Three Cowboys Advance to NCAA Quarterfinals
ST. LOUIS – The Oklahoma State wrestling team advanced three Cowboys to the quarterfinals of the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships Thursday night, finishing the first day of the three-day event in fifth place with 20 team points.
OSU’s quarterfinalists include top-seeded Daton Fix at 133 pounds, fourth-seeded Boo Lewallen at 149 pounds and fourth-seeded AJ Ferrari at 197 pounds.
Fix reached the finals with after pinning No. 17 Malyke Hines of Lehigh in 3:40 in the championship second round. It was his fifth fall and 10th bonus-point of the season. He has now won both of his bouts at the NCAA tournament with bonus-points attached and is 11-0 on the year.
"It's not easy here,” Fix said. “Everybody is ready and everybody wants to win, especially when you're the No. 1 seed because people want to knock off the top seed. The target is on my back, but I love it. This is what I live for. I live for these moments and these types of tournaments.”
The next Cowboy to reach the quarterfinals was Lewallen, who battled through one of the toughest matches of the tournament to advance. Trailing 3-1 entering the final period, Lewallen needed an escape and then a takedown with 33 seconds remaining to help get his bout against No. 20 Joshua Heil of Campbell to sudden victory. With no score in the first extra period, the tiebreaker would decide the winner. Lewallen gave up a reversal in the first half of the tiebreaker, but found a way to follow it up with an escape and late takedown. The match ended with multiple challenges and reviews, but Lewallen ultimately came away with the 7-6 win to advance.
Ferrari was Oklahoma State’s final quarterfinalist, cruising to a 5-0 win over South Dakota State’s No. 13 Tanner Sloan. It was the 17th win of the year for the true freshman and his second win over Sloan after also defeating him 7-1 in the Big 12 semifinal on March 6.
Travis Wittlake (165), Dustin Plott (174) and Dakota Geer (184) also reached the second round of the championship brackets, but came up short as they were all tasked with facing higher-seeded wrestlers who were each ranked in the top seven of their respective weight classes. They move on to the second round of the consolation bracket Friday morning.
OSU had three wrestlers that started the session in the consolation bracket, and all three of them won their matches to stay alive in the tournament and move on to the second consolation round.
No. 21 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (125) won with a 10-0 major decision over Oregon State’s No. 28 Brandon Kaylor, while No. 33 Wyatt Sheets (157) and No. 29 Austin Harris (285) both came away with upset wins. Sheets eliminated No. 16 Justin McCoy of Virginia, 6-2, and Harris knocked out No. 20 Quinn Miller of Virginia, 8-2.
Those victories mean that all nine OSU wrestler are still wrestling in the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships, with three still in the hunt for an individual national title and six in the consolation brackets who can still finish as high as third.
"We kind of had a similar evening to the Big 12 tournament,” coach John Smith said. “We kind of lost our composure a little bit in some of the matches when we felt like we took control. Even in Geer's match when he was behind and Plott's when he was behind, you could see the momentum shifting, but we didn't follow up on it. In the end we pushed three through and have everyone alive going into tomorrow. There's a lot of points the team can get and a lot of wrestling left. We just need to come with a strong attitude tomorrow."
The next session begins Friday at 10 a.m. CT on ESPNU. Fans can stream every mat live on ESPN.com or through the ESPN app, and Cowboy fans can also follow along on Twitter through @CowboyWrestling.
2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships
March 18, 2021 | Enterprise Center | St. Louis, Mo.
Session II (Thursday Night)
Team Standings After Session II (Top 5)
1. Iowa - 33.5
2. Penn State - 28.0
3. Missouri - 23.5
4. NC State - 21.0
5. Oklahoma State - 20.0
Championship Second Round
133: No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) fall No. 17 Malyke Hines (Lehigh), 3:40
149: No. 4 Boo Lewallen (OSU) dec. No. 20 Joshua Heil (Campbell), 7-6, TB1
165: No. 7 Ethan Smith (Ohio State) dec. No. 10 Travis Wittlake (OSU), 4-3
174: No. 2 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) dec. No. 18 Dustin Plott (OSU), 11-5
184: No. 6 John Poznanski (Rutgers) dec. No. 11 Dakota Geer (OSU), 7-3
197: No. 4 AJ Ferrari (OSU) dec. No. 13 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State), 5-0
Consolation First Round
125: No. 21 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) MD No. 28 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State), 10-0
157: No. 33 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) dec. No. 16 Justin McCoy (Virginia), 6-2
285: No. 29 Austin Harris (OSU) dec. No. 20 Quinn Miller (Virginia), 8-2
Quarterfinals Schedule (Friday Morning)
133: No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU) vs. No. 8 Chris Cannon (Northwestern)
149: No. 4 Boo Lewallen (OSU) vs. No. 12 Max Murin (Iowa)
197: No. 4 AJ Ferrari (OSU) vs. No. 5 Jacob Warner (Iowa)
Consolation Second Round Schedule (Friday Morning)
125: No. 21 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) vs. No. 11 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan)
157: No. 33 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) vs. No. 18 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State)
165: No. 10 Travis Wittlake (OSU) vs. No. 25 Jake Tucker (Michigan State)
174: No. 18 Dustin Plott (OSU) vs. No. 16 Clay Lautt (North Carolina)
184: No. 11 Dakota Geer (OSU) vs. No. 21 Dominic Ducharme (CSU Bakersfield)
285: No. 29 Austin Harris (OSU) vs. No. 3 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan