TULSA, Okla. — North Dakota State 125-pounder Josh Rodriguez and 157 pounder Clay Ream each advanced to the championship finals, while five other Bison remain in contention following the first day of the Big 12 Wrestling Championships held Saturday, March 4 in the BOK Center.
North Dakota State currently sits in second place in the Big 12 Championship team standings with 70.5 points. The Bison scored 62.5 points to finish seventh at the 2016 tournament. Oklahoma State leads the way with 155.5 points with all 10 wrestlers in the finals. South Dakota State is third (64.5), Oklahoma is fourth (63) and Wyoming is fifth (42.5).
Action continues at 8 a.m. Sunday, March 5, with the consolation semifinals, and third and fifth place matches. The championship matches are scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday and can be seen live on Fox Sports Southwest and Fox Sports North Plus.
Rodriguez, a redshirt senior from Guadalupe, Calif. (Righetti H.S.), came out on a mission and recorded two pins. His first came at 5:25 over Utah Valley’s Mitch Brown and produced career win No. 100. Rodriguez didn’t waste in his second match against Oklahoma’s Christian Moody, despite giving up an early takedown, to record fall at 2:18.
No. 4-ranked Rodriguez will face Oklahoma State’s No. 10-ranked Nick Piccininni in the finals. Rodriguez improved to 23-1 overall with six pins.
Ream, a redshirt junior from Wentzville, Mo. (Holt H.S.), fought off South Dakota State’s Logan Peterson for 5-2 decision, and then rolled to a 17-6 major decision over Iowa State’s Colston Diblasi.
No. 8-ranked Ream is scheduled to face Oklahoma State’s No. 6 Joe Smith in the finals. Ream improved to 24-3 overall.
Both Rodriguez and Ream are making their first appearance in the finals since 2015 when both wrestlers claimed NCAA West Region/Western Wrestling Conference titles. Rodriguez and Ream are 5-1 in the Big 12 tournament.
North Dakota State’s 133 Cam Sykora, 165 Andrew Fogarty, 184 Tyler McNutt, 197 Cordell Eaton and 285 Ben Tynan are still alive in the consolation bracket. Sykora, Fogarty and Tynan lost in the semifinal round.
Big 12 Championships Brackets
#4 125 Josh Rodriguez, RSr., Guadalupe, Calif. (Righetti HS)
Overall: 23-1 / Big 12 Championships: 2-0 (5-1)
W fall Mitch Brown (Utah Valley), 5:25
W fall Christian Moody (Oklahoma), 2:18
133 Cam Sykora, RFr., Wheaton, Minn. (SDSU / Wheaton HS)
Overall: 15-3 / Big 12 Championships: 1-1
W tech fall Rico Montoya (Northern Colorado), TF 15-0, 4:43
L major dec #2 Seth Gross (South Dakota State, MD 14-1
141 Taylor Nein, Fr., Bismarck, N.D. (Bismarck HS)
Overall: 9-16 / Big 12 Championships: 1-2
W dec John Twomey (Air Force), 2-1
L fall #1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State, 3:45
L fall Henry Pohlmeyer (South Dakota State), 4:42
149 Mitch Friedman, RJr., Oconto Falls, Wis. (Oconto Falls HS)
Overall: 14-12 / Big 12 Championships: 1-2
W major dec Ben Polkowske (Northern Colorado), MD 14-2
L fall #2 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State), 3:42
L dec Gabe Moreno (Iowa State), 6-5
#8 157 Clay Ream, RJr., Wentzville, Mo. (Holt HS)
Overall: 24-3 / Big 12 Championships: 2-0 (5-1)
W dec Logan Peterson (South Dakota State, 5-2
W major dec Colston Diblasi (Iowa State), MD 17-6
165 Andrew Fogarty, RFr., Jordan, Minn. (Scott West HS)
Overall: 22-9 / Big 12 Championships: 1-1
W dec #12 Branson Ashworth (Wyoming), 5-3
L dec #10 Dylan Cottrell (West Virginia), 11-4
174 Dylan Urbach, RSo., Lisbon, N.D. (Minnesota / Lisbon HS)
Overall: 12-12 / Big 12 Championships: 2-2
W major dec Dalton Robertson (Northern Colorado), MD 12-1
L tech fall #17 David Kocer (South Dakota State), TF 16-0, 3:34
W major dec Ty Millward (West Virginia), MD 11-2
L dec Kimball Bastain (Utah Valley), 5-2
184 Tyler McNutt, RSo., Saint Joseph, Mo. (Benton HS)
Overall: 14-12 / Big 12 Championships: 1-1
L dec Carson Powell (Iowa State), 6-0
W tech fall Andrew Dixon (Oklahoma), TF 16-1, 4:57
197 Cordell Eaton, RFr., Long Grove, Iowa (North Scott HS)
Overall: 17-13 / Big 12 Championships: 3-1
W dec Jamarcus Grant (Northern Colorado), 8-2
L dec #8 Nate Rotert (South Dakota State), 9-4
W dec Luke Paine (Wyoming), 3-2
W major dec Tanner Orndorff (Utah Valley), MD 11-3
285 Ben Tynan, Sr., Kennewick, Wash. (Highline College / Hanford HS)
Overall: 17-5 / Big 12 Championships: 1-1 (3-3)
W dec Quean Smith (Iowa State), 7-2
L major dec #6 Austin Schafer (Oklahoma State), MD 11-0
Visit The Guillotine College Tournament Time Page for brackets, results, and live video links.
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