Eight Cowboys Get Bonus-Point Wins in 45-0 Shutout of Drexel

STILLWATER – The No. 5 Oklahoma State wrestling team shutout Drexel, 45-0, in its first dual in Gallagher-Iba Arena this season.

It was the first shutout for the Cowboys since they beat Little Rock by the same score on February 7, 2021.

Coming into the dual, the match of the day was projected to be at 174 pounds where No. 16 Dustin Plott and No. 12 Mickey O'Malley would square off. Plott got the better of O'Malley as he jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second after a scoreless first period. He matched two escapes from O'Malley with a takedown in the third to win a 6-3 decision. After handing No. 12 O'Malley his first loss of the season, Plott has now started his sophomore season with three wins in a row over ranked opponents.

"I thought that 174-pound match, that was kind of the key match," head coach John Smith said. "Seeing Dustin as we saw him last year struggle with those injuries all year, just seeing him actually execute was good. [It] looked like his wind was underneath him and he didn't seem to get too emotional out there. His opponent was a little bit dangerous in his tie-ups and Dustin did a good job of staying clear of him and when he went to the single legs, he did a nice job of finishing. You like the fact that last year it was a struggle for him to finish any match because of a lot of reasons. Having a fresh start to the season with energy and a new shot at it, I thought we saw that tonight. That was a good win for him."

Eight Cowboys collected bonus-point wins in their matches with two being falls, three technical falls and three major decisions.

After Trevor Mastrogiovanni put OSU up 3-0 with a 6-3 decision, Daton Fix (133) earned the 50th win of his career by pinning Deon Pleasant in the second period. Working on a technical fall, Fix had a four-point near fall secured, but finished the fall, which was the ninth of his career. Kaden Gfeller followed Fix's footsteps at 149 pounds by pinning Tyler Williams in 3:20. Gfeller chose to start the second period in the down position with a 4-3 lead and rolled through for a reversal of Williams before catching him on his back for the fall.

"It was awesome," Fix said. "I was one of the first ones as soon as I saw him eventually get the reversal, I knew that he was in a good position to get the fall. He's struggled in the past but seeing him come back into [Gallagher-Iba Arena] and get a fall like that, that's super important for him and his confidence going forward. Coach, he's always going to be pretty hard on him, but it's important that he has matches like that where he can look back and say, 'I did a good job and I put points on the board for the team.'"

Three Cowboys collected their first bonus-point wins of the season by way of major decisions in Carter Young (141), Wyatt Sheets (157) and Travis Wittlake (165). Sandwiched between the falls from Fix and Gfeller, Young won the first match of his Oklahoma State career racking up eight takedowns, an escape and riding time point en route to an 18-6 major. Sheets nearly had the third fall of the day for OSU but ran out of time in the third period and settled for an 8-0 major decision over No. 32 Parker Kropman. Wittlake exploded offensively in the third period to turn in back-to-back major decisions with his 13-3 victory.

The upper weights for the Cowboys put together back-to-back-to-back technical falls at 184, 197 and heavyweight, outscoring their opponents 60-15 in those matches. Dakota Geer picked up his second tech fall of the season with a 24-9 victory over Bryan McLaughlin at 184 pounds, while top-ranked AJ Ferrari (197) defeated Tino Morina 17-2, ending the match in the second period at 5:00. Heavyweight Luke Surber collected his first dual win in Gallagher-Iba Arena with a 19-4 technical fall over Eli Anthony in 5:25.

No. 5 Oklahoma State will have a week off before returning to action for the first round of Bedlam on December 12 in Norman. The Cowboys and No. 18 Sooners will wrestle at 5 p.m. CT on national television with the dual being televised on ESPNU.
 
No. 5 Oklahoma State 45, Drexel 0
Nov. 28, 2021  |  Gallagher-Iba Arena  |  Stillwater, Okla. 
Attendance: 4,107

• 125: No. 15 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) dec. Kyle Waterman (DREX), 6-3
• 133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) fall Deon Pleasant (DREX), 4:22
• 141: No. 28 Carter Young MD Jared Donahue (DREX), 18-6
• 149: No. 24 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) fall Tyler Williams (DREX), 3:20
• 157: No. 16 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) MD No. 32 Parker Kropman (DREX), 8-0
• 165: No. 5 Travis Wittlake (OSU) MD Evan Barczak (DREX), 13-3
• 174: No. 16 Dustin Plott (OSU) dec. No. 12 Mickey O'Malley (DREX) 6-3
• 184: No. 7 Dakota Geer (OSU) TF Bryan McLaughlin (DREX), 24-9, 6:43
• 197: No. 1 AJ Ferrari (OSU) TF Tino Morina (DREX), 17-2, 5:00
• HWT: No. 31 Luke Surber (OSU) TF Eli Anthony (DREX), 19-4, 5:25