Two Upsets Fuel Oklahoma State in Road Win Over No. 4 NC State
The match was even, perfectly even through the first four matches as Oklahoma State had a decision and a major decision to start the dual on North Carolina State’s mat inside the Reynolds Coliseum and then the next two matches were a decision and a major for the home team to make it 7-7. That’s when 157-pounder Teague Travis, a sophomore that had won five in a row against No.6 Ed Scott for NC State. It was Travis’ upset that rocked the arena and in concert with Brayden Thompson’s fourth straight match win that keyed a 22-12 win over the No. 4 Wolfpack. It was Oklahoma State’s first dual win over a top five opponent since 2019.
After a scoreless first period, Scott started the second period with an escape for a 1-0 lead. With the two wrestlers locked up and battling for control, Travis got his head out from underneath Scott and gained control for the takedown and a 3-1 lead.
Starting the third period in the down position, Travis got out and grabbed Scott’s leg as he did and got the reversal and a 5-1. Scott got the escape and then in a wild scramble Scott got the takedown and the match was tied at 5-5. For the second time in the period Travis this time grabbed a leg as he was working for the escape and instead turned his efforts into a reversal for a 7-5 lead. He tried to ride it out but Scott popped up and got the escape and then the battle was on to the buzzer and Travis beat it for a 7-6 decision. A huge upset that will help Travis’ resume’ for postseason seeding and gave the Cowboys solid momentum and a 10-7 lead on the team score.
"He's a hard worker," Smith said of Travis. "It's just a matter of him believing this is where he is and this is what he can do. He's finding that out a little bit through his hard work and through his effort. It's really good to see him have success."
The Cowboys won the next three matches in the dual, but fast forward to 174 and freshman Brayden Thompson who started out 0-3 this season and had won three in a row coming in. The match ended in the regulation seven minutes tied at 1-1. On to the tiebreaker and after gaining a fairly quick escape, Thompson got NC State sixth-year senior and No. 32 Alex Faison in a cradle and it appeared he had control, but a video review said no that it did not come before the 30 seconds in tiebreaker one had expired.
Tiebreaker two and Thompson worked hard trying to ride out the 30 seconds but gave up a late escape. Now, NC State head coach and former Oklahoma State wrestler for John Smith Pat Popolizion threw the protest brick and claimed Thompson had locked hands in his attempt to keep control of Faison. The video review was inconclusive so the call stood and by riding time advantage in the tiebreaker Thompson got the 2-1 decison. Oklahoma State led 16-7.
Dustin Plott was impressive as the Cowboys No. 3 184-pounder had a challenge in No. 5 Dylan Fishback. Plott was up to the challenge and scored late and held to a 12-8 decision as the Oklahoma State lead in the match rose to 19-7, basically clinching the win.
Actually, the win was mathmatically clinched at 197 where Jersey Robb filled in for the injured Luke Surber. Surber likely would have wrestled if not for the Oklahoma State lead, still Robb needed to avoid a pin against No. 4 Trent Hidlay for the Wolfpack. Robb did that, but not much more as Hudlay scored a tech fall to take the match score to 19-12. Now it was clinched, but don’t tell Oklahoma State heavyweight Konner Doucet.
No. 11-ranked Doucet seized the opportunity to close out the dual the right way and sweeten his record and resume’ with a 2-1 decision over No. 16-Owen Trephan and chalk up the final points on the 22-12 win. Again, the Cowboys first dual win against a top-five ranked team since beating No. 3 Iowa back in February of 2019.
The match started with that 7-7 draw as No. 22 Troy Spratley scored an upet at 125 pounds over No. 17 Jakob Camacho. Spratley won 7-2 and moved his record to 11-3 on the season.
"We were ready," Smith said. "I thought some of the younger guys wrestled some of their better matches and they made the difference. In the big, tough dual meets like this, there's always somebody that lights the fuse, and I thought we lit it a few times. 125, 157 – two good wins from those guys. That's how you win big dual meets is somebody steps out there and does something that wasn't expected."
Returning from injury and illness was No. 3 Daton Fix as he showed no rust in an 11-3 major decision over No. 6 Kai Orine. Fix is now 3-0 on the season and Orine dropped to 8-2.
The two wins for NC State early in the dual were at 141 pounds where No. 4 Ryan Jack scored a late takedown to edge Tagen Jamison 6-4. Jamison ranked No. 8 had a good shot but just missed.
It was not close at 149-pounds as No. 20 Jordan Williams was shut out by No. 4 Jackson Arrington 10-0 for a major decision.
The other match between the two dramatic upsets was a solid 8-3 decision for the Cowboys No. 2 Izzak Olejnik at 165. Olejnik stays unbeaten at 15-0 on the season.
Oklahoma State (5-0) will continue its string of road duals next weekend with duals against No. 13 Pittsburgh on Friday, January 12, and No. 20 West Virginia two days later. OSU's meeting with the Panthers will be available on ACCNX, while the dual against West Virginia is set to air on ESPN+.
No. 9 Oklahoma State 22, No. 4 NC State 12
Jan. 5, 2024 | Reynolds Coliseum | Raleigh, NC.
Attendance: 5,500
125: No. 20 Troy Spratley (OSU) dec. No. 17 Jakob Camacho (NCST), 7-2
133: No. 3 Daton Fix (OSU) MD No. 5 Kai Orine (NCST), 11-3
141: No. 4 Ryan Jack (NCST) dec. No. 7 Tagen Jamison (OSU), 6-4
149: No. 3 Jack Arrington (NCST) MD No. 19 Jordan Williams (OSU), 10-0
157: No. 23 Teague Travis (OSU) dec. No. 5 Ed Scott (NCST), 7-6
165: No. 2 Izzak Olejnik (OSU) dec. AJ Kovacs (NCST), 8-3
174: No. 28 Brayden Thompson (OSU) dec. No. 31 Alex Faison (NCST), TB-2, 3-2
184: No. 3 Dustin Plott (OSU) dec. No. 5 Dylan Fishback (NCST), 13-8
194: No. 4 Trent Hidlay (NCST) TF Jersey Robb (OSU), 21-4, 6:14
HWT: No. 11 Konner Doucet (OSU) dec. No. 16 Owen Trephan (NCST), 2-1