Oklahoma hasn’t won a Big 12 wrestling championship in 19 years but after a full day on the mats at Tulsa’s BOK Center, the Sooners are in position to stun the conference and win another one.
Saturday, OU sent 10 grapplers to the mat and nine of them are still going.
At 133 pounds, 141 pounds and 149 pounds, Tony Madrigal, Dom Demas and Mitch Moore, respectively, will each vie for a conference championship.
At every successive weight — Justin Thomas (157), Troy Mantanona (165), Anthony Mantanona (174), Darrien Roberts (184), Jake Woodley (197), Josh Heindselman (HWT) — a Sooner can finish as high as third, fourth or fifth.
“We obviously wrestled very well tonight but there is still a lot of wrestling left,” Sooner coach Lou Rosselli said. “I’m proud of how our guys competed today with their backs against the wall and we know what we need to accomplish our goals tomorrow.”
The Sooners, ranked 19th in the nation, would appear to have two primary challengers to conference supremacy in Bedlam rival and sixth-ranked Oklahoma State and 25th-ranked Wyoming, one of eight schools that compete in the conference in wrestling only.
OU racked up 107 team points on Saturday, Wyoming 97 and OSU 96. OSU will also send three wrestlers into today’s finals. Wyoming will send four.
The surprise of the tournament is Madrigal, who did not even draw one of the bracket’s eight seeds, yet has himself in the 133 championship bout against OSU’s Dayton Fix after gaining decisions over South Dakota State’s Zach Price, Wyoming’s Job Greenwood and Iowa State’s Zach Redding.
No unseeded wrestler in conference history had ever won three matches to reach a final.
What Rosselli said about his wrestlers performing well with their backs against the wall was exactly right.
Four different Sooners — Troy Mantanona (165), Anthony Mantanona (174), Roberts (184), Woodley (197) — won twice after suffering their first defeat to keep going through the consolation portion of the brackets.
Both Mantanonas posted twin pins once sent into the consolation brackets. Woodley registered two technical falls after being knocked out of the winners’ bracket.
The consolation brackets resume at 10 this morning. The finals begin at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast by ESPN2.
The Link LonkMarch 07, 2021 at 11:26AM
https://www.normantranscript.com/sports/big-12-wrestling-sooners-in-front-after-day-1-send-three-into-finals/article_57316012-7efd-11eb-b4c5-9f580aa2ae57.html
Big 12 wrestling: Sooners in front after Day 1, send three into finals - Norman Transcript
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