SOONERS DOWNED IN BEDLAM DUAL

OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN – Oklahoma won four matches in Sunday's Bedlam dual with Oklahoma State but fell to the Cowboys 24-16 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater to close its regular season.

The 19th-ranked Sooners (5-5, 2-4 Big 12) were victorious at 141, 157, 174 and 285 pounds but ultimately were downed by No. 6 Oklahoma State (10-0, 5-0 Big 12).

"We wrestled well in some weight classes, and came up short in others," head coach Lou Rosselli said after the dual. "I was really happy with the way that Dom and Justin wrestled at 141 and 157 pounds for us. We'll start the prep for the postseason now and look forward to competing in Tulsa here in a couple of weeks."

Mason Naifeh and Tony Madrigal opened the dual at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively. Naifeh was locked in a heater late with No. 15 Trevor Mastrogiovanni but surrendered a late takedown to drop the bout 6-4. Madrigal matched up with No. 1 Daton Fix, who won via fall after 4:54.

As it was in the first Bedlam dual on Feb. 7, No. 7 Dom Demas got the Sooners on the board at 141 pounds. The All-American was able to throw Jakason Burks onto his back in the third period for the fall, the 10th of his career. With the victory, the Columbus, Ohio, product finished 9-1 on the regular season and remained a perfect 6-0 in Bedlam duals.

"When Dom is in good form, he is a really exciting wrestler, and that's what we saw today," Rosselli said. "We'll keep working with him as we head into March, but we feel that he is one of the best 141-pounders in the nation and know he looks forward to the opportunity to show that."

No. 15 Mitch Moore was defeated by No. 4 Boo Lewallen, 6-2 at 149 pounds.

No. 10 Justin Thomas put on a clinic at 157 pounds versus No. 15 Wyatt Sheets, claiming a 13-5 major decision to trim the Cowboys' lead to 12-10 at the intermission. Thomas landed shot after shot in his match with Sheets to win his fifth match in six tries and conclude the regular season with an 8-2 record and 2-0 in Bedlam.

Troy Mantanona collected the first points of the match versus No. 4 Travis Wittlake but was overtaken early and lost via tech fall, 26-11, after riding time to push the Cowboy advantage to 17-10.

Rosselli's team righted the course at 174 pounds when No. 27 Anthony Mantanona tallied a late takedown in the third period to knock off No. 11 Dustin Plott and finish the regular season with a 5-5 record. With the win, the All-American creates momentum as he heads into Big 12s, where he entered the day ranked 10th at 174 pounds. Mantanona's win was his second straight in Stillwater after defeating Joe Smith with a late third-period takedown in 2020 and moved the score to 17-13 Oklahoma State heading into the final three bouts.

"It was good to see Ant get a much-needed win," Rosselli said. "I thought he wrestled hard against a good young wrestler in DustonPlott and was able to come out on top. It's obviously been a tough year for him, so I think today can be huge."

Darrien Roberts dropped a major decision, 11-0, to No. 6 Dakota Geer and No. 15 Jake Woodley suffered a 4-1 defeat to No. 13 A.J. Ferrari, which locked in the dual win for Oklahoma State.

In similar fashion to the season's first Bedlam dual, freshman heavyweight No. 21 Josh Heindselman sent the Sooners home with a win, defeating No. 25 Austin Harris via 3-1 decision to improve to 7-3 on the year and 2-0 in Bedlam matchups.

The Sooners now turn their focus to the Big 12 Championships slated for March 6-7 in Tulsa, Okla., at the BOK Center. For ticketing information, fans can access Big 12 tickets online.