Monday, January 17, 2022
Weaknesses exhibited in Cowboys blowout win over Columbia
Adam Engel Staff Reporter Carter Young ended his match in a manner different than any in his infant college career. On his belly. His opponent on top. And for the first time since November, the referee didn’t raise Young’s hand. No. 4 Oklahoma State dismantled Columbia 35-6 Sunday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. But for at least one bout, the Lions (1-3, 0-2 EIWA) dominated OSU (9-0, 4-0 Big 12). No. 18 Young entered his 141-pound bout seeking his first ranked win of the season. But No. 19 Matt Kazimir, a bearded senior with NCAA tournament experience ensured Young would have to wait. Kazimir pressured Young with an early takedown in a first period that was wrestled mostly in the neutral position Then things changed. Kazimir deferred to top position for the second period and began to wear Young down with a punishing style of offense that will run rampant in March. Kazimir continued to shove Young’s head to his mat and bullied the freshman. Kazimir ended the bout with a 6-1 win and 2:58 of riding time. A warning of the work Young has yet to accomplish. “He needs to get a little closer vision, closer to my vision, of where he needs to go,” Cowboy coach John Smith said. “Listen, he’s gotta be tough. He didn’t respond much. He ended the match on his belly and to me that doesn’t look good. You need two takedowns in the third to win this match. There was no thought process there of getting one.” Young’s potential is clear to Cowboy fans. It’s evident to his teammates and Cowboy coach John Smith. “Carter is really really good, man,” Kaden Gfeller, OSU’s 149 pounder said. “He can win it all. Forsure All-American. He is that good, man. I’ve wrestled Nick Lee. I’ve wrestled Jaydin Eierman. He is just as good as those guys.” But a loss Sunday afternoon served as a reminder. A reminder that Young’s development in a weight class that has been viewed as a weakness is vital in a search for a 35th national title. A freshman with national title aspirations must exhibit signs of physical and mental dominance. And Gfeller can contribute with that. Gfeller has experienced the same thing throughout his career. And it starts in practice. “You just can’t go in there acting like we’re friends,” Gfeller said. “When it’s time to scrap, we gotta scrap. Pushing each other into the wall. Sometimes, those guys coming right out of high school, this is a different level of intensity. Whenever you come in there, intensity needs to be sky high. We’ll get that with Carter. I have no doubt.” At 125, No. 6 Trevor Mastrogiovanni dominated No. 20 Joe Manchio of Columbia. 8-0 leaving no doubt about his ranking. He controlled Manchio and finished with nearly three minutes of riding time. “I thought Mastro did a nice job of separating the score,” Smith said. “Kind of sending the message out there that
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if you’re ranked No. 20 in the country, you’re not wrestling with me. A bout later, No. 2 Daton Fix handled Columbia’s Angelo Rini 8-0 with more than four minutes of riding time. It was one of six Cowboy bonus point victories in the dual. Gfeller’s first bout in over a month ended early. He accumulated 10 near fall points including a nearside cradle attempt in the second period. He finished Dan Fongaro of Columbia with a 17-2 technical fall just over 30 seconds into the third period. Gfeller was sidelined last week due to the flu and still exhibited a hoarse throat in the press conference. “Going that long without making weight is never something you wanna do,” he said. “So, it’s good to make weight and wrestle good because we’re about to start hitting some guys that I need to beat. That I know I can beat.” At 157, Wyatt Sheets continued his seven-match win streak at 157. He scored a pair of takedowns to beat Andrew Garr 8-5. For the second week in a row, Jalin
Harper trotted out onto the mat. This time, at a different weight. 165. Travis Wittlake was introduced as OSU’s 165-pound starter prior to the dual but an unspecified minor injury kept him off. “It’s nothing serious but you just didn’t want to go backward,” Smith said. “I didn’t want to see him maybe get into a situation that may take him out for three days because it’s a new injury.” Harper remained on his feet for the majority of the bout, something he didn’t do a week ago. But that didn’t matter. No. 22 Joshua Ogunsanya used two takedowns to beat Harper 5-2. Despite trailing 2-1 after the first period, Dustin Plott defeated Nick Fine 4-3 at 174 pounds. But it was that thin margin that left Smith frustrated. “You watch Dustin Plott and what are we doing in the match?” Smith said. “I mean, we have to get a takedown late in the third period and a rideout to win.” At 184, Dakota Geer continued his recent by crushing Brian Bonino 17-3. It was Geer’s sixth bonus point win of the season. AJ Ferrari also earned his sixth
bonus point win with a third period pin over Sam Wustefeld. At heavyweight, Luke Surber collected his second pin of the season. But this one didn’t last a minute. Surber turned Columbia’s Jalen Stephens who weighed in at 285 pounds and pinned Stephens in 58 seconds. “I’m getting better each match,” Surber said. “I never wrestled above 200 until this year. Everything is just a learning experience right now for Big 12s and nationals. I’m just getting ready for that.” But even with the win, Smith and his Cowboys expect more. “I just need to really focus on making sure we continue to separate scores and maybe get back to what I thought where we were in late December,” he said.
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