Oklahoma State Wins its Third Consecutive Big 12 Title Cowboys crown seven champions

Christopher A. Matthews

OMAHA, Neb. ‘ Oklahoma State won its third consecutive Big 12 Championship by sending eight wrestlers to the finals and winning seven individual crowns on Saturday at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

Iowa State finished second in the team standings, crowning two Big 12 champions. Nebraska’s B.J. Padden won the other title helping Nebraska to a third-place finish. Oklahoma and Missouri finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Coleman Scott won an individual title for Oklahoma State pinning eighth-ranked Matt Keller in 6:21 and upsetting previously unbeaten and top-ranked Sam Hazewinkel in overtime. Scott earned outstanding wrestler honors for his performance.

At 133, Nathan Morgan won two matches easily to claim his first Big 12 championship.

Nate Gallick wrestled two tight matches at 141 to win a title for the Cyclones. Gallick defeated 12th-ranked Daniel Frishkorn by a 5-3 score in the semifinals. He came back to beat second-ranked Teyon Ware on riding time in two tie breaker periods.

OSU won four consecutive titles between 149 and 174. Zack Esposito won a convincing decision over Oklahoma’s Matt Storniolo, 10-4.

Kevin Ward was a bit of a surprise to even reach the finals. Ward defeated Oklahoma’s Charles Jones 6-1 to reach the semifinal round where he upset fifth-ranked Trent Paulson of Iowa State to reach the finals. Ward defeated Missouri’s Brad Cieleski in the finals, to win his first Big 12 title.

Johny Hendricks had two close matches at 165 to win his first Big 12 title. In the semifinal round, Hendricks and Nebraska’s Jacob Klein went into overtime where each wrestler got an escape and a takedown to force a second sudden victory period. In the sudden victory period, Hendricks got an early takedown to win the match and advance to the finals. In the finals, Hendricks controlled Woodley, and never gave him a chance to score as Hendricks got the only takedown and won, 4-1.

Chris Pendleton and Ben Askren resumed their rivalry at 174. Unlike their previous meeting in Stillwater on Feb. 4, this one had a lot of points scored. Pendleton scored first and kept the pressure on. Askren scored a couple of takedowns in the third period, but it was too late as Pendleton won, 12-8, to reclaim the Big 12 championship he lost to Askren last year.

Iowa State’s third-ranked Kurt Backes did not waste any time in his match with Nebraska’s second-ranked Travis Pascoe. Backes flipped Pascoe on his back and pinned him in 2:13 to avenge a loss he suffered earlier in the year.

The second upset of the championship rounds occurred at 197. Second-ranked Jake Rosholt could not sustain anything and was beaten by Nebraska’s Padden, 3-2, to give the Huskers their only Big 12 title.

OSU’s Steve Mocco was scored on for the first time this season when he gave up a reversal to Iowa State’s Scott Coleman, but Mocco won the match with a 9-4 decision to become the seventh champion for the Cowboys.

The Big 12 will be represented well at the NCAA Championships which begin March 17 at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Mo.