Oklahoma State wrestlers take down Michigan State
By Greg Dickinson Daily O’Collegian
Stillwater, OK (U-WIRE) — Oklahoma State finally got to wrestle Thursday night against Michigan State.
The match was scheduled for Jan. 6 but was rescheduled because of bad weather. OSU had not wrestled since Dec. 22 and coach John Smith said some of the Cowboys did not wrestle as well as they could have because of the long layoff.
“I think we left a little bit on the mat tonight as far as individuals, “Smith said. “It looked like a little bit of 20 days off. I thought that some of them didn’t quite recover from their making weight in 20-something days.”
OSU won seven of the 10 matches on its way to defeating the Spartans, 28-9, in front of 2,567 fans inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Sophomore Johny Hendricks got the Cowboys started with a win at 165 pounds. Hendricks beat Bryan Harney 12-4 to give OSU a 4-0 lead.
After alternating wins over the next three weights, junior heavyweight Steve Mocco picked up a pin in the first period to bring the crowd to its feet.
“I know the guys on the team are real fired up and I’m fired up to compete, “Mocco said when asked about OSU’s upcoming match against Iowa on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Gallagher-Iba. “Tonight was the first time we’ve competed in about a month. I’m looking at it as an opportunity for good competition; that’s what I’m looking at it as, just another match.”
Mocco, who transferred from Iowa, will get his first chance to wrestle his former team as a Cowboy.
Smith said it feels good knowing Mocco will be wearing an orange singlet against the Hawkeyes.
“That is something that can make a difference, that’s for sure, “Smith said.
OSU and Iowa have combined to win 52 national championships and their rivalry is one of the best in wrestling.
“The Iowa rivalry is one of the big ones in wrestling and it’s something that we really gear up for, “said senior Chris Pendleton. “I’m really looking forward to it especially since it’s my last one, and I don’t have to wrestle Nix again.”
With the win against MSU, the Cowboys are now 7-0 and still ranked No. 1 in the country. Iowa comes into the match 4-1 and ranked No. 9. The Cowboys have won the last four meetings and own a 10-5-1 record in Stillwater against the Hawkeyes.
Pendleton said the Cowboys can expect Iowa’s best effort.
“It doesn’t matter what the teams are ranked, both teams are going to be ready for it, “he said. “We know we are going to get their best effort, so we have to give our best effort too to win the match.”
After the match Thursday night, Smith said he was glad the Cowboys got the win after working so hard over the layoff, but they are going to have to wrestle better to beat Iowa.
“I think they match up with us very well so with that we are going to have to wrestle better than we wrestled tonight, “Smith said. “But I’m not sure we could’ve had our best matches tonight coming off of 20 days and the work that we put in. I like the fact that we had to struggle a little bit through some of those matches and show a little endurance.”
(C) 2004 Daily O’Collegian via U-WIRE
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