Monday 1/24

Page 1

Monday, January 24, 2022

Cowboys control Lehigh despite lack of intensity

Habbie Colen

into the bout and turning Hines on his back. It was a display of aggression and domination not exhibited by another Cowboy wrestler Sunday afternoon. There were only three wrestlers that Smith did not refer to as “minimum.” Fix, Trevor Mastrogiovanni and Dakota Geer. Adam Engel The Cowboys were shutout in two bouts. UnacStaff Reporter ceptable for a Smith coached squad. “Sometimes you just need to recognize maybe it’s just a little too soft in the room,” Smith said. “No ranking matches. Haven’t had a lot of things. Just John Smith always emphasizes the negatives. kind of exposes you for who you are right now.” Smith, OSU’s wrestling coach always provides But it was also Fix and Geer who accepted aca meticulous examination of his team’s performance. countability for the lack of intensity in practice. There is no such thing as perfection. “We do a lot of technique and stuff in the room, Only room for improvement. but we’ve gotten away from going hard in the room,” No. 4 Oklahoma State defeated No. 15 Lehigh Fix said. “We might need to do a little bit more of 26-9 Sunday afternoon inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. that. Maybe some more live wrestling to get the It was the Cowboys 499th victory inside the arena. intensity up.” Seven Cowboys got their hand raised in victory, but Many of Fix’s teammates didn’t show the level it was the method of victory that left Smith disof intensity needed to dominate ranked opponents. pleased. He didn’t see a level of intensity that CowWith Big 12 powers and Iowa ahead on the schedboy fans have become accustomed to seeing. ule, Fix and Geer vowed to become more of a vocal “I didn’t think we wrestled well at all,” Smith leader in the room. said. “I thought we wrestled really soft. I’ve been too “I think I do need to be more vocal and share soft on this group. my thoughts on what I think the team needs to do But he did see it in his leader — OSU’s better,” Fix said. “That’s definitely something I’m 133-pounder Daton Fix. Fix, a two-time NCAA run- gonna work on going forward.” ner up and World Championship silver medalist has It’s not that the Cowboys have a talent issue. reached an elite level of performance because of a Quite the opposite. But it’s that this group needs to critical attitude to become one of the greatest wresreach a level of intensity expected by Smith. tlers in OSU history, much like Smith. A scrappy squad like Lehigh tested the CowFix earned one of three Cowboy bonus point boys and showed the improvements and intensity victories by pinning Lehigh’s Malyke Hines 94 sec- needed to compete throughout the remainder of the onds into the bout. season. Fix remembers pinning Hines in the 2021 OSU’s schedule only gets tougher. Bring on NCAA Tournament. But he didn’t like how close two duals next week with Northern Iowa and Iowa the first period was. He said he needed to be more State. A week later, a South Dakota State team who intense. So, naturally, Fix made a commitment to recently upset No. 10 Missouri. Three bonus point himself and his team by scoring a takedown seconds victories against a ranked opponent isn’t enough for

Smith and certainly won’t be accepted in the future. “He (Smith) just wants the best out of the guys,” Geer said. “You got to take it in a positive light and understand what he’s saying. He can get a little fired up and you just gotta understand what he’s trying to say and working through those emotions.” Match results 125: No. 6 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) dec. No. 20 Jaret Lane (LEH), 5-1 133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) fall No. 18 Malyke Hines (LEH), 1:34 141: No. 22 Carter Young (OSU) dec. Connor McGonagle (LEH), 5-4 149: No. 14 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) dec. Paul Watkins (LEH), 5-1 157: No. 8 Josh Humphreys (LEH) dec. No. 13 Wyatt Sheets (OSU), 7-3 165: No. 24 Brian Meyer (LEH) dec. Jalin Harper (OSU), 2-0 174: No. 8 Dustin Plott (OSU) dec. Jake Logan (LEH), 5-3 184: No. 10 Dakota Geer (OSU) MD AJ Bur khart (LEH), 23-10 197: No. 1 AJ Ferrari (OSU) MD JT Davis (LEH), 12-2 HWT: No. 7 Jordan Wood (LEH) dec. No. 30 Luke Surber (OSU), 6-0 sports.ed@ocolly.com


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.