships in OSU wrestling history, and the first since Jake Rosholt in 2003.

"It's something I've thought about for a long time," Fix said about reaching the finals. "I mean, I've been coming here for as long as I can remember, since I was eight, nine years old, and every time I'm sitting there for the final session, and just picturing myself up there on the stage winning a national title."

White sealed his spot in the finals in thrilling fashion, knocking off No. 4 Jordan Wood of Lehigh in sudden victory, 3-1. After a scoreless first period and traded escapes in the second and third, White took a low, quick shot in the first period of extra time and scored the match-clinching takedown with 27 seconds remaining.

"A lot of them haven't been very pretty this weekend, but, you know, I've been pulling through and pulling them out," White said. "So that's all that really matters. Tomorrow night I hope to go out there and put on a show."

It marks the first time the Cowboys have had multiple finalists since 2016, when Dean Heil and Alex Dieringer both took home titles.

Piccininni and Weigel also wrestled in Friday night's semifinals, but Piccininni fell to No. 3 Spencer Lee of Iowa and Weigel fell to No. 2 Kollin Moore of Ohio State. It was the first loss of the season for both of them. They will each wrestle two matches Saturday morning and could finish as high as third place.

Geer earned his All-America status upsetting No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi of Pittsburgh, 6-0, in the "blood rounds." He nearly advanced again with an upset in the next consolation match but fell to No. 8 Ryan Preisch of Lehigh in sudden victory, 5-3. Geer will wrestle for seventh place in Saturday's early session.

Seeded No. 26, Geer is the lowest seeded wrestler to advance to the final day of this year's NCAA Championship, and he's the only wrestler seeded in the bottom half of the brackets to do so.

Geer, Piccininni and Wiegel compete Saturday morning in Session V of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at 10 a.m. central time, with the session televised live on ESPNU and every match on every mat available on watchespn.com. Fix and White compete in the finals during the sixth and final session of the event, scheduled for 6 p.m. central and televised live on ESPN.

2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships
March 22, 2019 | PPG Paints Arena | Pittsburgh, Pa.

Session IV (Friday Night) | Attendance: 18,100

Team Standings After Session IV (Top 5)
1. Penn State – 120.5
2. Ohio State – 88.5
3. Oklahoma State – 73.5
4. Iowa – 68.0
5. Missouri – 54.0

Semifinals
125: No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) dec. No. 2 Nick Piccininni (OSU), 11-4
133: No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) dec. No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 4-2
197: No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) MD No. 3 Preston Weigel (OSU), 12-4
285: No. 1 Derek White (OSU) dec. No. 4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh), 3-1, SV1

Consolation Fourth Round
141: No. 13 Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) dec. No. 15 Kaid Brock (OSU), 14-10
184: No. 26 Dakota Geer (OSU) dec. No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh), 6-0

Consolation Fifth Round
184: No. 8 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) dec. No. 26 Dakota Geer (OSU), 5-3, SV1

Seventh-Place Match Schedule (Saturday Morning)
184: No. 26 Dakota Geer (OSU) vs. No. 3 Zachary Zavatsky (Virginia Tech)

Consolation Semifinals Schedule (Saturday Morning)
125: No. 2 Nick Piccininni (OSU) vs. No. 8 Vitali Arujau (Cornell)
197: No. 3 Preston Weigel (OSU) vs. No. 6 William Miklus (Iowa State)

Finals Schedule (Saturday Night)
133: No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) vs. No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers)
285: No. 1 Derek White (OSU) vs. No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State)

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Fix, White Advance to Finals at NCAA Wrestling Championships

Players Mentioned

Kaid Brock

Alex Dieringer

Daton Fix

Dakota Geer

Dean Heil

Nick Piccininni

Preston Weigel

Derek White

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