Sooners Sit in Second After Day One at Big 12s

Oklahoma (8-6, 3-5 Big 12)

March 5-6 | All Day | BOK Center | Tulsa, Okla.

TULSA, Okla. – A strong finish powered Oklahoma wrestling into second place at the end of the first day at the 2022 Big 12 Wrestling Championship. Seven bonus-point wins propelled the Sooners to 61 team points in the second session to give them 93.5 points overall. They trail Missouri (109.5 points) and are 3.5 points clear of third-place Oklahoma State (90 points).

“This evening’s round was really good,” said the OU head Coach Lou Rosselli. “We qualified a bunch of guys for nationals which is the most important part of the tournament. We still have 10 guys in the mix, which is great. There are a lot of Highs and Lows from the day, but it is a tribute to the kids who really want to be successful, who want to get to the national tournament and give themselves a chance to be a national champion. They fought through that adversity. Hoping for a lot more highs than lows. ”

Ten OU wrestlers remain in the fight going into the second day of the conference Championship, the most of any team in the league. Front-runner Missouri has eight remaining wrestlers while third-place Oklahoma State has six.

Eight Sooners punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships on Saturday, already the most in the Rosselli era with two more weight classes still to be decided. Joey Prata, Tony Madrigal, Jacob Butler, Willie McDougald, Justin Thomas, Anthony Mantanona, Jake Woodley and Josh Heindselman all booked trips to Detroit after only the first day of competition. Joe Grello and Keegan Moore will have the opportunity to earn their own spots Tomorrow.

Leading the pack for OU is a redshirt freshman Phenom Willie McDougald, who is the Lone finalist for Oklahoma. Inserted into the lineup at 149-pounds less than two months ago, the Niagara Falls native continues to exceed all expectations. The No. 2 seed in the tournament won both of his matches on Saturday; highlighted by a 5-4 decision win over No. 3 seed Jarrett Degen of Iowa State that booked his spot in the Finals.

At 125, redshirt senior Joey Prata wrestled his way into the Championship semifinals by upsetting No. 2 seed Taylor LaMont of Utah Valley, who was an All-America last season. Prata dropped his semifinal match however and will wrestle in a rematch with Jace Koelzer of Northern Colorado to start off Tomorrow. Prata defeated Koelzer in a 3-2 decision earlier this season.

The other Championship semifinalist for OU was Justin Thomas in the 157-pound bracket. The sixth-year senior picked up a 6-2 win over longtime Bedlam foe Wyatt Sheets to earn a spot in the semis. The win broke the all-time tie between the two, giving Thomas a 4-3 advantage in his career over Sheets.

2021 Big 12 finalists at 133 pounds, Tony Madrigal went 3-1 on the day with two of his wins coming in the form of major decisions. He won his matches by an average of seven points.

At 141 pounds, Jacob Butler Wasted no time in making his presence known in the BOK Center. In his opening match, the Elgin, Okla., Product decisively defeated No. 1 seed Ian Parker of Iowa State 7-4. It was the only instance on the day of the No. 1 seed being upset, as all nine other top seeds made the Championship Finals. Butler lost his next match before rattling off two more wins, including one by fall, to earn his first career trip to the NCAA Championships.

Joe Grello went 3-1 on the day at 165 pounds, with his only loss coming against No. 1 seed and no. 2 ranked Keegan O’Toole of Missouri. Grello’s final win of the day came against SDSU’s Tanner Cook, who Grello has now beaten three times this season. The Graduate transfer sits just one win shy of qualification and will face Austin Yant of Northern Iowa Sunday morning with that coveted spot on the line.

Redshirt senior Anthony Mantanona rebounded well from an opening-round loss in the 174-pound bracket to wrestle his way to the consolation semifinals. He picked up bonus points for the Sooners in an 11-2 major decision over Northern Colorado’s Jackson Hemauer.

In his return to the Big 12 Championship after a four-year hiatus, 184-pounder Keegan Moore upset No. 3 seed Tate Samuelson of Wyoming in his final match of the day to stay alive in the fight for a trip to Detroit. Moore will have a rematch on Sunday afternoon with Oklahoma State’s Dakota Geer, who he upset in Stillwater two weeks ago, with the Winner claiming an automatic bid to the NCAAs.

At 197, All-American Jake Woodley started his postseason with a 23-8 (7:00) tech fall Victory over OSU’s Gavin Stika. He lost in the next round, but bounced back with two more wins to keep wrestling into Sunday.

Heavyweight Josh Heindselman took a loss in his opening match when he faced top seed Wyatt Hendrickson of the Air Force, but responded with wins over UNI’s Tyrell Gordon and No. 5 seed Michael Wolfgram of West Virginia to earn his second straight NCAA qualification in many opportunities.

