Oklahoma State Frosh Forrest and Vega Set Up #1 vs. #2 Finals, Robideau Ruins One
Oklahoma State came into Friday night’s “blood round” for the consolation wrestlers looking to clinch All-American status. It was a big night for two Cowboy freshmen. Sergio Vega and Jax Forrest clinched No. 1 vs. No. 2 championship matches on Saturday night. Then there was a third, Landon Robideau who destroyed a potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 final. A fourth Cowboy finalist. Cody Merrill, will take on one of Penn State’s biggest behemoth of six Nittany Lion finalist.
In the meantime, the Cowboys worked on locking up No. 2 in the team race.
NCAA Wrestling Championships Team Scores
Last Updated: 10:05 CT Friday Night Session
1. Penn State - 153.0
2. Oklahoma State - 111.5
3. Nebraska - 90.5
4. Iowa - 81.0
5. Ohio State - 77.5
Oklahoma State 157 pounder Robideau isn’t unbeaten and he was a No. 5 seed coming to Cleveland, but he was in the semifinals against No. 1 seed PJ Duke of Penn State. The two wrestlers were physical throughout the match and did a lot of pushing and shoving in a scoreless first period. Robideau started down in the second period and escaped in eight seconds. You could tell that rattled Duke, who expected to build up some riding time.
Going to the third period, Robideau led 1-0. Duke evened it with an escape, but not as quick as Robideau. There was no other score and it was on to sudden victory.
About midway through the two minute sudden victory overtime, Robideau got a single and was working when Duke countered and locked up a cradle. The two scrambled and the official held up three for a Duke takedown. Oklahoma State head coach David Taylor threw his brick for a review. The official offsite looked at it and ruled no takedown. The two wrestlers continued with no score, although Robideau got close and Duke fought it off with a tight whizzer. It was on to the tiebreakers.
Robideau really wrecked Duke’s plan when he started down in tiebreaker one and reversed the older Penn State wrestler for a 3-1 lead and built up :13 seconds of riding time. Now, in tiebreaker two, Duke had to start from neutral needing a takedown. He couldn’t get it and Robideau (20-1) will take on No. 2 seed and defending 157 pound national champion Antrell Taylor (26-3). The two met in a dual at Nebraska and Taylor won 3-2 in overtime tiebreaker 2.
“What we do is win big matches,” Robideau said after the upset to ESPN. “We put guys on their back foot, we score points, and we’re all killers.”
Earlier unbeaten and new national sensation Forrest put his No. 1 seed on the line with high school and now collegiate rival Aaron Seidel of Virginia Tech. A year ago, Forrestdefeated Seidel in the PSAA State Championship. Then a month ago in their first collegiate meeting at Virginia Tech, Forrest had to rally for a 10-9 decision.
This time Forrest had a better plan and he was the one that jumped out with a double leg he slid down to for the first takedown. He rode Seidel for 46 seconds before Seidel escaped. It was 3-1 after the first period.
The second was loaded with action as Forrest started down and almost reversed, but in the scramble Seidel was called for locked hands giving Forest a 4-1 lead. After an escape made it 5-1, Forrest ducked around and slid again into a double leg and the takedown to make it 8-1.
In the final period the two wrestlers got into a whirl around motion and Forrest made a bottom to top move and gained control for the clinching takedown to go up 11-1. After an escape, Forrest used Seidel’s desparation to get a final takedown near the horn and a 14-3 major decision.
“I think it is just our mindset,” Forrest said why the Cowboys freshmen are beating the older establishment. “We have the mindset that we are going to go and score points. We’re better than these older guys. It doesn’t matter, we have that mindset.”
On the next mat over, Ohio State’s No. 2 seed Ben Davino won a controversial overtime match with Penn State’s Marcus Blaze. There were four freshmen in the semifinals and No. 1 Jax Forrest (17-0) now gets No. 2 Ben Davino (31-1) on Saturday night.
