Cowboys Fall to Hawkeyes at Bout at the Ballpark

Saturday, February 12

Arlington, TX

6 PM CT

Oklahoma State University

Iowa

February 12, 2022 | Cowboy Wrestling

PHOTOS
PHOTOS

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Oklahoma State wrestling team fell to No. 2 Iowa, 23-9, Saturday night in the "Bout at the Ballpark" at Globe Life Field.

The historic event matched international competition with collegiate competition for the first time, as the senior men and women of Team USA took on teams of international all-stars before the Cowboys faced the Hawkeyes. It also marked just the second time a collegiate wrestling dual has been hosted in Major League Baseball ballpark, as Globe Life Field is home to the MLB's Texas Rangers.

"I wish a lot of things could have been different for it," coach John Smith said. "... I think it was a great experience in the end and these guys will remember it."

In another historic performance, Daton Fix became the first wrestler to represent his university and country in the same day as he won bouts for Team USA and for the Cowboys. The 2021 senior world silver medalist at 61 kg, Fix took on Guesseppe Rea of Ecuador in a freestyle match to open the event and ended it in the first period with a 10-0 victory via technical superiority.

"Anytime I get to represent my country it's an honor," Fix said. "I know that not everyone has those opportunities, and I don't ever take anything like that for granted. I get to stand up there with guys that have done things that I dream of doing."

The collegiate dual kicked off with a thrilling win from Trevor Mastrogiovanni over Iowa's Jesse Ybarra, as the Cowboy sophomore overcame a third-period deficit with two takedowns in the final minute. The last one came just before the final horn with two seconds remaining to give Mastrogiovanni a 6-5 decision at 125 pounds.

Fix followed with a decision of his own in the next bout at 133 pounds, knocking off No. 3 Austin DeSanto in a 5-3 win to move to 3-0 in his career against the Hawkeye senior.

Iowa would take the next three bouts in matchups that all favored higher-ranked Hawkeyes to take a 9-6 lead on the team scoreboard before a 10-minute intermission.

Eighth-ranked Travis Wittlake had a hard-fought battle against Iowa's No. 5 Alex Marinelli at 165 pounds in the first bout after the break, but a late charge from Wittlake in the final 30 seconds netted just a stalling call against Marinelli as the Iowa senior escaped with a 3-2 decision.

After Iowa took another decision at 174 pounds, OSU's Dakota Geer answered with a 9-2 win over No. 15 Abe Assad at 184 pounds to cut the Iowa team lead to 15-9. Geer nearly scored the first bonus points of the dual, but a late escape from Assad kept it to a decision.

The Hawkeyes closed out the dual as heavy favorites in the final two bouts and won them both to end the night with a 23-9 advantage in the dual.

Oklahoma State, now 11-4 on the season, returns to action next weekend, wrestling Bucknell Friday night and Oklahoma Sunday afternoon in the final matchups of the regular season. OSU's postseason competition begins with the Big 12 Championship from March 5-6 in Tulsa and ends with the NCAA Wrestling Championships from March 17-19 in Detroit.

No. 2 Iowa 23, No. 12 Oklahoma State 9
Feb.12, 2022 | Globe Life Field | Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 12,028

125: No. 7 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) dec. Jesse Ybarra (IOWA), 6-5
133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) dec. No. 3 Austin DeSanto (IOWA), 5-3
141: No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (IOWA) dec. No. 21 Carter Young (OSU), 6-1
149: No. 10 Max Murin (IOWA) dec. No. 13 Kaden Gfeller (OSU), 5-2
157: No. 12 Kaleb Young (IOWA) dec. No. 18 Wyatt Sheets (OSU), 4-1
165: No. 5 Alex Marinelli (IOWA) dec. No. 8 Travis Wittlake (OSU), 3-2
174: No. 2 Michael Kemerer (IOWA) dec. No. 10 Dustin Plott (OSU), 6-1
184: No. 11 Dakota Geer (OSU) dec. No. 15 Abe Assad (IOWA), 9-2
197: No. 4 Jacob Warner (IOWA) MD Gavin Stika (OSU), 11-3
HWT: No. 4 Tony Cassioppi (IOWA) MD No. 31 Luke Surber (OSU), 9-1