NO LET UP
OSU dominates Big 12s; now big favorite for NCAA
OMAHA, Neb. — So much for parity.
Two-time defending national champion and top-ranked Oklahoma State decimated the field at the Big 12 Championships, March 5, at Qwest Center Omaha.
The Cowboys won their record 40th league title by tying a school record with seven conference champions. OSU had finalists in 8 of the 10 weight classes.
Oklahoma State piled up 95.5 points while No. 3 Iowa State was second with 49, followed by No. 6 Nebraska (47.5), No. 7 Oklahoma (45) and No. 14 Missouri (35).
The top three qualifiers at each weight class, plus six wild cards overall, qualified for Nationals March 17-19 in St. Louis. The tournament drew nearly 7,000 fans to Omaha’s downtown arena, which opened two years ago.
“This was definitely one of our better Big 12 tournaments,” Oklahoma State coach John Smith said. “Seven champions is definitely something you can be proud of as a team. That should give us some momentum going into Nationals.”
Freshman Coleman Scott highlighted OSU’s magnificent seven by handing top-ranked Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma his first loss of the season in the 125-pound finals. The lanky Scott, taller than the stocky Hazewinkel, won 2-1 in double-overtime.
Hazewinkel placed third at Nationals last year.
The 17th-ranked Scott, who pinned No. 8 Matt Keller of Nebraska in the semifinals, was named outstanding wrestler.
“I had a good day,” Scott said. “I wanted to win this and I had that mentality coming into the tournament. I worked hard to be in (Hazewinkel’s) face for seven minutes. I knew I had to win in all three positions.”
The Cowboys also had champions in Nathan Morgan (133), Zack Esposito (149), Kevin Ward (157), Johny Hendricks (165), Chris Pendleton (174) and Steve Mocco (heavyweight).
One of the bigger upsets came at 197, where second-ranked Jake Rosholt of OSU, a national champ two years ago at 184, suffered a 6-2 finals loss to No. 14 B.J. Padden of Nebraska.
Padden used a pair of takedowns to notch the win. Padden had lost by one point to Rosholt in the dual and had lost his last two matches and three of his last four bouts entering the Big 12s.
“The dual with Oklahoma State really got me to believe I could beat him,” said Padden, who was 0-4 against Rosholt in college. “I knew what I had to do and I was ready. It was great to finally break through against him. This gives me a ton of confidence going into nationals.”
Iowa State crowned the other two champions in Nate Gallick (141) and Kurt Backes (184).
The top-ranked Gallick outlasted NCAA champ Teyon Ware of Oklahoma in four overtimes in the 141-pound finals. Gallick won by virtue of having more total riding time in the four 30-second periods.
Gallick beat Ware in the fifth-place match last year at Nationals and in the dual this year. The only scoring between them in the Big 12 finals were three escapes by each competitor.
“It is hard to wrestle Ware,” Gallick said. “I felt like I had a lot of offense, but he did a good job on defense. We know each so well it is tough to score many points.”
The third-ranked Backes countered a throw attempt by No. 2 Travis Pascoe of Nebraska to win by fall late in the first period of the 184-pound finals. Pascoe had downed Backes 9-6 in the dual two weeks earlier.
“That was sweet revenge,” Backes said. “He had me tight, but I just rolled through and got him. It felt real good to beat him here.”
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