Cowboy Wrestling Ends Iowa’s 69-Match Win Streak
STILLWATER, Okla. – The No. 6 Oklahoma State wrestling team ended No. 10 Iowa’s 69-match winning streak in dual meets by tying the Hawkeyes, 15-15 Sunday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
With the win, the Cowboys moved to 7-2-1 on the season. Iowa went to 8-0-1 overall.
Both teams won five bouts, with Oklahoma State registering 13 takedowns in the dual to Iowa’s nine.
“A tie doesn’t do a lot for anyone. I think we had our opportunities, but didn’t really take advantage of them,” Oklahoma State coach John Smith said. “We had some guys in tough battles that won matches. Some of those young ones out there were just wearing their emotions on their sleeves, and we have to train through that. We have to make sure that we are prepared and mentally ready to push through tough, hard matches.
Iowa struck first when reigning NCAA champion Matt McDonough handed OSU freshman Jon Morrison a 7-3 setback. One of the key moments of the dual came in the 133-pound match when Tyler Clark’s escape with one second remaining in the second period of his 11-4 loss to top-ranked Cowboy Jordan Oliver was the difference between the Cowboy having to settle for a win by decision instead of a bonus-point major-decision victory.
The Hawkeyes and Cowboys traded victories at 141 pounds and 149 pounds, respectively, but a win from Iowa freshman Derek St. John over OSU senior Neil Erisman at 157 pounds gave the Hawkeyes the advantage going into the second half of the dual.
OSU responded by rattling off wins in three of the next four bouts, with freshmen Dallas Bailey and Chris Perry and senior Clayton Foster all getting their hand raised to put the Cowboys up, 15-12, on the team scoreboard with only the heavyweight bout remaining.
Perry’s 2-0 win over No. 14 Grant Gambrall was particularly important because a loss there would have been a devastating blow to the Cowboys since the Hawkeyes had control of the dual at the time.
“We’ve actually been rivals since we were little kids, probably like 12 years old,” Perry said of facing Gambrall. “We would just wrestle a ton. We’ve worked out together before one time when I went to see my brother. We know each other pretty well. It’s just a good little rivalry we’ve had since we were little kids and we just kind of like to battle.”
Cowboy freshman Blake Rosholt – giving up no fewer than 60 pounds to his opponent – lost a 3-1 decision in sudden victory to Blake Rasing to bring the final score to 15-15.
The Cowboys return to action when they travel to Ames for a rematch with Iowa State on Jan. 23. Oklahoma State was a 37-9 winner over the Cyclones at the National Duals earlier in the season.
“They have had a lot of challenges these last two weeks with National Duals and with Iowa and it doesn’t get any easier next week with Iowa State,” Smith said. “That is what is fun, when you embrace it and look forward to it, but we didn’t look like we embraced it today. We wore our emotions a little bit on our sleeves and it is something that we need to learn from as we go down this stretch.”
No. 6 Oklahoma State 15, No. 10 Iowa 15
Jan. 16, 2010 | 2 p.m. | Gallagher-Iba Arena
Officials: Pat Fitzgerald and Kenny Ritchie
Attendance: 4,580
: No. 3 Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. No. 8 Jon Morrison (OSU); 7-3
: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (OSU) dec. Tyler Clark (Iowa); 11-4
: No. 20 Mark Ballweg (Iowa) dec. No. 17 Josh Kindig (OSU); 8-3
: No. 7 Jamal Parks (OSU) dec. Matt Ballweg (Iowa); 8-4
: No. 17 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. No. 15 Neil Erisman; 7-5
: No. 15 Dallas Bailey (OSU) dec. No. 19 Aaron Janssen (Iowa); 6-2
: No. 17 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. No. 16 Mike Benefiel (OSU); 4-3
: No. 15 Chris Perry (OSU) dec. No. 14 Grant Gambrall (Iowa); 2-0
: No. 3 Clayton Foster (OSU) dec. No. 16 Luke Lofthouse (Iowa); 5-3
: No. 20 Blake Rasing (Iowa) dec. Blake Rosholt (OSU); 3-1 SV
