By Josh Poteet
NORMAN – No. 19 Oklahoma dropped the season’s first edition of Bedlam to No. 5 Oklahoma State 24-10 inside the Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday afternoon. The Sooners (5-4, 2-3 Big 12) claimed victory at 141, 157 and 285 pounds, but bonus points given up at 165 and 184 proved to be too much to overcome for head coach Lou Rosselli’s squad as No. 5 Oklahoma State (8-0, 4-0 Big 12) pulled away late.
“We didn’t wrestle well enough to beat a good team today,” Rosselli said. “I thought we were close in some matches and that we wrestled well at times, but we just didn’t put it all together at the end of the day. We’ll get back to work and be ready to go next week in Fresno.”
The day started with a match at 125 pounds where Mason Naifeh held strong with No. 19 Trevor Mastrogiovanni but gave up a pair of late takedowns to finish on the wrong end of an 8-2 decision. Following that bout, Tony Madrigal got locked in a heater with Reece Witcraft, who owns a 2-1 record all-time vs. the Sooner. Madrigal got caught in the third period with a single-leg, and Witcraft iced a 7-4 win to put the Cowboys up 6-0 early.
The Sooners got on the scoreboard with a dominant performance from No. 8 Dom Demas at 141 pounds. The All-American turned Dusty Hone onto his back in the second period to register a four-point near fall and take control of the match. Demas went on to win via 11-3 major decision and improve to 5-0 all-time in Bedlam matches.
“Dom looked excellent today,” Rosselli said. “That’s the type of performance we expect from him week in and week out, and it’s the type of performance he’s capable of.”
Facing a tough test in No. 4 Boo Lewallen, Oklahoma’s 149-pounder No. 13 Mitch Moore controlled the match early but couldn’t avoid a takedown from Lewallen and fell 4-0 after riding time to move the score to 9-4 in favor of Oklahoma State.
Oklahoma got back on track in a thrilling match at 157 pounds between No. 12 Justin Thomas and OSU’s Wyatt Sheets, who was ranked eighth entering the day. The bout moved into sudden victory after both wrestlers won their escape point and tied the match at one after seven minutes. Sheets rode Thomas and then got the escape in TB-1 to take a lead, but the Sooner, who was honored bef Save ore the dual for senior day, reversed at the last second to win the match 4-3 and cut the deficit to just two at the intermission.
At 165 pounds, Troy Mantanona was teched by No. 5 Travis Wittlake (OSU), 27-11, with just 45 seconds left in the match. Anthony Mantanona put up an intense fight against No. 14 Dustin Plott at 174 pounds but couldn’t secure late takedowns and was downed 11-6. For the Sooners at 184, Darrien Roberts lost via major decision to No. 7 Dakota Geer, 18-4, after late back points.
Another marquee match came at 197 pounds between OU’s Jake Woodley, who entered the day ranked 13th and A.J. Ferrari, the No. 1 recruit in the country last season. Woodley forced Ferrari into an early stall warning before surrendering a takedown in the first period. Woodley pressed hard in the final period but couldn’t secure a single-leg late and dropped the match, 3-2, to give OSU a 24-7 lead.
The Sooners closed the day with a win at heavyweight as freshman Josh Heindselman got his first taste of Bedlam by defeating OSU’s Austin Harris in sudden victory, 3-1. Heindselman, ranked 21st entering the day, avoided Harris’ lone shot of the match and then used a double-leg takedown to improve to 6-3 on the season.
Before the dual, the Oklahoma wrestling program honored Danny Hodge, one of the greatest wrestlers ever, who passed away at the age of 88 on Dec. 24, 2020. Over 20 members of the Hodge family were present for Sunday’s dual, as both programs celebrated the life of the three-time NCAA champion.
The program also celebrated seniors Easton Hudson, Jordan Rosselli, Mason Naifeh and Justin Thomas before the contest as Sunday’s dual marked the Sooners’ final home event this season.
Oklahoma returns to the mat on Feb. 14 when it takes on Fresno State and Oregon State at a tri-dual in Fresno, Calif. Following the Fresno tri, OU will conclude its regular-season slate with another Bedlam dual on Feb. 21 in Stillwater.
Results
No. 5 Oklahoma State 24, No. 19 Oklahoma 10 – FINAL
125: #19 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OKST) over Mason Naifeh (OU) (Dec 8-2)
133: Reece Witcraft (OKST) over Anthony Madrigal (OU) (Dec 7-4)
141: #8 Dom Demas (OU) over Dusty Hone (OKST) (MD 11-3)
149: #4 Boo Lewallen (OKST) over #13 Mitch Moore (OU) (Dec 4-0)
157: #12 Justin Thomas (OU) over #8 Wyatt Sheets (OKST) (TB-1 4-3)
165: #5 Travis Wittlake (OKST) over Troy Mantanona (OU) (TF 27-11 6:15)
174: #14 Dustin Plott (OKST) over Anthony Mantanona (OU) (Dec 11-6)
184: #7 Dakota Geer (OKST) over Darrien Roberts (OU) (MD 18-4)
197: AJ Ferrari (OKST) over #12 Jake Woodley (OU) (Dec 3-2)
285: #21 Josh Heindselman (OU) over Austin Harris (OKST) (SV-1 3-1)
There were no extra matches following the dual.
Get Local News!
