Four Cowboys Reach Semifinals of NCAA Wrestling Championships

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PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The No. 2 Oklahoma State wrestling team advanced four wrestlers to the semifinals of the 2019 NCAA Championships on Friday, going 4-0 in the quarterfinals and 10-2 in the third session of the tournament to sit at third place in the team standings entering Friday night's fourth session.

OSU semifinalists Nick Piccininni (125), Daton Fix (133), Preston Weigel (197) and Derek White (HWT) also earned All-America honors with their quarterfinal wins. They account for more semifinalists than any team other than first-place Penn State and second-place Ohio State.

Kaid Brock (141) and Dakota Geer (184) are also still wrestling in the consolation brackets after each going 2-0 in Friday's early session, and both would earn All-America honors with one more win Friday night.

"It was a pretty good round for us," coach John Smith said. "This is going to be the round where you're going to score points or could really go backwards, and we did a good job of scoring points. We went 10-2. That's a big Friday morning. I'm really proud of my semifinalists. They wrestled hard. They outscored their opponents. They scored takedowns when it was critical. We just need to come back tonight and focus on pushing those two guys who are in the round of 12 to be All-Americans and to win some matches in the semifinals. This is what it's about. It gets exciting now."

Quarterfinal highlights included a 58-second fall from Weigel over No. 11 Christian Brunner of Purdue to earn the second All-America honors of his career, as well as an 11-3 major decision from Fix over No. 8 John Erneste of Missouri to become the 38th freshman All-American in OSU history.

Piccininni earned his second All-America honors after a 9-5 decision over No. 7 Pat Glory of Princeton, and White earned the first All-America honors of his career as a senior with a 3-1 win over Central Michigan's No. 9 Matt Stencel.

"Nick scored critical takedowns, especially in the third, to stretch that score out against a tough, tough hometown kid, Smith said. "Fix looked great from start to finish. Weigel just horsed him. He got in there and just threw him down and pinned him. Old fashioned stuff. That was exciting. It was Derek's first opportunity to break through. I think he was thinking a little bit about being an All-American, and he knew this was the match to win to be one. Hopefully he really comes out tonight and opens it up."

The Cowboys also went 4-0 in Friday's first consolation round, getting major decisions from Brock and Geer and decisions from Joe Smith and Jacobe Smith, but only Brock and Geer advanced with wins in the next round.

Geer moved on with one of the highlight wins of the tournament as the 26th-seeded Cowboy handed Penn State's second-seeded Shakur Rasheed just his second loss of the season, scoring two points with less than five seconds remaining to defeat the Nittany Lion, 4-2, in OSU's last match of the session.

"Geer's match gives us six guys still in, and that's a good number," John Smith said. "I think there are a lot of people finding out that this parity is real, and us taking six into Friday night is good."

All six of OSU's remaining wrestlers will compete Friday night in Session IV of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at 7 p.m. central time, with the session televised live on ESPN and every match on every mat available on watchespn.com.

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

Session III (Friday Morning) | Attendance: 18,013

Team Standings After Session III (Top 5)
1. Penn State – 80.0
2. Ohio State – 66.5
3. Oklahoma State – 56.0
4. Iowa – 43.5
5. Michigan – 40.0

Quarterfinals
125: No. 2 Nick Piccininni (OSU) dec. No. 7 Pat Glory (Princeton), 9-5
133: No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) MD No. 8 John Erneste (Missouri), 11-3
197: No. 3 Preston Weigel (OSU) fall No. 11 Christian Brunner (Purdue), 0:58
285: No. 1 Derek White (OSU) dec. No. 9 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan), 3-1

Consolation Second Round
141: No. 15 Kaid Brock (OSU) MD No. 17 Ian Parker (Iowa State), 12-4
165: No. 33 Joe Smith (OSU) dec. No. 15 Connor Flynn (Missouri), 3-1
174: No. 7 Jacobe Smith (OSU) dec. No. 25 Hayden Hastings (Wyoming), 5-4
184: No. 26 Dakota Geer (OSU) MD No. 25 Max Lyon (Purdue), 12-2

Consolation Third Round
141: No. 15 Kaid Brock (OSU) dec. No. 23 Sam Turner (Wyoming), 10-4
165: No. 9 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) dec. No. 33 Joe Smith (OSU), 7-4
174: No. 33 Devin Kane (North Carolina) dec. No. 7 Jacobe Smith (OSU), 5-2
184: No. 26 Dakota Geer (OSU) dec. No. 2 Shakur Rasheed (Penn State), 4-2

Semifinals Schedule (Friday Night)
125: No. 2 Nick Piccininni (OSU) vs. No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa)
133: No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) vs. No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State)
197: No. 3 Preston Weigel (OSU) vs. No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State)
285: No. 1 Derek White (OSU) vs. No. 4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh)

Consolation Fourth Round Schedule (Friday Night)
141: No. 15 Kaid Brock (OSU) vs. No. 13 Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven)
184: No. 26 Dakota Geer (OSU) vs. No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh)

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Four Cowboys Reach Semifinals of NCAA Wrestling Championships

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Players Mentioned

Kaid Brock

Daton Fix

Dakota Geer

Nick Piccininni

Jacobe Smith

Joe Smith

Preston Weigel

Derek White

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