Welcome to the Jax Forrest and Oklahoma State Score-a-thon, AKA Big 12 Championships
TULSA – If you are looking for an early choice for Wrestler of the Tournament then turn your attention to Oklahoma State’s newest freshman Jax Forrest. The 133-pounder, most recently ranked No. 5 nationally is the top seed in the Big 12 Championship. On day one he has already clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament and made his way into the finals. He has done it with three straight technical falls. He outscored his opponents on day one 55-9. Not sure they keep it, but that has to be a record. In the semifinal Friday night, he disposed of Northern Iowa’s No. 5 seed Julian Farber 21-5.
“I’m just trying to score points, get on top, and score in every position, whether I’m on a leg or he’s on a leg,” Forrest said of his match as he became the tournament’s pinball wizard with points. “I’m just trying to score as many points as possible.”
He did for his team, an individual high of 19.5 points on the team score. Oklahoma State led after the semifinal round 151.0 to Iowa State’s second place 118.0.
So, I asked if he could describe his scoring moves, or just a few?
“I don’t know, I just really remember taking really good shots,” Forrest answered when asked what happened in his third tech fall of the day. “I had a couple of shots that weren’t so good at the beginning of the first period, but then I had some really good shots after that. The end of the first period my attacks were really good.”
Forrest was the second Cowboy to make his way into the finals which will take place on Saturday. There were eight more that followed. Forrest will face Arizona State’s second-seeded Kyler Larkin. Larkin won an 11-3 major decision over Missouri’s Gage Walker
“That would be awesome because he wrestles similar to me,” Forrest said. “We both get into scrambles and it would be exciting. I want to wrestle the best wrestlers I can. We wrestled once in folkstyle a few years ago.”
Forrest won’t be the only candidate in an orange singlet for Wrestler of the Tournament. Troy Spratley, Landon Robideau and Konner Doucet all had very impressive first days, but Forrest stood out.
It wasn’t as explosive or dramatic, but 157 pounder Landon Robideau was wrestling for bonus points late in his semifinal with South Dakota State’s Kael Swenson. He had the decision secured, but he kept pushing and just before the match ended he got a double leg shot in and finished for the takedown that extended the score to a major decision at 11-2
“It was a big focal point for me and for our team going to NCAAs that we need to score bonus points,” Robideau said of his late takedown to get the major decision. “Not just as a team, but as individuals we’re all trying to beat each other. I got three takedowns and Dee (Lockett) is trying to get four, (Alex) Facundo is trying to get five. I think it brings out the best in all of us.”
Dee Lockett had to wait for close to any hour as the arena was cleared and the torunament was delayed because of the nearby threat of severe weather including tornados, but it never got into downtown Tulsa.
Lockett didn’t end up getting four takedowns, but he got three, and with a single leg takedown in the last 20 seconds of his match clinched another bonus win with an 11-2 major decision over Connor Euton of Iowa State. Lockett joined the list of NCAA qualifiers and will now face Arizona State’s Nicco Ruiz, who upset Northern Iowa’s Ryder Downey.
In the other semifinal matches for the Cowboys on Friday night, Troy Spratley got a Bedlam win in his semifinal. The junior and No. 1 seed at 125 pounds started with a single leg for a takedown and rode out the first period for 1:49. He added an escape in the second, a takedown in the third and finished with 2:26 in riding time and an 8-0 major decision over Oklahoma’s Conrad Hendriksen. Spratley now gets Iowa State’s Steve Poulin, who won a 9-3 decision over Ezikiel Witt of North Dakota State.
Sergio Vega locked up an NCAA berth and a Big 12 finals appearance with a hard fought 4-0 decision over Julian Tagg of South Dakota State. Vega had to get a third period takedown to lock it up. He will now face his fellow Tucson (Ariz.) Sunnyside High School alumnus in Iowa State’s Anthony Echemendia. Those two staged a fantastic match in Stillwater which Vega won 4-2.
Casey Swiderski was impressive all day and won his semifinal with a 16-3 major decison over Maxwell Petersen of North Dakota State. Swiderski has done well in a comeback from a knee injury a month ago.
Alex Facundo advanced to the finals at 174 pounds with a 7-3 decision over M.J. Gaitan of Iowa State. He now faces Cam Steed of Missouri.
Heavyweight Konner Doucet, the No. 2 seed made his way into the finals with a 4-2 decision over Luke Rasmussen of South Dakota State. Top seed Yonger Bastida of Iowa State will be his opponent. Bastida is still unbeaten and won by fall over David Szuba of Arizona State in the first period.
