Fix Makes It to the Final in Crazy Semifinal with Three Reviews
(This story was written by Pokes Report publisher Robert Allen and contributed to by Sean Maguire of Oklahoma State University Athletic Media Relations.)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The boos rained down from all corners of the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. Oklahoma State wrestler Daton Fix, a three-time NCAA finalist still looking for his first individual championship had just earned his way back into his fourth championship match with a 3-2 overtime decision. This is his final collegiate season and still the boos. In the middle of Big 12 country how could this be. Boos overtaking the cheers of the decent crowd of Cowboy wrrestling fans. It helps with the Penn State, Iowa, and Iowa State fans in the house, but Daton Fix a villain?
“All the Glory to God because it him that gives me the strength to do this,” Fix said to ESPN matside reporter Quint Kessenich. “Thank you (the crowd) for the motivation. I’m not a villainous guy. But go ahead and boo me. All it does is motivate me.”
Oklahoma State fans, all who are rooting for him in this final effort, would love to see the Fix that takes a lot of shots and scores a lot of points via takedowns. Fix kept everybody on the edge of their seat in his semifinal at 133 pounds against No. 5 seed Dylan Ragusin of Michigan.
Fix had won his opener in a tech fall, but Thursday night in the round of 16 edged Ohio State No. 16 seed Nic Bozakis 5-4 and then went to overtime in the Friday morning quarterfinals to beat No. 8 Evan Frost 2-1 with an escape in the tiebreaker period.
This match was looking like a repeat with no score, no shots, and all upper body grabbing and hugging in a scoreless first period.
The second period started with Fix in the down position and he came out aggressive, doing the forward rolls to get out and at the edge of the mat he was able to get free right before the whistle of the two wrestlers going out-of-bounds. Ragusin had 20 seconds of riding time. The rest of the two minutes the two wrestlers were locked up at the shoulders and neck. Fix up 1-0.
Third period started with Ragusin down and Fix looking for a long ride that didn’t happen. Ragusin was up and free in 15 seconds. Later in the period Fix got Ragusin’s ankle and the two went to a whizzer into a scramble. It looked like for a brief second that Fix had control, but an official review said no.
Tied at 1-1 it was on to sudden victory. Fix was the aggressor but not by much. He had two shots and one good opportunity with a single leg, but Ragusin recovered and they went back to neutral.
Then the tiebreaker and this was where it got really nuts. Fix was working hard on the ride as he started the first 30 seconds of the tiebreaker on top. Out close to the edgem actually both wrestlers almost out-of-bounds, Fix came open with his hands to restart a stall count and five seconds later Ragusin got free for a split second and the official awarded an escape and a stall point to give the Michigan wrestler a 3-1 lead.
In the Oklahoma State corner and then on the mat, head coach John Smith and assistant head coach Coleman Scott went balistic. It was crazy and the officials went to a coaches called for review and the phone to the officials control center under the stands. At the end of the long review the lead official said the escape call was held up and the stall call and point was not. Ragusin led 2-1
Now the next 30 seconds and Fix was working hard to get his escape and do it before Ragusin had more riding time than his 25 seconds. As it was getting close and off of a Fix attempted roll, the official called Ragusin for locked hands. You can’t lock your hands, only hand to arm in wrestling. The call was reviewed, another long phone call to the control center, the call was confirmed. Fix was awarded a point with less than 10 seconds remaining and the riding time advantage secured to force Ragusin to give an escape. Fix then fended off Ragusin to earn a 3-2 victory and his spot in the NCAA finals.
In consolation matches, Troy Spratley lost and was eliminated at 125 pounds, while Izzak Olejnik was a winner and clinched All-American honors for the second season in a row. Last year the 165 pound Olejnik did it at Northern Illinois and this year as an Oklahoma State Cowboy.
Olejnik won two matches on Friday night, one in sudden victory to earn a place in the consolation semifinals. A win there and he could be wrestling for the third place step on the podium later Saturday morning.