What Makes GIA Special - John Smith's Buzzer Beater in First Iowa Dual

This story is part of a six-part "What Makes GIA Special" series telling some of the best moments in Gallagher-Iba Arena history. In this story, former OSU wrestler and current head coach John Smith, former wrestler Mike Sheets and wrestling radio broadcaster Rex Holt relive Smith's last-second win over Mark Trizzino in his first Iowa and OSU dual as a true freshman.

Mike Sheets: "John was a freshman and I was a senior. Iowa was ranked No. 1 and we were ranked No. 2. Just a packed house, standing room only."

John Smith: "We knew it was going to be a heated battle. We knew it was going to be big and we knew we were going to have to get performances from the guys who had chances to pull upsets. It was your typical Iowa and OSU dual meet, the difference was they had some guys that were really despised by some of the guys on the team. It created an environment where you had to watch your team and make sure somebody didn't get kicked out with that being one of those matches at the end of the year that would end up costing one of the guys their season."

Rex Holt: "Iowa may have been a slight favorite or it was a tossup. It was a dual with All-Americans going head-to-head at almost every weight. It was one of those duals if you're supposed to win, then you better win and you might need an upset or two to pull a victory out."

JS: "It was my first experience of any kind of match in Gallagher Hall. I had watched a few of my brother's matches, but I never watched an Iowa and OSU match. The first one I watched was the one I was in."

"We started at the smallest weight so I was the second match."

RH: "John was a true freshman wrestling Mark Trizzino from Iowa who was an All-American."

JS: "I was definitely a big underdog. This guy was good. I was a true freshman, he was a redshirt senior. He was probably 23-years old and I was 18. Knowing that I needed to give myself an opportunity to win, I knew I was going to have to deal with a lot of power. I was still developing into a college wrestler. I probably wasn't going to beat that guy twice, but on that particular night, I needed to find a way to win. He went on to finish third in the nation, while I failed to place. I knew anything can happen in one match and I knew I needed to have the perfect match."

RH: "He got out there and Trizzino didn't put him away. If I remember right, Trizzino had about a three-point lead in the last period. Next thing you know, John is able to get an escape, then he scores a takedown. Then with just seconds remaining, he had to let him go again to try and win the match."

JS: "I looked at the clock, saw five seconds left, hit my particular move and won the match with one second left."

MS: "He was behind by one with literally a second on the clock and John hits this head snap and they reward two as the buzzer goes off."

"You talk about goosebumps on your arm, that was one of the greatest last-second wins in Gallagher history. It was just crazy, the crowd went nuts."

JS: "Gallagher Hall just erupted. They say it might've been the second loudest they had ever heard it at that time, the first being the Big 12 Championship in 1978. It erupted, it was kind of deafening. It was a moment that seemed like it lasted for 30 minutes. I know it didn't, but coming off the mat, going behind the bench and having people all over me trying to get back to the locker room it was a crazy moment in time. It was all good, all exciting and the experience was wonderful. It was a great experience."

RH: "John of course had grown up around the program with his brother, Lee Roy, and all that. It was his freshman year and you knew he was going to be a star from the beginning but that was his first coming out moment as an Oklahoma State Cowboy."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

What Makes GIA Special - John Smith's Buzzer Beater in First Iowa Dual

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