A trio of third-place All-American finishes put Oklahoma State within shot of Penn State heading into NCAA finals
By Mike Finn
DES MOINES, Iowa — Trailing by 20.5 points before the start of Saturday morning’s medal round, Oklahoma State knew that it would need a perfect morning from the five Cowboys competing to have a chance to catch first-place Penn State.
The Cowboys nearly did it as Alex Dieringer (157), Tyler Caldwell (165) and heavyweight Alan Gelogaev battled back to place third in their weight classes at Wells Fargo Arena. Because of those efforts, a fifth-place finish by Jon Morrison (133) and eighth-place by Blake Rosholt, the Cowboys have pulled within three points (114.5-111.5) of the two-time defending champion Nittany Lions.
The Cowboys could still pass the Lions if Jordan Oliver (149) and Chris Perry (174) win their championships match and if only one of the final Penn State finalists — Nico Megaludis (125), David Taylor (165), Matt Brown (174), Ed Ruth (184) and Quentin Wright (197) win their matches. Only Ruth is a higher seed against his opponent.
| The following are highlights from the All-American matches:
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125 Results
3rd Place Match
Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) dec. Alan Waters (Missouri), 6-1 — The Big Red freshman broke open a scoreless match with six seconds left in the second period, then added an escape and another takedown to go along with a 2:03 riding time advantage.
5th Place Match
Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota St.) dec. Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech), 7-2 — The Bison senior ended his career by scoring one of two takedowns in the first period, then added a 2:09 riding time advantage.
7th Place Match
David Thorn (Minnesota) pinned Tyler Cox (Wyoming), 1:17 — The Gopher freshman threw the Cowboy to his back at the 1:49 mark and scored the fall with a grapevine six seconds later.
133 Results
3rd Place Match
Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) dec. A.J. Schopp (Edinboro), 6-3 — The Badger scored a first-period takedown and second-period reversal, which nearly led to back points.
5th Place Match
Jonathon Morrison (Oklahoma St.) dec. Chris Dardanes (Minnesota), 6-4 — The Cowboy completed his first All-American season by scoring two takedowns.
7th Place Match
Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) dec. Nathan McCormick (Missouri), 15-10 — The Sooner freshman actually trailed 6-3 before battling back to score a takedown with 43 seconds left in the second period, before catching the Tigers in cradle for nearfall points four seconds later.
141 Results
3rd Place Match
Hunter Stieber (Ohio St.) major dec. Undrakhbayar Khishignyam (The Citadel), 12-4 —The top-ranked Buckeye score three of his five takedowns in the first period to lead 6-3 and then earned the major by scoring a final takedown with 30 seconds left, which also led to a 1:10 riding time advantage.
5th Place Match
Michael Nevinger (Cornell) dec. Evan Henderson (North Carolina), 9-2 — The two-time All-American led 5-0 after the first period when he scored a takedown with 38 seconds left in the first, before adding a three-point near as the period ended.
7th Place Match
Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) dec. Zach Neibert (Virginia Tech), 9-5 — The Gopher rallied from a 3-2 deficit when Dardanes scored two takedowns in the second period and added a point for riding time.
149 Results
3rd Place Match
Steve Santos (Columbia) dec. Dylan Ness (Minnesota), 7-3 — The Lion built up over three minute of riding time after scoring a first-period takedown and second-period reversal.
5th Place Match
Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon St.) dec. Drake Houdashelt (Missouri), 6-5 — The Beaver clinched the victory when he held off a deep double by the unseeded Tiger.
7th Place Match
Ivan Lopouchanski (Purdue) dec. Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech), 5-3 — The Boilermaker, who began his career at the now defunct UNC-Greensboro, competed his career on a high note when he rode out the Hokie the entire third period, which also gave him a 1:32 riding advantage.
157 Results
3rd Place Match
Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma St.) pinned David Bonin (Northern Iowa), 1:39 — The Cowboy freshman threw the Panther to the mat with a tough headlock and pinned him five seconds later.