Day two competition starts Sunday at noon CT with the Championship final matches scheduled to start at 7 pm CT.

For updates, follow @OU_Wrestling on Twitter, or like Oklahoma Wrestling on Facebook.

Day 1 Results

125 – Redshirt Senior Joey Prata

• Quarterfinal – Joey Prata (Oklahoma) won by decision over Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley) (Dec. 7-5)
• Semifinal – Brody Teske (N. Iowa) won by decision over Joey Prata (Oklahoma) (Dec 6-3)

133 – Senior Tony Madrigal

• Champ. Round 1 – Tony Madrigal (Oklahoma) won by major decision over Sidney Flores (Air Force) (MD 8-0)
• Quarterfinal – Kyle Biscoglia (N. Iowa) won by major decision over Tony Madrigal (Oklahoma) (MD 10-2)
• Cons. Round 1 – Tony Madrigal (Oklahoma) won by major decision over Dyson Kunz (N. Colorado) (MD 13-1)
• Cons. Round 2 – Tony Madrigal (Oklahoma) won by decision over Connor Brown (Missouri) (Dec. 4-3)

141 – Redshirt Junior Jacob Butler

• Champ. Round 1 – Jacob Butler (Oklahoma) won by decision over Ian Parker (Iowa St.) (Dec. 7-4)
• Quarterfinal – Dylan Droegemueller (North Dakota State) won by decision over Jacob Butler (Oklahoma) (Dec. 4-2)
• Cons. Round 1 – Jacob Butler (Oklahoma) won by fall over Caleb Rea (West Virginia) (Fall 3:46)
• Cons. Round 2 – Jacob Butler (Oklahoma) won by decision over Ty Smith (Utah Valley) (Dec. 9-5)

149 – Redshirt Freshman Willie McDougald

• Quarterfinal – Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) won by decision over Dylan Martinez (Air Force) (Dec. 8-6)
• Semifinal – Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) won by decision over Jarrett Degen (Iowa St.) (Dec. 5-4)

157 – Graduate student Justin Thomas

• Champ. Round 1 – Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) won by major decision over Nathan Moore (N. Colorado) (MD 14-3)
• Quarterfinal – Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) won by decision over Wyatt Sheets (OK State) (Dec. 6-2)
• Semifinal – Jared Franek (North Dakota State) won by decision over Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) (Dec. 5-4)

165 – Graduate student Joe Grello

• Champ. Round 1 – Joe Grello (Oklahoma) won by decision over Trey Brisker (Air Force) (Dec. 2-0)
• Quarterfinal – Keegan O`Toole (Missouri) won by decision over Joe Grello (Oklahoma) (Dec. 6-1)
• Cons. Round 1 – Joe Grello (Oklahoma) won by decision over Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming) (Dec. 4-1)
• Cons. Round 2 – Joe Grello (Oklahoma) won by decision over Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) (Dec. 7-6)

174 – Redshirt Senior Anthony Mantanona

• Quarterfinal – Peyton Mocco (Missouri) won by fall over Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma) (Fall 6:39)
• Cons. Round 1 – Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma) won by major decision over Jackson Hemauer (N. Colorado) (MD 11-2)
• Cons. Round 2 – Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma) won by decision over Joel Devine (Iowa St.) (Dec. 4-2)

184 – Redshirt Senior Keegan Moore

• Champ. Round 1 – Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) won by decision over Jacob Armstrong (Utah Valley) (Dec. 7-6)
• Quarterfinal – Marcus Coleman (Iowa St.) won by decision over Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) (Dec. 9-5)
• Cons. Round 1 – Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) won by major decision over Jacob Thompson (Air Force) (MD 12-2)
• Cons. Round 2 – Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) won by decision over Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) (Dec. 11-5)

197 – Redshirt Senior Jake Woodley

• Champ. Round 1 – Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) won by tech fall over Gavin Stika (OK State) (TF-1.5 7:00 (23-8))
• Quarterfinal – Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) won by decision over Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) 21-6 (Dec. 6-4)
• Cons. Round 1 – Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) won by decision over John Gunderson (N. Iowa) (Dec. 7-2)
• Cons. Round 2 – Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) won by decision over Alan Clothier (N. Colorado) (Dec. 6-5)

285 – Redshirt Sophomore Josh Heindselman

• Quarterfinal – Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) won by decision over Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) (Dec. 11-5)
• Cons. Round 1 – Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) won by decision over Tyrell Gordon (N. Iowa) (Dec. 2-1)
• Cons. Round 2 – Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) won by decision over Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) (Dec. 5-4)