Bout Play-by-Plays
125: No. 3 Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. No. 8 Jon Morrison (OSU); 7-3
First Period
2:28 Morrison takedown (2-0)
2:11 McDonough escape (2-1)
1:49 McDonough takedown (2-3)
0:57 Morrison escape (3-3)
0:00 End period
Second Period
Morrison chose down
0:46 Morrison stall warning
0:00 End period
Third Period
McDonough chose down
1:51 McDonough escape (3-4)
1:26 McDonough takedown (3-6)
0:00 End match
3:50 riding time added for McDonough (3-7)
133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (OSU) dec. Tyler Clark (Iowa); 11-4
First period
1:42 Clark stall warning
1:34 Oliver takedown (2-0)
1:04 Oliver nearfall 2 (4-0)
0:58 Clark escape (4-1)
0:46 Oliver takedown (6-1)
0:37 Clark escape (6-2)
0:06 Oliver takedown (8-2)
0:00 End period
Second period
Clark chose down
1:55 Clark escape (8-3)
0:13 Oliver takedown (10-3)
0:01 Clark escape (10-4)
0:00 End period
Third period
Oliver chose down
0:23 Clark cautioned on the start
0:08 Oliver escape (11-4)
0:00 End match
141: No. 20 Mark Ballweg (Iowa) dec. No. 17 Josh Kindig (OSU); 8-3
First period
Scoreless period
0:00 End period
Second period
Ballweg chose down
1:49 Kindig nearfall 2 (2-0)
1:36 Ballweg escape (2-1)
0:25 Ballweg takedown (2-3)
0:00 End period
Third period
Kindig chose down
1:55 Kindig escape (3-3)
1:21 Ballweg takedown (3-5)
0:28 Ballweg nearfall 2 (3-7)
0:00 End match
1:24 riding time added for Ballweg (3-8)
149: No. 7 Jamal Parks (OSU) dec. Matt Ballweg (Iowa); 8-4
First Period
2:35 Parks takedown (2-0)
2:17 Ballweg escape (2-1)
1:50 Parks takedown (4-1)
1:32 Ballweg escape (4-2)
0:54 Parks takedown (6-2)
0:39 Ballweg escape (6-3)
0:00 End period
Second Period
Ballweg chose down
1:23 Ballweg escape (6-4)
0:00 End period
Third Period
Parks chose down
1:33 Parks escape (7-4)
0:00 End match
1:00 riding time added for Parks (8-4)
157: No. 17 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. No. 15 Neil Erisman; 7-5
First Period
1:14 St. John takedown (0-2)
0:55 Erisman escape (1-2)
0:08 St. John takedown (1-4)
0:00 End period
Second Period
Erisman chose down
1:51 St. John stall warning
1:48 Erisman escape (2-4)
0:59 Erisman takedown (4-4)
0:00 End period
Third Period
St. John chose down
2:00 St. John cautioned on the start
1:07 St. John cautioned on the start
0:57 St. John escape (4-5)
0:07 St. John takedown (4-7)
0:00 End match
1:16 riding time added for Erisman (5-7)
165: No. 15 Dallas Bailey (OSU) dec. No. 19 Aaron Janssen (Iowa); 6-2
First Period
0:32 Bailey takedown (2-0)
0:25 Bailey nearfall 3 (5-0)
0:24 Janssen escape (5-1)
0:00 End period
Second Period
Janssen chose down
1:53 Janssen escape (5-2)
0:00 End period
Third Period
Bailey chose down
1:59 Bailey escape (6-2)
0:00 End match
174: No. 17 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. No. 16 Mike Benefiel (OSU); 4-3
First Period
2:39 Benefiel takedown (2-0)
2:22 Lofthouse escape (2-1)
0:00 End period
Second Period
Lofthouse chose down
1:47 Lofthouse escape (2-2)
0:46 Lofthouse takedown (2-4)
0:00 End period
Third Period
Benefiel chose down
1:45 Benefiel escape (3-4)
0:00 End match
184: No. 15 Chris Perry (OSU) dec. No. 14 Grant Gambrall (Iowa); 2-0
First Period
Scoreless period
0:00 End period
Second Period
Gambrall chose down
Full period ride
0:00 End period
Third Period
Perry chose down
1:44 Perry escape (1-0)
0:00 End match
1:43 riding time added for Perry (2-0)
197: No. 3 Clayton Foster (OSU) dec. No. 16 Luke Lofthouse (Iowa); 5-3
First Period
1:41 Foster takedown (2-0)
1:30 Lofthouse escape (2-1)
0:00 End period
Second Period
Foster chose down
1:59 Foster escape (3-1)
0:00 End period
Third Period
Lofthouse chose down
1:50 Lofthouse escape (3-2)
1:11 Foster takedown (5-2)
0:32 Lofthouse escape (5-3)
0:00 End match
285: No. 20 Blake Rasing (Iowa) dec. Blake Rosholt (OSU); 3-1 SV
First Period
Scoreless period
Second Period
Rasing chose down
1:57 Rasing escape (0-1)
Third Period
Rosholt chose down