5th Place Match
Roger Pena (Oregon St.) major dec. Jedd Moore (Virginia), 11-2 — The Beaver scored three takedowns — one each in every period — with the final coming with two seconds left in the bout. Such domination also helped Pena build up a 4:59 riding time advantage.
7th Place Match
James Green (Nebraska) major dec. James Fleming (Clarion), 14-4 — The Husker piled up most of his points in the second period when he used a half nelson to score a three-point nearfall. The final point came off a 2:34 riding-time advantage.
165 Results
3rd Place Match
Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) dec. Peter Yates (Virginia Tech), 5-1 — The Cowboy broke open a scoreless match with an escape and takedown with 42 seconds left in the second period. Before giving up an escape, Caldwell earned a 1:22 riding time advantage.
5th Place Match
Conrad Polz (Illinois) dec. Michael Moreno (Iowa St.), 7-5 — Trailing 5-4 in the third period, the Illini scored a takedown off a wild scramble with 26 seconds left.
7th Place Match
Cody Yohn (Minnesota) dec. Nicholas Sulzer (Virginia), 8-5 tb — After holding down the Cavalier for his half of the tiebreaker, Yohn was awarded the escape before icing the bout on a takedown with 21 seconds left in overtime.
174 Results
3rd Place Match
Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) dec. Logan Storley (Minnesota), 3-1 sv — In a battle between two former high school rivals from South Dakota, the Husker ended the bout when Kokesh snuck behind Storley with 16 seconds left in the sudden victory period.
5th Place Match
Nick Heflin (Ohio St.) pinned Michael Evans (Iowa), 2:10) — The Buckeye was leading 2-0 when he caught the Hawkeye in a cradle and pinned him ten seconds later.
7th Place Match
Jordan Blanton (Illinois) dec. Cody Walters (Ohio), 4-3 — A 1:06 riding time advantage gave the Illini the victory. Most of the mat advantage was built after Blanton scored the match’s only takedown with 1:29 left in the first, before Walters scored a reversal with 13 seconds left in the first frame.
184 Results
3rd Place Match
Steve Bosak (Cornell) dec. Ben Bennett (Central Michigan), 2-0 — The 2012 national champion ended his career by riding the Chippewa the entire second period before scoring an escape in the third.
5th Place Match
Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland), 6-2 — The Hawkeye clinched the victory when he second takedown also helped him build a 1:08 riding time advantage.
7th Place Match
Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) major dec. Mike Larson (Missouri), 8-0 — Moments after Larson was penalized for stalling, the Panther turned a reversal into a three-point nearfall with six seconds left in the second period.
197 Results
3rd Place Match
Matthew Wilps (Pittsburgh) won by TF over Taylor Meeks (Oregon St.), 18-2 (4:02) — After riding the Beaver for 2:45 in the first period, the Panther first caught Meeks with an inside cradle that led to a 7-1 lead, the ended the bout with a three-point nearfall, followed by a final takedown off a wild scramble in the second period.
5th Place Match
Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. Kyven Gadson (Iowa St.), 6-2 — The Gopher scored takedowns in the first and second periods before adding a 1:58 riding time advantage.
7th Place Match
Alfonso Hernandez (Wyoming) dec. Blake Rosholt (Oklahoma St.), 7-4 — In this battle of Cowboys, Hernandes tallied one takedown in each period before adding a point for a 1:37 riding advantage.
Heavyweight Results
3rd Place Match
Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma St.) dec. Dominque Bradley (Missouri), 3-2 — A foot-sweep by the Cowboy with 35 seconds left gave Gelogaev a 3-1 margin before the top-seeded Tiger managed a second escape.
5th Place Match
Zac Thomusseit (Pittsburgh) dec. Jarod Trice (Central Michigan), 3-1 — The Panther score the match’s only offensive points off a takedown.
7th Place Match
Odie Delaney (The Citadel) pinned Matthew Gibson (Iowa St.), 2:44 — The Bulldogs put icing on the first time the military school earned two All-American honors in one season when he turned a first-period takedown into a fall.
