Cowboys Sweep Duals in Arkansas and John Smith Moves into Third All-Time
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. – Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith moved past Gary Taylor and into third place on the all-time Division 1 coaching wins list with two victories Sunday in the Cowboys’ road trip to Little Rock.
OSU started the day with a dominating 38-0 victory over SIU-Edwardsville. The shutout marked the first time the Cowboys have held an opponent scoreless since Feb. 8, 2019 against Air Force. It is also the highest-scoring dual for the Pokes since the same 39-0 defeat of the Falcons.
Jalin Harper picked up his first dual win as a Cowboy and first ranked win of his career with a 6-1 decision over No. 18 Justin Ruffin.
The Cowboys strung together three consecutive bonus-point wins starting with an 11-3 major decision from Dustin Plott at 174 pounds and technical falls from Dakota Geer and AJ Ferrari. Taking a 10-2 lead into the third period, Geer took down Ryan Yarnell five times in the period, cutting him loose after each takedown, with his last coming with one second on the clock. Ferrari was on the attack throughout his match getting two takedowns and two four-point near falls in a span of 1:21 seconds to separate the score and secure his tech fall over Austin Andres.
Trevor Mastrogiovanni got the day started for Oklahoma State with an 8-1 victory over Austin Macias. Andrew Nieman won via forfeit at 133 pounds, while Kaid Brock and Boo Lewallen won close matches. Travis Wittlake followed Harper’s win at 157 with a dominating 9-2 victory of his own and Austin Harris finished off the Cowboy shutout with his second-consecutive sudden victory win.
“The freshmen wrestled pretty well,” Smith said of starters Mastriovanni at 125 pounds, Plott at 174 pounds, and Ferarri at 197 pounds. “I thought Mastriovanni had a little trouble scoring and could have scored more points, but Plott was really aggressive and I thought AJ wrestled better competition than he saw last week and wrestled better.”
Smith picked up win No. 443 with a 36-4 win over Little Rock in the Cowboys’ second dual of the day. When asked about the significance of the win, he grinned.
“It feels about the same as last week,” Smith said.
The Cowboys separated the score with a run of five-consecutive bonus-point victories beginning with the 157 pound bout and ending at 197 pounds with AJ Ferrari.
Jalin Harper capped off his day with an 11-3 major decision of Noah Aziere followed by another major decision from fourth-ranked Travis Wittlake.
Dustin Plott attacked early and often and picked up his first career fall with a first-period pin of Triston Wills. Following Plott, Dakota Geer defeated Zane Davis with a 19-3 second-period tech fall. AJ Ferrari concluded the run of bonus-point wins with a 22-7 tech fall. Ferrari took down Little Rock’s Dylan Johnson eight times in the match, letting him loose after each one en route to his victory. The freshman duo of Plott and Ferrari have won via bonus points in each of their eight matches combined.
Austin Harris stayed undefeated at heavyweight with another down-to-the-wire victory. The redshirt junior trailed 4-3 heading into the third period but scored an escape to tie the score and a last-second takedown to win a 6-4 decision over Gabe Beyer.
Mastrogiovanni, Brock and Lewallen continued their undefeated with wins via decision over their Trojan opponents.
No. 4 Oklahoma State returns to action Friday in Greeley, Colorado with a doubleheader against Northern Colorado and Air Force.
No. 4 Oklahoma State 38, SIU-Edwardsville 0
Jan. 17, 2021 | Jack Stephens Center | Little Rock, Ark.
125: Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) dec. Austin Macias (SIUE), 8-1
133: Andrew Nieman (OSU) wins via Forfeit
141: No. 8 Kaid Brock (OSU) dec. Saul Ervin (SIUE), 12-7
149: No. 4 Boo Lewallen (OSU) dec. Cardeionte Wilson (SIUE), 4-1
157: Jalin Harper (OSU) dec. No. 18 Justin Ruffin (SIUE), 6-1
165: No. 4 Travis Wittlake (OSU) dec. Chase Diehl (SIUE), 9-2
174: No. 20 Dustin Plott (OSU) MD Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE), 11-3
184: No. 10 Dakota Geer (OSU) TF Ryan Yarnell (SIUE), 21-6
197: No. 18 AJ Ferrari (OSU) TF Austin Andres (SIUE), 17-2
HWT: Austin Harris (OSU) dec. Colton McKiernan (SIUE), SV-1 6-4
No. 4 Oklahoma State 36, Little Rock 4
Jan. 17, 2021 | Jack Stephens Center | Little Rock, Ark.
125: No. 18 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) dec. Khyler Brewer (UALR), 5-2
133: Paul Bianchi (UALR) MD Andrew Nieman (OSU), 10-2
141: No. 8 Kaid Brock (OSU) dec. Conner Ward (UALR), 10-4
149: No. 4 Boo Lewallen (OSU) dec. Kyle Prewitt (UALR), 10-3
157: Jalin Harper (OSU) MD Noah Aziere (UALR), 11-3
165: No. 4 Travis Wittlake (OSU) MD Alex Hernandez (UALR), 16-4
174: Dustin Plott (OSU) Fall Triston Wills (UALR), 2:45
184: No. 10 Dakota Geer (OSU) TF Zane Davis (UALR) 19-3
197: AJ Ferrari (OSU) TF Dylan Johnson (UALR) 22-7
HWT: Austin Harris (OSU) dec. Gabe Beyer (UALR), 6-5
Extra Matches Involving Oklahoma State Wrestlers
125: Reece Witcraft (OSU) TF Josh Sarpy (UALR), 17-0 (3:50)
125: Jakason Burks (OSU) MD Hasan Krigger (UALR), 9-1
125: Jakason Burks (OSU) dec. Josh Sarpy (UALR), 6-1
125: Reece Witcraft (OSU) MD Hasan Krigger (UALR), 14-1
133: Jaylen Carson (UALR) Fall Colt Newton (OSU), 1:25
133: Reece Witcraft (OSU) MD Aidan Campbell (UALR), 15-3
141: Dusty Hone (OSU) TF Austin Keal (UALR), 16-1 (3:18)
149: Kaden Gfeller (OSU) TF Kyle Prewitt (UALR), 18-1 (5:00)
149: Kaden Gfeller (OSU) dec. Joseph Bianchi (UALR), 10-4
165: Daniel Manibog (OSU) dec. Zeke Beach (UALR), 9-4
174: Christian Bahl (OSU) MD Will Edgar (UALR), 16-5
197: Luke Surber (OSU) TF Brooks Sacharczyk (UALR), 22-4
HWT: Konner Doucet (OSU) TF Caz Grabowski (UALR), 16-0 (2:42)