By Roger Moore
Stillwater NewsPress
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. ” Two Oklahoma State wrestlers left the stage disappointed on Saturday night.
Senior Johny Hendricks, in his bid for a third straight title at 165 pounds, lost to Iowa’s Mark Perry, while junior 133-pounder Coleman Scott dropped a decision to two-time champion Matt Valenti from Penn.
The Cowboys left The Palace and the 2007 NCAA Wrestling Championship with a fifth-place finish. O-State totaled 69 points in the three-day event.
Minnesota held off an Iowa State charge and topped off its third team title with a Cole Konrad pin in the final bout of the tournament. The Gophers finished with 98 points, 91â„2 in front of the Cyclones. Missouri (76) and Northwestern (71 1/2) were third and fourth, respectively.
“I hope I don’t say it very often, but we finished fifth and I think we got a lot out of this group,” said OSU head coach John Smith. “Unfortunately it didn’t finish on a positive note, but I can’t take anything away from what I’ve asked of them.
“They gave me everything they had and put us in a position to give us a respectable showing. We’ve got some rebuilding to do, some holes to fill. We lose a big leader in Johny Hendricks.”
It was the first time since the 2000 tourney the Cowboys failed to crown an individual champion and just the fourth time since 1992 that the Pokes finished outside the top four.
For Hendricks (34-1), it was a frustrating completion to four All-American seasons. The Edmond product thought a takedown should have been called in the first period, but after a second-period ride-out by the Cowboy, the seventh meeting between he and Perry went to the third scoreless.
Hendricks reversed to lead 2-0, but the former Stillwater High 103-pounder reversed right back, then secured a two-point near-fall with a slick tilt from a crab-ride situation. Perry (28-4) rode out the final 40 seconds for a 4-3 victory.
“I’ve held a lot of stuff back, but it really stinks having the (officials) against you in a situation like that,” said a frustrated silver medalist. “How is that not two? I really felt like the refs took it away from me.
“Things are just called differently when we wrestle. Perry wrestled a good match, but I think he knew after I didn’t get that call in the first period that he didn’t really have to do anything but wait for me to fall in his lap.”
Added Smith, “I think Johny got a little too comfortable. He just floated a little bit against a floater and got reversed. He still had a chance to get an escape at the end. It was a good turn. (Perry) did enough to win and that’s what you have to do.
“I’ll be proud of (Perry) later “¦ not right now because it’s about my kid.”
It was Perry’s first win over Hendricks in seven tries.
“It’s something I’ve dreamt about since I was six years old,” said Perry, who left Stillwater after his freshman season to attend Blair Academy in New Jersey. “Hendricks is the best competitor I have ever faced by far. He is just freakishly strong.
“I’ve worn down against him in the past, and after I lost to (Michigan’s Eric) Tannenbaum I told my coaches that I was going to win it. I snapped after that loss and went to work. A lot of credit goes to Coach (Doug) Schwab, (Coach Tom) Brands and (Coach Dan) Gable. My family knows how much this means to me.”
Scott (29-4) brought out his powerful double-leg that helped him knock off top-seeded Nick Simmons of Michigan State on Friday. It gave the OSU junior a 2-0 lead, but Penn’s Matt Valenti, also the champion in 2006, used a reversal right off the whistle with 10 seconds left in the first for a 2-2 tie.
A two-minute rideout in the second and a third-period escape gave Valenti (32-2) a 4-2 victory.
“Coleman does the same thing off the whistle a lot of times, using that claw,” said Smith of his three-time All-American. “It was about Valenti just hitting a very powerful switch off the whistle, more so than Coleman making a mistake.
“(Scott) had a great tournament, a good season.”
“I’ll go to work because it’s disappointing to get this close,” Scott said. “(Valenti) did a good job of scouting. That reversal was something that shouldn’t happen. I’ve got to ride those 10 seconds out.
“I feel like it’s more my fault, not necessarily anything he did. I can’t get ridden out in the national finals.”
Just enough
The Gophers’ crowned one ” Konrad, who finished his career with 76 straight wins. UM totaled five All-Americans, as did Michigan. It was the first time in 32 years no team had at least six among the top eight.
The others
UC-Davis’ Derek Moore was rewarded for a great tournament with the Outstanding Wrestler Award. The 141-pounder, who beat OSU’s Nate Morgan in the semifinals, put on a mat display against top-seeded Ryan Lang in the finals in a 17-2 technical fall win. It was Lang’s only loss of the season.
“¢ Missouri’s Ben Askren (42-0) and Northwestern’s Jake Herbert (32-0) each won titles, Askren finishing with 87 straight wins. Herbert lost to Askren in the 174-pound finals in 2006.
“¢ Nebraska’s Paul Donahoe used overtime to gave Oklahoma senior Sam Hazewinkel (25-1) his first loss of the season at 125 pounds.
“¢ Edinboro sophomore Gregor Gillespie finished a 35-2 campaign with an overtime win over hometown favorite Josh Churella of Michigan at 149. Gillespie beat Minnesota’s Dustin Schlatter on Friday night.
“¢ Iowa State won one of three finals, getting a gold from Trent Paulson at 157. Cyclone freshman Jake Varner lost to Herbert, while Kurt Backes lost to Mark Cody-coached Josh Glenn of American in the 197-pound finals.
Showing up
The total attendance for the 2007 NCAAs was 89,190. Saturday’s evening session was a tournament-record 17,780. The next two mat championships will be in St. Louis, Mo.
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