Big 12 wrestling: Oklahoma State sends four to finals, chasing Iowa State for team title

TULSA — Jordan Williams found out just how many non-Oklahoma State fans were in the BOK Center for the Big 12 Wrestling Championships on Saturday night.

The Cowboys’ 149-pounder upset Iowa State’s top-seeded Casey Swiderski in the semifinal round and while OSU fans’ cheers were loud, the boos of the hefty Iowa State contingent were louder.

“I don’t care,” said Williams, who played along after his victory, waving his arms as if to ask for more. “At the end of the day, I won, you lost. If the crowd wants to boo, you can’t change the fact after the match.”

Williams’ win was perhaps the Cowboys’ most important, considering they’re in a tight battle with Iowa State for the team title. Iowa State has 129.5 points, sitting in first place, 10 points ahead of the Pokes.

OSU sent four wrestlers to the finals in their respective weights, while Iowa State has five finalists with just one head-to-head matchup between the teams.

Joining Williams as finalists are Troy Spratley at 125, Daton Fix at 133 and Dustin Plott at 184.

Williams and Spratley are both redshirt freshmen making their first finals appearances.

And both finished Saturday with emotional matches — both against Iowa State opponents.

Williams survived with a tense 8-7 decision. He built a 7-2 lead, but the match had to be stopped briefly while he was tended to for a shoulder injury when he was slammed hard to the mat in the third period.

Swiderski got a takedown, then released Williams to make it 8-5.

From there, Williams — protecting his injured shoulder — was twice called for stalling, each resulting in a penalty point for Swiderski. And Williams did his best to avoid Swiderski’s shots in the final nine seconds, though the Iowa State faithful screamed for yet another stalling call.

It wasn’t granted and Williams, who is from Tulsa and went to Owasso High School, celebrated the victory.

“I grew up four minutes away from this place,” Williams said. “I’ve been watching Big 12’s for a long time. It’s a really good experience.”

More: Big 12 wrestling championships: Live updates of OU, OSU on Day 1 at BOK Center in Tulsa

Spratley won a 2-1 decision in sudden-victory overtime. He was nearing a takedown in the extra period, but the Cyclones’ Kysen Terukina pulled free of Spratley’s hold and fled the mat.

Already having been warned for stalling, the sixth-seeded Terukina was penalized one point, giving Spratley the victory.

Spratley sprinted off the mat, more bothered by his lack of scoring than excited by his semifinal victory.

“It feels great, but this is what we came here to do,” said Spratley, who is from Eufaula. “Definitely haven’t felt great today, so hopefully tomorrow’s a new day.

“The best thing was I stayed composed, even with him putting hands to the face the whole time and controlling fingers. That was the biggest thing for me, staying composed and wrestling through those positions.”

Spratley will face Wyoming’s Jore Volk, who upset top-seeded Noah Surtin of Missouri in the semis. Volk defeated Spratley 5-1 in their regular-season meeting.

“He’s gonna come out slow, so I gotta go out there and score (expletive) points,” Spratley said.

Dustin Plott, Daton Fix cruise to finals

OSU’s top two veterans combined for five bonus-point wins in six matches Saturday.

Fix, who is from Sand Springs, had a fall and a technical fall in the early session, then a 4-0 decision over South Dakota State’s Derrick Cardinal in the semifinals.

Fix — a seventh-year senior thanks to a traditional redshirt, an Olympic redshirt and a COVID year — is chasing his fifth Big 12 title. Plott, the No. 2 seed, is going for his third in four seasons.

The Tuttle product breezed through his Saturday action with a pin and two technical falls.

The last, a 21-4 win over Air Force’s Sam Wolf, set up a highly anticipated bout with Northern Iowa’s top-seeded Parker Keckeisen — one of two wrestlers to defeat Plott this season.

“I’ve been wanting this one since he beat me in (Gallagher-Iba Arena),” Plott said, referencing their Jan. 26 match. “And I get it now. Super-excited.”

Thanks to strong finishes from Teague Travis (157), Luke Surber (197) and Konner Doucet (heavyweight), the Cowboys have all 10 wrestlers still alive, and all six in consolation brackets are capable of finishing as high as third. Travis, Surber and Doucet each went 2-0 in consolation action Saturday night.

“Nice to win six straight consolation matches,” OSU coach John Smith said. “I thought we wrestled pretty good. We’ve been in tough matches, and some guys who were a little slow in the second semester with injuries, it showed a little bit today.

“But they found a way to get their hands raised, and that’s important to do.”

More: How Oklahoma State wrestler Izzak Olejnik fit in quickly with 'guys who are like-minded'

Seven Sooners still alive

OU had three shots at the finals but came up short.

Still, the Sooners will have seven wrestlers in action during Sunday’s consolation rounds.

At 157, eighth-seeded Jared Hill — who is from Broken Arrow — upset the No. 1 seed before falling into the consolation bracket, but he remains alive for a potential third-place finish.

Stephen Buchanan (197)  and Josh Heindselman (heavyweight) are in the same situation after losing their semifinal matches as well.

Hill had the first big upset of the day, taking down Northern Colorado’s top-seeded Vinny Zerban in the quarterfinals.

“This is my city,” Hill said. “I knew I was the eight seed on paper, but, thinking by myself, what does paper mean? In my head, I’m actually the favorite in my bracket. It’s postseason, and anybody can be beat.

“I feel like one thing I do is I stay positionally sound, and fundamentals win at this level. I feel like I have the best fundamentals in Oklahoma, period. I need to score more takedowns, but it’s about sticking to what you’re good at.”

One of the most significant Sooner performances came for 133-pounder Jace Koeltzer, who entered unseeded and lost his first match, but rallied with two wins in the night session to secure an NCAA qualifying spot with no worse than a top-six finish.

The Sooners also have 149-pounder Willie McDougald still alive after battling back from an early upset. Cael Carlson (165) and Tate Picklo (174) will wrestle for seventh place in their divisions.

OU ended the first day in eighth place with 53.5 points.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU sends 4 to Big 12 wrestling finals, trails Iowa State in team race