Bedlam backfire Cowboys throttle Sooners in Bedlam dual Monday, December 13, 2021
Alicia Young
Gfeller. No. 20 Gfeller fired off two takedowns and a two-point nearfall in the third period to win 9-3. The underdog, in OU’s eyes, prevailed. “They thought I might have a litAdam Engel tle trouble coming off the scale with the Staff Reporter one-hour weigh-in but I just use it as motivation to go out there and wrestle NORMAN--Kaden Gfeller took it harder and get the win,” Gfeller said. personal. It was the first time in his life that Oklahoma wanted to take advan- Gfeller started the first bout of a dual. tage of its coin toss win. “It’s exciting especially here in “We choose to wrestle and start Bedlam,” he said. “There’s a big crowd. it at 125,” Oklahoma State coach John It’s a big deal for the state. To start that Smith said. “Of course, with the rules off, it was honor and to go against a the way they are you can flip a coin and quality competitor with Demas, it was they won the flip. They get to choose awesome.” where they want to start.” And at 157 pounds, OSU’s Wyatt The Sooners wanted to expose Sheets seeked revenge against Justin OSU’s middleweights and manufacture Thomas who beat Sheets twice a year momentum to win its first Bedlam win ago. since 2013. That was when Sheets wrestled The plan backfired and No. 4 on a torn left ACL with a clunky leg OSU crushed Oklahoma 31-3 at the brace. Lloyd Noble Center in Norman Sunday This was the healthy and hungry night. version of Sheets. Dom Demas, OU’s All-American, “I guess probably because I had trotted out at 149-pounds to battle two legs (was the difference),” he said.
That gave me more confidence.” A takedown 30 seconds into overtime gave Sheets a 4-2 win. But Cowboy coach John Smith doesn’t want those close wins. “How does that work?” Smith said. “Really? If you can get one in the first 30 seconds of overtime, how can you not get one in the match?” And it was those late scores that left Smith puzzled throughout the dual. “Just looking for a little bit more passion to score in situations,” he said. “A lot of it was just chain wrestling following up on missed shots and doing some things that they seem to always have a problem with early on. I can’t get those guys to think about it.” From the start, OSU collected six straight wins. At 165 pounds, No. 5 Travis Wittlake muscled his way to an 8-4 win over Joe Grello. A bout later, Dustin Plott, the No. 9 174-pounder accumulated 10 points, a dual high, over Anthony Mantanona. Dakota Geer beat Darrien Roberts 8-2 and in the highest ranked bout of the night, No. 1 AJ Ferrari wore down No. 11 Jake Woodley in a 6-3
bout.
“I just think there’s a level of confidence,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of stuff out there that he (Ferrari) wouldn’t have been doing this early in the season last year.” OU’s single win came via heavyweight Josh Heindselman who scored a takedown in overtime to defeat Luke Surber 3-1. In a reversal from an OSU home dual, the lightweights wrestled last. No. 12 Trevor Mastrogiovanni used a pair of takedowns and escapes to clip Joey Prata, a Virginia Tech transfer, 6-4. At 133, No. 2 Daton Fix pinned No. 19 Tony Madrigal in a rematch of the 2021 Big 12 133-pound final. Carter Young, OSU’s only freshman starter, defeated Jacob Butler 9-4. “Right now, we’re projected with three All-Americans,” Smith said. “That’s not accepted. It’s got to be more. Let’s make sure we work toward something that’s much bigger and better than that.” sports.ed@ocolly.com
Cowboys land commitment from JUCO prospect Benson Daniel Allen Staff Reporter Oklahoma State’s 2022 class continues to expand as National Signing Day draws closer. Xavier Benson, a linebacker out of Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, announced his commitment to Oklahoma State earlier today. Benson held offers from Memphis, Indiana, Sam Houston State, and others, but ultimately chose the Cowboys, becoming their 16th commitment in the 2022 class. Benson initially signed with Texas Tech out of high school as part of the 2018 class, but stepped away from the program following the 2020 season due to personal reasons. Benson sits at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds. He recorded 120 total tackles in his lone season at Tyler.
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