OSU wrestling match still hangs in the balance
Daily Nebraskan
February 11, 2005
The scoreboard read Oklahoma State 19, Nebraska 18.
After a controversy-engulfed dual, Nebraska Wrestling Coach Mark Manning crouched near the score table and listened to referee Cody Olson talk to the NCAA rules committee via telephone.
Nearly 35 minutes passed. Still no ruling.
Then came the official result. The Cowboys’ win stands on one condition “put an asterisk next to it.
The controversy came during NU senior Travis Pascoe’s match with OSU’s Clay Kehrer at 184 pounds.
Pascoe received penalty points after two illegal holds by Kehrer in the second period.
In the third period, Pascoe was awarded one point for Kehrer’s second stall warning, instead of the two points that should have been awarded because it was Kehrer’s third penalty.
Pascoe went on to defeat Kehrer by an 11-4 decision, but the point that was not awarded to Pascoe came back to haunt the Cornhuskers.
Had Pascoe been awarded the point, it would have given him a 12-4 major decision and the Huskers one more team point to make the final score 19-19.
With the score tied, NU would have been awarded the tie-breaker because of senior B.J. Wright’s pin at 157 pounds.
“It (the penalty-point) should have been applied then,” Manning said. “It wasn’t. The referee didn’t catch it, the score table didn’t catch it, so now it’s in the rules committee’s hands.”
The NCAA rules committee will hand down the final ruling on the matter today.
As of Thursday night, OSU’s win stands.
After Pascoe’s win, the Huskers led 18-12 with two matches remaining.
NU senior B.J. Padden then dropped a 3-2 decision to Jake Rosholt at 197 pounds.
With the Huskers leading 18-15, senior Mitch Manstedt took the mat against the No. 1-ranked heavyweight in the nation, undefeated Steve Mocco.
Mocco defeated Manstedt by a 12-2 major decision, giving OSU the 19-18 win.
The Huskers and Cowboys split the dual with five wins each.
In a match of two All-Americans, ninth-ranked NU junior Jacob Klein upset No. 3 Johny Hendricks 5-4.
“This just shows that we can wrestle with the best of them,” Klein said. “Come March time, you never know what can happen.”
Wright pinned OSU’s Kevin Ward early in the third period of their bout at 157 pounds.
NU senior Matt Murray extended his winning streak to 10 after getting a 9-4 decision over Daniel Frishkorn at 141 pounds.
“Everybody on the team knew we could beat them,” Murray said. “It definitely gives us some big confidence.”
Manning said no matter what the final outcome of the dual, he was proud of the way his team competed.
After the dual was over, though, the Huskers still didn’t know who had come away with the win.
“It’s kind of like the dual’s on hold,” Manning said.
Wrestling Gear
