Cowboy Wrestling Takes Care of Lehigh 26-9

STILLWATER – The fourth-ranked Oklahoma State wrestling team improved its record to 10-0 on the season in a 26-9 victory over No. 15 Lehigh behind an early fall from Daton Fix.

The second-ranked 133-pounder in the nation took down Lehigh's Malyke Hines in the first period and eventually turned him to his back where he pinned Hines in 1:34. It marked the second time in his career Fix has pinned Hines, who is ranked No. 18 in the country. Fix also pinned him at the NCAA Championships last March. It also marks the fastest fall of Fix's career as he is now up to four falls on the season and 12 in his three seasons at OSU.

"(Hines) is a good competitor," Fix said. "We wrestled at nationals too and had a close first period. I knew going into the match that I needed to be intense. I had the opportunity to get him on his back and once I got him there, I really wanted to get the fall."

Trevor Mastrogiovanni began the dual for the Cowboys with his second consecutive win over a ranked wrestler. Ranked No. 6 at 125 pounds, Mastrogiovanni used takedowns in the first and third period on his way to a 5-1 decision over No. 20 Jaret Lane.

"I thought we wrestled good at 125, taking a takedown in the first and getting an important takedown in the third period," head coach John Smith said. "I thought Fix looked like Fix against a pretty competitive kid. A kid that can wrestle."

Dakota Geer and AJ Ferrari each picked up major decisions in their matches, extending their streaks of bonus-point victories. At 184 pounds, Geer poured it on offensively with 10 takedowns in his 23-10 major decision over AJ Burkhart, which marked his fourth-straight bonus-point win. Ferrari made it three matches in-a-row with bonus points with a 12-2 major decision over JT Davis at 197 pounds.

Carter Young bounced back from a loss last week in a 5-4 decision over Connor McGonagle. Tied at 3 heading into the third period, Young scored a takedown with 47 seconds left and rode out McGonagle the remainder of the period to eliminate the riding time point and seal the victory. Kaden Gfeller (149) and Dustin Plott (174) each picked up decisions of their own. Gfeller moved to 8-1 on the season with a 5-1 decision over Paul Watkins, while Plott improved to 9-0 with a 5-3 win over Jake Logan.

No. 13 Wyatt Sheets suffered his second loss of the season to a top-10 opponent in a 7-3 loss to No. 8 Josh Humphreys at 157 pounds. Jalin Harper started in place of Travis Wittlake at 165 pounds for the second straight dual, dropping his bout with No. 24 Brian Meyer, while Luke Surber suffered a 6-0 defeat to No. 7 Jordan Wood at heavyweight.

The win over Lehigh marked the 499th dual win for Oklahoma State in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Cowboys will have a chance to reach win No. 500 next weekend with two conference bouts at home against Northern Iowa on Saturday night followed by No. 10 Iowa State on Sunday afternoon.
  
No. 4 Oklahoma State 26, No. 15 Lehigh 9
Jan. 23, 2022  |  Gallagher-Iba Arena  |  Stillwater, Okla. 
Attendance: 4,074
125: No. 6 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) dec. No. 20 Jaret Lane (LEH), 5-1
133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) fall No. 18 Malyke Hines (LEH), 1:34
141: No. 22 Carter Young (OSU) dec. Connor McGonagle (LEH), 5-4
149: No. 14 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) dec. Paul Watkins (LEH), 5-1
157: No. 8 Josh Humphreys (LEH) dec. No. 13 Wyatt Sheets (OSU), 7-3
165: No. 24 Brian Meyer (LEH) dec. Jalin Harper (OSU), 2-0
174: No. 8 Dustin Plott (OSU) dec. Jake Logan (LEH), 5-3
184: No. 10 Dakota Geer (OSU) MD AJ Burkhart (LEH), 23-10
197: No. 1 AJ Ferrari (OSU) MD JT Davis (LEH), 12-2
HWT: No. 7 Jordan Wood (LEH) dec. No. 30 Luke Surber (OSU), 6-0