No. 1 Oklahoma State Defeats No. 3 Iowa State Wrestlers
Cowboys hand Cyclones first loss of the season
AMES, IOWA – It went down to the last match, but the top-ranked Oklahoma State wrestlers asserted themselves in the upper weight classes, winning six of 10 matches overall to beat Iowa State, 21-14 Thursday night in Hilton Coliseum. OSU now stands 13-0 in dual competition. Iowa State, off to the second-best start in school history, is now 17-1.
Oklahoma State got victories from its top-rated wrestlers at 174, 184 and heavyweight to lead 18-14 heading into the night’s final match. In that bout, Cowboy 125-pounder Coleman Scott defeated ISU’s eighth-ranked Grant Nakamura 6-0 to ice the match and hand Iowa State its first loss this season.
At 174, top-rated Chris Pendleton beat ISU’s Nick Passolano, 11-5. No. 1 Cowboy 197-pounder Jake Rosholt beat Trevor Smith 6-3 and unbeaten and first-ranked Steve Mocco of OSU beat No. 10 Scott Coleman by major decision, 13-4.
“I’m pleased with the effort, not the result, “Iowa State head coach Bobby Douglas said. “There were good things to build on. Again, we are still more than a month away from March. But we’re making progress. We had some adversity to overcome in a couple places. I thought that Travis Paulson and Kurt Backes did that tonight.”
Paulson had been out with strained rib cartilage since Jan. 15. He returned Thursday, scoring a 13-4 major decision over OSU’s Sam Lewnes at 165 pounds. Paulson, ranked fifth nationally, improved to 17-4 this season. Backes, who had only practiced once this week because of the flu, improved to 21-2 with a 17-8 major decision win over Clay Kehrer at 184 pounds.
“I felt good tonight, “Backes said. “I felt bad yesterday but I stayed hydrated the whole time and was as ready as I could be tonight. “Iowa State’s Nate Gallick, ranked first nationally at 141 pounds, beat No. 19 Ronnie Delk, 5-1. Gallick is 18-0. Trent Paulson was the other ISU victor. The fifth-rated Cyclone improved to 24-1 with an 8-3 win over Kevin Ward.
Iowa State closes out the home season Sunday at 2 p.m. against No. 6 Oklahoma.
MATCH BY MATCH
133 – Nathan Morgan (OSU) beat Jesse Sundell, 10-5
141 – Nate Gallick (IS) beat Ronnie Delk, 5-1
149 – Zack Esposito (OSU) beat Jason Knipp by technical fall, 21-6, 7:00
157 – Trent Paulson (IS) beat Kevin Ward, 8-3
165 – Travis Paulson (IS) beat Sam Lewnes by major decision, 13-4
174 – Chris Pendleton (OSU) beat Nick Passolano, 11-5
184 – Kurt Backes (IS) won by major decision over Clay Kehrer, 17-8
197 – Jake Rosholt (OS) beat Trevor Smith, 6-3
HWT – Steve Mocco (OSU) won by major decision over Scott Coleman, 13-4
125 – Coleman Scott (OSU) beat Grant Nakamura, 6-0
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