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Oklahoma State Wrestling

Fix, Plott Advance to Quarterfinals at NCAA Championships

March 16, 2023
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(Pokes Report executive editor Zachary Lancaster contributed to this article)

TULSA, Okla. – Oklahoma State wrestlers Daton Fix and Dustin Plott advanced through the championship bracket on Thursday evening at the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

In addition to the two quarterfinalists, five other wrestlers are still competing in the consolation brackets for the Cowboys, who wrapped up the first day in 17th place in the team standings with 10 points.

"I wish it could've been a little bit better, but it was a tough day," head coach John Smith said. "We won some tough matches, and we lost some tough ones. We were positioned in the bracket a little tough at some weights which makes it tougher. We have seven alive as we go into tomorrow and that's important."

While there are seven wrestlers who’s chances are still alive, this is a historically bad performance by the Pokes. Only two wrestlers who are still on the winning side of things and three wrestlers who were eliminated after two-straight losses.

For a chance to finish better than last year’s 15th place, the Cowboys are going to need some serious wrestling from the seven still alive in the tournament. Throughout the history of Cowboy wrestling, this represents a level of poor performance very rarely ever seen.

Fix, who started his day with a fall in the first round, claimed an 8-4 decision over No. 15 Kyle Biscoglia. With the win, the senior from Sand Springs became the 45th Cowboy to reach the milestone of 100 wins in a career with an overall record of 100-4. He'll face No. 10 Lucas Byrd of Illinois on Friday morning for a spot in the 133-pound semifinals.

Plott advanced to his second consecutive NCAA quarterfinal with a 10-6 decision over No. 12 Aaron Olmos, who handed Plott his first loss of the season on Jan. 8. Plott, now 23-4 on the season, used two takedowns in the second period to take the lead and held onto it for the remainder of the bout. His matchup on Friday morning will be No. 4 Chris Foca of Cornell, with a win clinching his second consecutive All-America finish.

Kaden Gfeller (157 pounds), Travis Wittlake (184 pounds) and Luke Surber (197 pounds) reached the second round with Fix and Plott but were unable to advance as they all fell to top-10 opponents.

All three are still competing in the tournament and will wrestle their next matches in the second round of the consolation bracket Friday morning. They'll be joined by Victor Voinovich and Wyatt Sheets who won their consolation matches during the second session.

Reece Witcraft, Carter Young and Konner Doucet were eliminated from the tournament after going 0-2 on Thursday.

The third session of the NCAA Wrestling Championships will begin Friday morning at 11 a.m. CT, followed by the fourth session at 7 p.m. CT Friday night. Fans can watch Session III live on ESPNU and Session IV live on ESPN. Every match on every mat can also be streamed live on ESPN.com or through the ESPN app.

2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships
March 16, 2023 | BOK Center  | Tulsa, Okla.

Session II (Thursday Evening)

Team Standings After Session II (Top 8)
1. Penn State - 26.0
2. Iowa - 21.5
3. Missouri - 17.5
4. Minnesota - 16.5
    NC State - 16.5
6. Cornell - 15.5
    Nebraska - 15.5
8. Michigan - 14.5
    Ohio State - 14.5
17. Oklahoma State - 10.0

Championship Second Round
133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) dec. No. 15 Kyle Biscoglia (UNI), 8-4
157: No. 7 Bryce Andonian (VT) MD No. 10 Kaden Gfeller (OSU), 11-3
174: No. 5 Dustin Plott (OSU) dec. No. 12 Aaron Olmos (ORST), 10-6
184: No. 7 Hunter Bolen (VT) dec. No. 10 Travis Wittlake (OSU), 6-1
197: No. 2 Bernie Truax (CP) dec. No. 15 Luke Surber (OSU), 8-2

Consolation First Round
125: No. 18 Ryan Miller (PENN) inj def. No. 31 Reece Witcraft (OSU), 4:26 
141: No. 29 Jordan Titus (WVU) dec. No. 13 Carter Young (OSU), 4-1
149: No. 23 Victor Voinovich (OSU) dec. No. 26 Nate Higley (GMU), 15-8
165: No. 31 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) dec. No. 18 Maxx Mayfield (NW), 7-2
HWT: No. 29 Jaron Smith (MD) dec. No. 20 Konner Doucet (OSU), 7-3

Quarterfinals Schedule (Friday Morning)
133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) vs. No. 10 Lucas Byrd (ILL)
174: No. 5 Dustin Plott (OSU) vs. No. 4 Chris Foca (COR)

Consolation Second Round Schedule (Friday Morning)
149: No. 23 Victor Voinovich (OSU) vs. No. 9 Jaden Abas (STAN)
157: No. 10 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) vs. No. 25 Jason Kraisser (ISU)
165: No. 31 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) vs. No. 17 Austin Yant (UNI)
184: No. 10 Travis Wittlake (OSU) vs. No. 8 Matt Finesilver (MICH)
197: No. 15 Luke Surber (OSU) vs. Max Shaw (UNC)

 
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