OSU Wrestling in Second Place After Session I of Big 12 Championships

TULSA, Okla. – The Oklahoma State wrestling team wrapped up the first session of the 2023 Big 12 Wrestling Championships in second place Saturday morning, advancing eight wrestlers to Saturday night's semifinal round and going 13-2 in the session. The Cowboys' 71.5 team points were enough to put them in second place, behind only Missouri's score of 87.5.

OSU's semifinalists include Reece Witcraft at 125 pounds, Daton Fix at 133, Carter Young at 141, Victor Voinovich at 149, Kaden Gfeller at 157, Dustin Plott at 174, Travis Wittlake at 184 and Luke Surber at 197. Young, Voinovich, Plott and Wittlake received a preliminary round bye and advanced with one win in the session, while the other four each went 2-0 in Session I to move on to the semifinals. The eight conference semifinalists mark the most for the Cowboys since 2019, when OSU also had eight.

The Cowboys began the day with half of their 10 wrestlers in the preliminary round, going 5-0 with two bonus-point wins. Fix pinned Wyoming's Garrett Ricks in 55 seconds and Surber earned a 16-4 major decision over Northern Iowa's Noah Glaser.

OSU followed that up with an 8-2 record in the quarterfinal round, including two more bonus-point wins. Fix got his second of the day via an 18-2 technical fall over Northern Colorado's Jace Koelzer in 5:28, and Reece Witcraft advanced via medical forfeit over West Virginia's Killian Cardinale.

The other six Oklahoma State semifinalists won with decisions, including a 3-2 upset win from fifth-seed Voinovich over fourth-seeded Kellyn March of North Dakota State.

Two other Cowboys wrestled in the session as heavyweight Konner Doucet won a preliminary round match before falling in the quarterfinals, and Wyatt Sheets dropped his first match of the tournament in the quarterfinals to third-seeded Michael Caliendo III of North Dakota State.

All 10 wrestlers return to action in the second session of the 2023 Big 12 Wrestling Championships, which is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at the BOK Center in Tulsa.

Fans can follow live results on trackwrestling.com, live updates on Twitter via @CowboyWrestling and watch each mat live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
 
2023 Big 12 Wrestling Championships
March 4, 2023 | BOK Center | Tulsa, Okla.
 
Session I (Saturday Morning)
 
Team Standings After Session I
1. Missouri - 87.5
2. Oklahoma State - 71.5
3. Iowa State - 52.5
4. Oklahoma - 36.5
5. S. Dakota State - 36.0
6. N. Iowa - 32.5
7. N. Colorado - 22.0
7. N. Dakota State - 22.0
9. Air Force - 21.0
10. West Virginia - 16.0
11. Wyoming - 9.0
12. Cal Baptist - 1.0
13. Utah Valley - 0.0
 
Preliminary Round

• 125: Reece Witcraft (OSU) dec. No. 8 Kyle Gollhofer (N. Iowa), 8-2
• 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) fall Garrett Ricks (Wyoming), 0:55
• 157: No. 2 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) dec. Tyson Humpherys (Utah Valley), 8-2
• 197: No. 4 Luke Surber (OSU) MD Noah Glaser (N. Iowa), 16-4
• HWT: No. 8 Konner Doucet (OSU) dec. Chris Island (Cal Baptist), 2-0

 
Quarterfinals

• 125: Reece Witcraft (OSU) med. for. No. 1 Killian Cardinale (W. Virginia), med. for.
• 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) TF No. 8 Jace Koelzer (N. Colorado), 18-2, 5:28
• 141: No. 4 Carter Young (OSU) dec. No. 5 Clay Carlson (S. Dakota State), 4-2
• 149: No. 5 Victor Voinovich (OSU) dec. No. 4 Kellyn March (N. Dakota State), 3-2
• 157: No. 2 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) dec. No. 7 Jason Kraisser (Iowa St.), 8-3
• 165: No. 3 Michael Caliendo III (N. Dakota State) MD No. 6 Wyatt Sheets (OSU), 17-7
• 174: No. 2 Dustin Plott (OSU) dec. No. 7 Lance Runyon (N. Iowa), 6-2
• 184: No. 3 Travis Wittlake (OSU) dec. No. 6 Keegan Moore (Oklahoma), 5-1
• 197: No. 4 Luke Surber (OSU) dec. No. 5 Owen Pentz (N. Dakota State), 12-5
• HWT: No. 1 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) dec. No. 8 Konner Doucet (OSU), 12-3

 
Semifinals Schedule (Saturday Night)

• 125: Reece Witcraft (OSU) vs. No. 4 Stevo Poulin (N. Colorado)
• 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) vs. No. 5 Connor Brown (Missouri)
• 141: No. 4 Carter Young (OSU) vs. No. 1 Andrew Alirez (N. Colorado)
• 149: No. 5 Victor Voinovich (OSU) vs. No. 1 Brock Mauller (Missouri)
• 157: No. 2 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) vs. No. 6 Jacob Wright (Wyoming)
• 174: No. 2 Dustin Plott (OSU) vs. No. 3 Sam Wolf (Air Force)
• 184: No. 3 Travis Wittlake (OSU) vs. No. 2 Marcus Coleman (Iowa St.)
• 197: No. 4 Luke Surber (OSU) vs. No. 1 Tanner Sloan (S. Dakota State)

 
Second Round Consolation Schedule (Saturday Night)

• 165: No. 6 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) vs. Cole Moody (Wyoming)
• HWT: No. 8 Konner Doucet (OSU) vs. Xavier Doolin (N. Colorado)