1:43 Rosholt escape (1-1)
0:00 End period
Sudden Victory 1
0:20 Rasing takedown (3-1)
Oklahoma State Wrestling Post-Game Quotes
Oklahoma State Head Coach John Smith
Opening Statement:
“A tie doesn’t do a lot for anyone. I think we had our opportunities, but didn’t really take advantage of them. We had some guys in tough battles that won matches. Some of those young ones out there were just wearing their emotions on their sleeves, and we have to train through that. We have to make sure that we are prepared and mentally ready to push through tough, hard matches. If you want to wrestle like a freshman then you are going to end up in a sad state at the end of the season. That is the way I look at this dual meet, I don’t like that we lost our composure in a couple of the weight classes at the end of the match, but at the same time I think that they did something to make that happen. It just wasn’t much of a match, I didn’t get much from it. I don’t look at any weight class where we seemed to be taking it over the top.”
On ending Iowa’s 69-match dual winning streak:
“When you have won 69 straight, you know how to win. You have to take it from them, it isn’t just going to fall into your lap. We didn’t take much today. We weren’t taking things from them. Maybe in a weight class or two we could have separated the score a little bit, but we didn’t take it from them. We let them hang in there and we chose not to compete and in the end you get a tie. I don’t know if we are better than them, but I know that we didn’t have the attitude that we were going to stop this streak with a win.”
On this dual being a learning experience:
“I think we can gain a lot from this. I have a lot of messages that I need to send out today, and they are going to be hard messages. They have had a lot of challenges these last two weeks with National Duals and with Iowa and it doesn’t get any easier next week with Iowa State. That is what is fun, when you embrace it and look forward to it, but we didn’t look like we embraced it today. We wore our emotions a little bit on our sleeves and it is something that we need to learn from as we go down this stretch.”
On how close the dual was at the end:
“It was very frustrating. I thought we’d win the scramble there at the end of the match. Not taking anything from Blake Rosholt, but Blake weighed in at 208 and Iowa’s heavyweight weighed in at 281. It got to a couple of high-crotches and the weight was the difference in some of those shots. Blake was in a position that he is familiar with that scramble and I thought we were going to win that. Give credit to Iowa, that kid kind of scrambled to get the victory.”
Oklahoma State 184-Pounder Chris Perry
On tying Iowa:
“Obviously, I think it’s disappointing. We wanted to win and I think we’re all pretty disappointed in how we performed. We expect ourselves to perform at a higher level and we’re going to have to perform at a higher level to win a national title as a team. There were certain people that wrestled well, but we have to finish matches and be big at the end. I think that’s what we have to work on.”
On if he changes his style of wrestling when the score is so close:
“No. I’ve actually had more losses this year than I’ve had my whole life, so it’s gotten to the point where I just kind of worry about myself, and I put enough stress on myself to win for the team. If I do my job, the team will take care of itself and that’s how coach always puts it to me. Just to go do my job and the rest of it will go play out for itself.”
On his rivalry with Iowa’s Grant Gambrall:
“We’ve actually been rivals since we were little kids, probably like 12 years old. We would just wrestle a ton. We’ve worked out together before one time when I went to see my brother. We know each other pretty well. It’s just a good little rivalry we’ve had since we were little kids and we just kind of like to battle.”
Updated 01-17-2011
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