Big 12 wrestling: Oklahoma State comes up short in pursuit of Iowa State for title

TULSA — With a subtle gesture, simply holding his hand in the air with all five fingers extended, Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix celebrated his record as the first five-time Big 12 Conference wrestling champion.

Fix defeated Iowa State’s Evan Frost with an 8-5 decision in the 133-pound title bout Sunday night at the BOK Center, and the relevance of the feat wasn’t lost on Fix — from the record to the location.

“Anytime you can do something that’s never been done at Oklahoma State, it’s a big deal,” Fix said. “I’m proud to be a Cowboy. I love it. I love it here, I love the fans.

“This is probably, if not — it is the last time I’ll ever wrestle in Tulsa. I grew up in Sand Springs, right down the road. It’s a big deal anytime I get to wrestle in front of my hometown fans.”

Iowa State claimed the team crown with 152.5 points, while OSU came in second at 141.5, the team’s most points since they last won the outright title in 2020.

“We didn’t lose the tournament, Iowa State won it,” OSU coach John Smith said. “We scored a lot of points. If you told me we were gonna score in the 140s, I’d tell you we won the tournament.

“(Fix is) a five-time Big 12 champ and he basically told the team it doesn’t matter. He knows there’s something bigger.”

The Cowboys had four finalists in all, but Fix was the only champion.

At 125 pounds, OSU redshirt freshman Troy Spratley allowed a late takedown for a 3-2 loss to Jore Volk of Wyoming. Spratley had a 2-0 lead, but Volk unintentionally headbutted Spratley, who was stunned by the shot just long enough for Volk to attack for the takedown with 28 seconds left.

At 149, OSU’s Jordan Williams lost via injury default, a result of the shoulder injury he sustained in his semifinal victory Saturday. Williams tried to wrestle through the pain, but the match was called 45 seconds into the second period, with West Virginia’s Ty Watters taking the title.

“(Williams) will be fine, I think, in 10 days, 12 days,” Smith said without going into further detail on Williams’ health.

More: Big 12 wrestling championships: Live updates of OU, OSU on Day 2 at BOK Center in Tulsa

OSU’s Dustin Plott was on the wrong end of a major decision against the nation’s top 184-pounder, Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

With so many young wrestlers taking part in their first big event, the weekend was a learning experience for the Cowboys. Every OSU underclassman finished fourth or better.

“For us to be a good tournament team in two weeks, we have to take some things from here and get better,” Smith said, referencing the NCAA Championships set for March 21-23 in Kansas City, Missouri. “We had good effort.

“Attitude. Winning tight matches. We had a lot of tough matches we had to get through and win. We were pretty competitive throughout the weekend.”

Wrestling in the second match of the championship round — when OSU was still alive in the team race — Fix built a 7-2 lead and was chasing another takedown for a major decision.

But as he pursued the bonus-point win, he left himself vulnerable for Frost to score a takedown of his own.

“Just got a little sloppy on my finish,” Fix said. “There’s always stuff to fix. If that’s the national finals, I gotta finish that.”

And that — the national tournament — becomes Fix’s fixation. He has qualified for the tournament four times and finished as the national runner-up three times. He could align with Cornell’s Vito Arujau, who beat Fix in the semifinals last season.

“Doesn’t matter who’s in front of me,” Fix said. “Doesn’t matter what seed I am. Doesn’t matter what seed anybody is. It’s just a number. We’re gonna have to wrestle either way. The tournament’s not won on a number by your name.

“Throw me in the bracket and let’s scrap it out.”

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

Sooners snag 5 NCAA bids

Entering the tournament, OU coach Roger Kish knew his team would have to outperform its seeds in multiple weight classes to earn more than three automatic bids to the NCAA Championships.

Thanks to some upsets by 133-pounder Jace Koelzer and 157-pounder Jared Hill, the Sooners landed five auto bids. Those two were joined by Willie McDougald at 149, Stephen Buchanan at 197 and Josh Heindselman at heavyweight.

“It was a combination of your highs and lows,” said Kish, in his first year at OU. “We had some guys we thought did a couple things really well and some guys who underperformed in some matches. It’s not the wrestling that we wanna see, necessarily, but at this stage in the game, our focus is solely on the guys who are preparing for the NCAA tournament.”

The Sooners finished the tournament with 68.5 points, tied for seventh place with Wyoming.

Hill, who is from Broken Arrow, pulled one of the weekend’s biggest upsets, knocking off the top seed in the quarterfinals at 157. He ended the event with a loss in the fifth-place match, but had already secured his NCAA bid by that point.

Koelzer, a redshirt senior transfer from Northern Colorado, was unseeded in the bracket and lost his first match, but rallied back. His most important victory came over Northern Iowa’s Julian Farber in an elimination match on Saturday.

“I think Jace was one of those guys I didn’t know what to expect,” Kish said. “He’s a guy that does all the little things right, and I think for all he gives to the sport of wrestling, he gives himself the best shot to win his matches.”

With one event remaining, Kish is pleased with his first season in Norman, laying the foundation for rebuilding the program.

“I’ve had a ton of support from our community, our administration,” Kish said. “Our guys have all bought into the system that we’re trying to put out there and really rebrand our group and grow our culture and build the expectation and standard for the guys. Really grateful for it.

“The guys really bought into our coaching philosophy and our staff, and it’s been a good transition.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Big 12 wrestling: OSU comes up short as Iowa State takes title