Daton Fix Becomes OSU’s 15th Four-Time All-American with Win in Quarterfinals
TULSA, Okla. – Oklahoma State's Daton Fix joined exclusive company in OSU history on Friday morning, becoming the 15th four-time All-American in program history.
The win highlighted the Cowboys' performance at the third session of the NCAA tournament and moved Fix to 29-0 this season and into his fourth NCAA semifinal. A second period rideout and third-period reversal boosted Fix to a 3-2 decision over Illinois' No. 10 Lucas Byrd. He will face No. 3 seed Vito Arujau in tonight's session for a berth in the NCAA finals.
"It's the national tournament and both guys want to win," Fix said. "Wrestling is not easy. Not all of them are going to be pretty but when you get here and get your hand raised that's the most important thing."
Dustin Plott also reached the quarterfinal round, but dropped his match to No. 4 Chris Foca of Cornell via fall in the first round. He'll face No. 15 Demetrius Romero of Utah Valley in Friday night's blood round as he looks to secure a spot on the podium for the second straight season.
Luke Surber and Victor Voinovich came just short of advancing to tonight's session after winning their first matches of the day in the wrestlebacks before dropping out of the tournament with losses in the third round of the consolation bracket.
Voinovich took down No. 9 Jaden Abas in sudden victory, 4-2, which marked the highest-ranked win of his young career and avenged a loss from earlier this season. However, his redshirt freshman season came to an end in his next match with a 5-1 loss to No. 16 Jackson Arrington. At 197 pounds, Surber defeated No. 32 Max Shaw of North Carolina, 9-3, before falling to Cornell's tenth-seeded Jacob Cardenas, 12-5.
Kaden Gfeller (157 pounds) and Wyatt Sheets (165 pounds) both saw their careers come to an end in the third session with losses in the second consolation rounds. Gfeller finishes as a two-time Big 12 champion with an 81-22 career record. Sheets was a two-time All-American and finished with the ninth-most matches in a career at Oklahoma State with 146 bouts. Travis Wittlake's season was also drawn to a close with a 5-1 loss to No. 8 Matt Finesilver at 184 pounds in the third session.
As a team, the Cowboys remained at No. 17 in the standings with 18.0 total points and half of the six sessions remaining.
The fourth session of the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships will begin at 7 p.m. CT Friday night. Fans can watch the action live on ESPN and can stream every match live ESPN.com or through the ESPN app. Cowboy fans can also follow along on Twitter through @CowboyWrestling.
2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships
March 17, 2023 | BOK Center | Tulsa, Okla.
Session III (Friday Morning)
Team Standings After Session III (Top 8)
1. Penn State - 78.0
2. Iowa - 48.0
3. Cornell - 45.5
4. Nebraska - 44.0
5. Michigan - 39.0
6. Missouri - 34.0
7. Ohio State - 31.0
8. NC State - 29.0
17. Oklahoma State - 18.0
Quarterfinals
133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) dec. No. 10 Lucas Byrd (ILL), 3-2
174: No. 4 Chris Foca (COR) fall No. 5 Dustin Plott (OSU), 1:54
Consolation Second Round
149: No. 23 Victor Voinovich (OSU) dec. No. 9 Jaden Abas (STAN), SV-1 4-2
157: No. 25 Jason Kraisser (ISU) fall No. 10 Kaden Gfeller (OSU), 2:06
165: No. 17 Austin Yant (UNI) dec. No. 31 Wyatt Sheets (OSU), 10-5
184: No. 8 Matt Finesilver (MICH) dec. No. 10 Travis Wittlake (OSU), 5-1
197: No. 15 Luke Surber (OSU) dec. Max Shaw (UNC), 9-3
Consolation Third Round
149: No. 16 Jackson Arrington (NCST) dec. No. 23 Victor Voinovich (OSU), 5-1
197: No. 10 Jacob Cardenas (COR) dec. No. 15 Luke Surber (OSU), 12-5
Semifinals Schedule (Friday Night)
133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) vs. No. 3 Vito Arujau (COR)
Consolation Fourth Round Schedule (Friday Night)
174: No. 5 Dustin Plott (OSU) vs. No. 15 Demetrius Romero (UVU)