Next up the 141 pounders and the Cowboys No. 2 seed and unbeaten Vega went against two-time NCAA finalist Bo Hardy of Nebraska. Vega beat him twice this season with a fall and a major decision. This time the two scrambled in the first period with no points. Hardy scored first with an escape after starting the second period down. Vega had 47 seconds in riding time and that would come in handy later. Vega tried with snaps and once got Hardy’s ankle to no avail.
In the third period Vega got a single leg shot and rode it up to the crotch and took control for the takedown and a 3-1 lead. He added to his riding time, getting it over a minute. It was a good thing as Hardy was able to reverse Vega to tie the score at 3-3. Vega escaped just in time to keep 1:05 in riding time. It added up to a 5-3 decision.
Vega, now 23-0 on the season gets unbeaten No. 1 seed and Big Ten Wrestler of the Year in 26-0 Jesse Mendez. That is another No. 1 vs. No. 2 championship for Saturday.
The Cowboys fourth finalist is 197 pound Merrill. The No. 7 seed took on Little Rock’s Stephen Little, the No. 3 seed coached by former Cowboy Neil Erisman. The first period was scoreless and in the second Merrill, sporting a nice cut on the upper cheek that had to be addressed between periods, was down and escaped to lead 1-0. The two traded the escapes as Little got his to start the third.
It got close as Little finally made a strong shot at the end of the third period and had a takedown. The official waved it off as the period had ended. It was reviewed and the call was upheld.
Sudden victory was not the answer. Then in tiebreaker one with Little down, Merrill rode him for :24 to lead 2-1. Knowing he had work to do, Little chose to go neutral and allow Merrill to tie the match at 2-2. Little hit on a single leg but Merrill kicked out with no stall call. The official ruled continuous action. That was it and Merrill’s edge in riding time made it a 3-2 victory.
Merrill (22-4) now gets Penn State’s No. 1 seed Josh Barr (23-0), who owns the distinction of having won every match with bonus points this season.
It was a tough night for Oklahoma State 125 pounder Troy Spratley. He was seemingly injured in warm-ups when he was rolling around with teammate Jax Forrest. It was innocent enough, but Spratley was taken back to the locker room to check out his right knee. It may not have been intentional, but you have to think it was as Penn State’s No. 1 seed Luke Lilledahl went for the right knee on both takedowns he got. He followed the takedown in the first period with a two-point nearfall. Spratley dropped to 19-4 on the season and will compete for third place on Saturday.
NCAA Wrestling Championships Finals - Saturday, March 21
125 lbs - No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) vs. No. 10 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton)
133 lbs - No. 1 Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 2 Ben Davino (Ohio State)
141 lbs - No. 1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) vs. No. 2 Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State)
149 lbs - No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) vs. No. 10 Aden Valencia (Stanford)
157 lbs - No. 5 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 2 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska)
165 lbs - No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Mikey Caliendo (Iowa)
174 lbs - No. 1 Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Christopher Minto (Nebraska)
184 lbs - No. 1 Rocco Welsh (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota)
197 lbs - No. 1 Josh Barr (Penn State) vs. No. 7 Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State)
285 lbs - No. 1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) vs. No. 2 Isaac Trumble (NC State)
On the consolation front, as expected 184 pound No. 22 seed Zack Ryder weathered his injury to be an All-American as he received a medical forfeit from Nebraska’s Silas Allred.
No. 8 seed Casey Swiderski at 149 pounds decisioned Wyoming’s No. 21 Gabe Willochell 4-1 to earn All-American honors.
Heavyweight Konner Doucet got All-American honors and team bonus points with the fall at 6:22 over Pittsburgh’s Dayton Pitzer. That made eight Oklahoma State All-Americans.
Doucet followed up with a 1-0 decision over Wyoming’s Christian Carroll to make the consolation semifinals on Saturday. Ryder at 184 pounds lost his consolation quarterfinal as did Swiderski, so they both will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday.
