Five Cowboys Win in First Round at NCAA Championships
TULSA, Okla. – Oklahoma State advanced five Cowboys through the championship first round of the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships Thursday, earning 7.0 team points to sit in 14th place in the team standings.
The Cowboys split their 10 matches in the opening session as nine of the 10 bouts went according to their seeding. Daton Fix, Dustin Plott, Kaden Gfeller, Travis Wittlake and Luke Surber all defeated lower-ranked opponents to advance to the second round of the championship bracket tonight.
No. 2 Daton Fix provided the highlight of the first round when he pinned No. 31 Jack Maida in 2:16. Leading 6-0, Fix caught Maida on his back with 44 seconds left in the first period to earn his sixth fall of the season and mark his seventh consecutive bonus-point win dating back to Feb. 16. He will face No. 15 Kyle Biscoglia tonight with a chance to claim the 100th win of his career.
Luke Surber nearly added another bonus-point win for the Cowboys with an 8-1 decision over No. 18 Tanner Harvey. The victory avenged a tight loss to Harvey when Oklahoma State wrestled Oregon State in Corvallis on Jan. 8 and improved Surber to 22-8 this season.
OSU's other first round winners were No. 10 Kaden Gfeller at 157 pounds, No. 5 Dustin Plott at 174 pounds, and No. 10 Travis Wittlake at 184 pounds. All three moved on with decisions over lower-seeded opponents.
Four Cowboys wrestled as underdogs against higher-seeded opponents in the first round, including No. 31 Reece Witcraft at 125 pounds, No. 23 Victor Voinovich at 149 pounds, No. 31 Wyatt Sheets at 165 pounds and No. 20 Konner Doucet at heavyweight. No. 13 Carter Young was the only Cowboy to drop his first-round match to a lower-seeded opponent in No. 20 Jake Bergeland.
All 10 OSU wrestlers will continue their run at the event Thursday evening, with Fix, Gfeller, Plott, Wittlake and Surber advancing to the second round of the championship bracket and Witcraft, Young, Voinovich, Sheets and Doucet moving into the first round of the consolation bracket.
The next session will begin Thursday at 6 p.m. CT. Fans can watch the action live on ESPN and can stream every mat live on ESPN.com or through the ESPN app. Cowboy fans can also follow along on Twitter through @CowboyWrestling.
2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships
March 16, 2023 | BOK Center | Tulsa, Okla.
Session I (Thursday Morning)
Team Standings After Session I (Top 8)
1. Penn State - 16.0
2. NC State - 12.5
3. Iowa - 12.0
4. Northern Iowa - 10.0
Ohio State - 10.0
6. Minnesota - 9.0
Missouri - 9.0
Wisconsin - 9.0
14. Oklahoma State - 7.0
Championship First Round
125: No. 2 Pat Glory (PRIN) fall No. 31 Reece Witcraft (OSU), 0:32
133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) fall No. 31 Jack Maida (AMER), 2:16
141: No. 20 Jake Bergeland (MINN) dec. No. 13 Carter Young (OSU), 5-0
149: No. 10 Michael Blockhus (MINN) dec. No. 23 Victor Voinovich (OSU), 3-2
157: No. 10 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) dec. No. 23 Peter Pappas (GMU), TB-1 6-5
165: No. 2 Keegan O'Toole (MIZZ) MD No. 31 Wyatt Sheets (OSU), 13-5
174: No. 5 Dustin Plott (OSU) dec. No. 28 Luca Augustine (PITT), 3-2
184: No. 10 Travis Wittlake (OSU) dec. No. 23 Dylan Connell (ILL), 4-0
197: No. 15 Luke Surber (OSU) dec. No. 18 Tanner Harvey (ORST), 8-1
HWT: No. 13 Tyrell Gordon (UNI) dec. No. 20 Konner Doucet (OSU), 2-1
Championship Second Round Schedule (Thursday Night)
133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) vs. No. 15 Kyle Biscoglia (UNI)
157: No. 10 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) vs. No. 7 Bryce Andonian (VT)
174: No. 5 Dustin Plott (OSU) vs. No. 12 Aaron Olmos (ORST)
184: No. 10 Travis Wittlake (OSU) vs. No. 7 Hunter Bolen (VT)
197: No. 15 Luke Surber (OSU) vs. No. 2 Bernie Truax (POLY)
Consolation First Round Schedule (Thursday Night)
125: No. 31 Reece Witcraft (OSU) vs. No. 18 Ryan Miller (PENN)
141: No. 13 Carter Young (OSU) vs. No. 29 Jordan Titus (WVU)
149: No. 23 Victor Voinovich (OSU) vs. No. 26 Nate Higley (GMU)
165: No. 31 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) vs. No. 18 Maxx Mayfield (NW)
HWT: No. 20 Konner Doucet (OSU) vs. No. 29 Jaron Smith (MD)