TULSA – The Big 12 Championships for Oklahoma State was a tale of two halves. You don’t normally associate halves with wrestling. Wrestling matches have three periods, but Big 12 Champion team champion Oklahoma State had eight finalists at 125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174 and then a skip to heavyweight. The Big 12 was kind enough to lay it out with four OSU title matches, the break at 184 and 197 where OSU had Zack Ryder (injured) finish eighth at 184 and Cody Merrill wrestle through to third at 197. All of the Cowboys qualified in Tulsa at the Big 12 Tournament for the NCAA Tournament.
The championships started at 149 pounds with Oklahoma State’s top seed Casey Swiderski going againat No. 6 seed Caleb Rathjen of Northern Iowa. Swiderski started the scoring with an ankle grab to a single leg for a takedown. Rathjen escaped and the first period ended 3-1 with only 21 seconds of riding time.
Swiderski started the second period down and escpaed quickly for a 4-1 lead. The third period started with Rathjen down and Swiderski working to keep him there. He worked very hard and got the riding time advantage. The escape for Rathjen came at 45 seconds left. The push was on and Swiderski was called for stalling. He was smart and won it 5-3 with riding time to earn the Cowboys their first champion of the night and clinch the team title with 163 points.
After that it got rough as second seed Landon Robideau took the mat at 157 pounds against top seed Kaleb Larkin of Arizona State. Robideau had a single leg and a good chance, but a counter by Larkin resulted in the takedown and a 3-0 lead. Larkin started the second period down and got the quick escape for a 4-0 advantage.
Robideau kept working and got a high single leg and had Larkin bouncing around on his right leg but couldn’t finish. He did finally get both legs for a takedown to make it 4-3, but that was it. No other scoring and Larkin took the title at 157. It was just the second loss of the season for Robideau.
At 165, Dee Lockett was coming in with momentum, but so was Nicco Ruiz, the third-seed from Arizona State. The first period both wrestlers were working from their knees a lot and there was no scoring. Ruiz got the escape to start the second and led 1-0. Lockett started down and got the escape to start the third period to tie it 1-1.
Neither wrestler wanted to go all out with the chance of exposing their body and giving up a takedown. It was on to sudden victory and again, no scoring although there was one heck of a scramble. In the tiebreaker Ruiz was down to start and escaped in five seconds for a 2-1 lead. The second 30 second period Lockett had to start neutral to get a takedown. It is tough to get an escape in less than five seconds. No more scoring and Ruiz won a low scoring 2-1 decision for the championship.
The final of the first half of Oklahoma State wrestlers in the finals was at 174 pounds with top seed Alex Facundo taking on third seed Cam Steed of Missouri. Steed just looks bigger and in a first period scramble with no takedown, Steed was able to get Facundo tilted and the count was on. It was a four-point near fall and a 4-0 lead.
In the second period Facundo started down and got the quick escape to go 4-1. The third period, Facundo cut Steed loose to trail 5-1. He knew what he was doing as he worked a takedown to make it 5-4. The Steed escape made it 6-4, still within a takedown. Then in the final seconds, Facundo was going all out and extended where Steed was able to take control of his frame for another takedown. He cut Facundo loose for an escape to make it 9-5. Steed had riding time and the final was 10-5.
Three straight championship match losses, two of them by top seeded Cowboys in Lockett and Facundo.
The second half didn’t get any better, but honestly, Iowa State’s Younger Bastida was a prohibitive favorite at heavyweight. It was wrestled tight like a lot of heavyweight matches and the first period was three minutes of feeling out the competition.
The Cowboys Konner Doucet scored first being on bottom to start the second and got the escape. Midway through the second period, Bastida started working and got Doucet’s legs. He still had to flip him to find control for the takedown and a 3-1 lead. Bastida got the escape in the third period for a 4-1 lead and that is how it finished. Bastida staid unbeaten at 28-0 on the season and Doucet dropped to 20-3 on the season.
Big 12 Wrestling Championship
BOK Center - Tulsa, Okla.
Championship Night Results
Team Scores
1. Oklahoma State 176.0
2. Iowa State 144.0
3. Arizona State 94.0
4. Missouri 84.5
5. West Virginia 77.5
Individual Championships
149 lbs. No. 1 Casey Swiderski - Oklahoma State (17-5) 5-3 dec. No. 6 Caleb Rathjen - Northern Iowa (12-6)
157 lbs. No. 1 Kaleb Larkin - Arizona State (24-2) 4-3 dec. No. 2 Landon Robideau - Oklahoma State (19-2)
165 lbs. No. 3 Nicco Ruiz - Arizona State (24-5) 2-1 OT tb1 dec. No. 1 Dee Lockett - Oklahoma State (19-2)
174 lbs. No. 3 Cam Steed - Missouri (18-5) 10-5 dec. No. 1 Alex Facundo - Oklahoma State (19-6)
Hwy. No. 1 Younger Bastida - Iowa State (28-0) 4-1 dec. No. 2 Konner Doucet - Oklahoma State (20-3)
125 lbs. No. 1 Troy Spratley - Oklahoma State (19-3) 5-2 dec. No. 2 Stevo Poulin - Iowa State (17-7)
133 lbs. No. 1 Jax Forrest - Oklahoma State (16-0) 15-2 MD No. 2 Kyler Larkin - Arizona State (21-2)
141 lbs. No. 1 Sergio Vega - Oklahoma State (22-0) 2-1 dec. OT-tb1 No. 2 Anthony Echemendia - Iowa State (22-3)
