Cowboys In Second At NCAA Championships

After day one of competition at the NCAA Championships, the Oklahoma State wrestling team sits in second place with 29 points, keeping all 10 Cowboys alive for day two—seven quarterfinalists and three in the wrestlebacks.

Heavyweight Alan Gelogaev provided one the day's highlights, snatching two pins for the Pokes in the first period.

At 133 pounds, Junior Jon Morrison turned in a major decision over Mackenzie Maguire of Kent State in the first round and a 3-2 win over Central Michigan's Scotti Sentes to earn his spot in the quarterfinals.

2011 133-pound NCAA champion and three-time All-American Jordan Oliver scored a pair of major decisions at 149 pounds. In the first round, Oliver crushed Virginia's David Habat, 16-6. He met up with Derek Valenti in the second round, where he delivered a 13-3 beating.

157-pounder Alex Dieringer finished his first day of NCAA competition in similar fashion, earning a 9-1 major decision over Watts of Michigan State and a 9-0 major decision over Ohio's Spartak Chino.

Tyler Caldwell added two to his win column, defeating Northwestern's Pierce Hager by a 9-1 major decision and edging Chattanooga's Josh Condon, 4-2.

At 174 pounds, Chris Perry snagged a couple decisions against Cody Weishoff and John Fausey to earn the chance to compete for his second-consecutive All-American honor.

Blake Rosholt defeated Braden Atwood of Purdue, 3-2, in the first round. In his second round, he faced No. 6 seed Kyven Gadson, who he has seen three times already this season, with the last meeting just a couple weeks ago at the 197-pound Big 12 Championship match. This time, Rosholt topped Gadson, 8-7.

"It felt great [to beat Gadson], especially in front of his home crowd," Rosholt said. "I'm moving forward and moving through the tournament like I want to…It's huge but not only for me. I'm here trying to help my team win a title."

Gelogaev had one of the most dominant performances, wrestling a total of 52 seconds for the day with two first period falls over Ben Apland and Jeremy Johnson, respectively. Gelogaev's first pin in 18 seconds was the tournament's fastest of the day and the fastest pin ever by a heavyweight at the NCAA tournament.

"It was a good day. We had to kind of fight out a couple tough matches at some weights that we didn't expect, but that's what you have to do in this tournament," coach John Smith said. "Not everything goes right, and for us, we were kind of gritty in some of those tougher matches. I thought we wrestled better tonight. As you advance, you know you're wrestling tougher people. I like what I saw out of my three guys [in the wrestlebacks]."

After getting knocked out of the championship race in the first round, Eddie Klimara was put against Max Soria of Buffalo in the pigtail consolation round, where he emerged with an 8-1 victory. He faced Ben Willeford of Cleveland State in the first round of the wrestlebacks and picked up a commanding 11-2 major decision with more than five minutes of riding time.

Feikert kept himself alive with an 8-5 decision over Joseph Spisak from Virginia in the first round of wrestlebacks after falling to Steven Keith in the championship first round.

Chris Chionuma suffered a 4-1 upset against Pittsburgh's Max Thomusseit in the first round, sending him to the wrestlebacks, where he came out swinging and pinned MacKain Stoll of North Dakota State in 2:26.

The action at Wells Fargo Arena continues tomorrow morning, beginning at 10 a.m.

Team results

1. Penn State – 32.5 points

2. Oklahoma State – 29 points

3. Minnesota – 24 points

4. Iowa – 22 points

5. Oregon State – 16 points

T6. Missouri – 14.5 points

T6. Ohio State – 14.5 points

8. Nebraska – 13.5 points

9. Oklahoma – 13 points

T10. Boise State – 12 points

T10. Cornell – 12 points

Oklahoma State results

Championship first round

125: Steve Mitcheff (Kent State) dec. Eddie Klimara (OSU), 6-2

133: Jon Morrison (OSU) MD Mackenzie Maguire (Kent State), 8-0

141: Steven Keith (Harvard) fall Julian Feikert (OSU), 3:39

149: Jordan Oliver (OSU) MD David Habat (Edinboro), 16-6

157: Alex Dieringer (OSU) MD Ryan Watts (Michigan State), 9-1

165: Tyler Caldwell (OSU) MD Pierce Hager (Northwestern), 9-1

174: Chris Perry (OSU) dec. Cody Weishoff (Oregon State), 5-4

184: Max Thomusseit (Pittsburgh) dec. Chris Chionuma (OSU), 4-1

197: Blake Rosholt (OSU) dec. Braden Atwood (Purdue), 3-2

285: Alan Gelogaev (OSU) fall Ben Apland (Michigan), 0:18

Championship second round

133: Jon Morrison (OSU) dec. Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan), 3-1

149: Jordan Oliver (OSU) MD Derek Valenti (Virginia), 13-3

157: Alex Dieringer (OSU) MD Spartak Chino (Ohio), 9-0

165: Tyler Caldwell (OSU) dec. Josh Condon (Chattanooga), 4-2

174: Chris Perry (OSU) dec. Jonathan Fausey (Virginia), 4-0

197: Blake Rosholt (OSU) dec. Kyven Gadson (Iowa State), 8-7

285: Alan Gelogaev (OSU) fall Jeremy Johnson (Ohio), 0:34

Consolation first round

125: Eddie Klimara (OSU) MD Ben Willeford (Cleveland State), 11-2

141: Julian Feikert (OSU) dec. Joseph Spisak (Virginia), 8-5

184: Chris Chionuma (OSU) fall MacKain Stoll (North Dakota State), 2:26

Consolation pigtails

125: Eddie Klimara (OSU) dec. Max Soria (Buffalo), 8-1

Championship schedule

133: Jon Morrison (OSU) vs. Tony Ramos (Iowa)

149: Jordan Oliver (OSU) vs. Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska)

157: Alex Dieringer (OSU) vs. Georgi Ivanov (Boise State)

165: Tyler Caldwell (OSU) vs. Taylor Massa (Michigan)

174: Chris Perry (OSU) vs. Nick Heflin (Ohio State)

197: Blake Rosholt (OSU) vs. Matt Wilps (Pittsburgh)

285: Alan Gelogaev (OSU) vs. J.T. Felix (Boise State)

Wrestleback schedule

125: Eddie Klimara (OSU) vs. Christian Cullinan (Central Michigan)

141: Julian Feikert (OSU) vs. Joey Lazor (Northern Iowa)

184: Chris Chionuma (OSU) vs. Jacob Schwartz (Boise State)