The only loss in the semifinals for the Cowboys came in overtime sudden victory as Cody Merrill at 197 pounds was the three seed and he finished regulation close to a takedown, but tied with Wyoming’s Joey Novak. Both coaches threw the review brick and threw it again in sudden victory, but the ruling of a Novak takedown held up for a 5-2 win sending Merrill to the consolations along with 184 pound Zack Ryder, who gutted out a repeat of his shoulder injury and won his first consolation match 7-3 decision over Shay Addison of Arizona State.
Ryder did join the other wrestlers on the team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament. After that one consolation win, head coach David Taylor confirmed that he is shutting it down and will forfeit his next match. The hope now is he can rehab and be ready to wrestle in two weeks in Cleveland for the NCAA Championships.
We will watch eight Cowboys wrestle for Big 12 individual championships on Saturday night.
Big 12 Wrestling Championships
Friday’s Semifinal Round - BOK Center, Tulsa, Okla.
Team Scores (after the semifinals)
1. Oklahoma State 151.0
2. Iowa State 118.0
3. Arizona State 71.0
4. Missouri 60.0
4. Wyoming 60.0
Semifinal Results
125 lbs.
Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) 15-3 won by major decision over Conrad Hendriksen (Oklahoma) 14-11 (MD 8-0)
Stevo Poulin (Iowa State) 14-6 won by decision over Ezekiel Witt (North Dakota State) 20-11 (Dec 9-3)
133 lbs.
Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) 12-0 won by tech fall over Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) 16-9 (TF-1.5 3:31 (21-6))
Kyler Larkin (Arizona State) 18-1 won by major decision over Gage Walker (Missouri) 12-6 (MD 11-3)
141 lbs.
Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) 18-0 won by decision over Julian Tagg (South Dakota State) 18-5 (Dec 4-0)
Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) 19-2 won by decision over Tyler Wells (Oklahoma) 15-8 (Dec 2-1)
149 lbs.
Casey Swiderski (Oklahoma State) 13-5 won by major decision over Maxwell Petersen (North Dakota State) 14-6 (MD 16-3)
Caleb Rathjen (Northern Iowa) 9-5 won by decision over Jacob Frost (Iowa State) 15-6 (Dec 4-3)
157 lbs.
Kaleb Larkin (Arizona State) 21-2 won by decision over Ty Watters (West Virginia) 20-3 (Dec 9-8)
Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) 16-1 won by major decision over Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) 22-6 (MD 11-2)
165 lbs.
Dee Lockett (Oklahoma State) 16-1 won by major decision over Connor Euton (Iowa State) 15-7 (MD 11-2)
Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State) 20-5 won by decision over Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) 20-4 (Dec 6-5)
174 lbs.
Alex Facundo (Oklahoma State) 16-5 won by decision over MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) 13-6 (Dec 7-3)
Cam Steed (Missouri) 14-5 won by decision over Carter Schubert (Oklahoma) 17-5 (Dec 4-3)
184 lbs.
Aeoden Sinclair (Missouri) 24-1 won by decision over Ian Bush (West Virginia) 17-10 (Dec 6-2)
Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming) 20-5 won by decision over Isaac Dean (Iowa State) 16-6 (Dec 5-1)
197 lbs.
Rocky Elam (Iowa State) 17-0 won by decision over DJ Parker (Oklahoma) 18-7 (Dec 9-4)
Joey Novak (Wyoming) 17-2 won in sudden victory - 1 over Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State) 15-4 (SV-1 5-2)
Hwt.
Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) 24-0 won by fall over David Szuba (Arizona State) 18-8 (Fall 1:57)
Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) 17-2 won by decision over Luke Rasmussen (South Dakota State) 10-9 (Dec 4-2)
Saturday’s Finals Matchups (with rankings)
125 - No. 6 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) vs No. 10 Stevo Poulin (Iowa State)
133 - No. 6 Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) vs No. 5 Kyler Larkin (Arizona State)
141 - No. 2 Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) vs No. 4 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State)
149 - No. 7 Casey Swiderski (Oklahoma State) vs No. 16 Caleb Rathjen (Northern Iowa)
157 - No. 5 Kaleb Larkin (Arizona State) vs No. 6 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State)
165 - No. 4 Dee Lockett (Oklahoma State) - No. 10 Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State)
174 - No. 6 Alex Facundo (Oklahoma State) vs No. 10 Cam Steed (Missouri)
184 - No. 3 Aeoden Sinclair (Missouri) vs No. 9 Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming)
197 - No. 2 Rocky Elam (Iowa State) vs No. 3 Joey Novak (Wyoming)
285 - No. 1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) vs No. 8 Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State)
