'We can do more': Why OSU wrestling sees room to grow after loss to Iowa in Bout at the Ballpark
ARLINGTON, Texas — Despite his individual success on a special night for the sport of wrestling, Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix couldn’t get past the team disappointment.
Fix won both of his matches, first representing Team USA against international all-stars, then college wrestling’s biggest rivalry against Iowa.
But the second-ranked Hawkeyes pulled away for a 23-9 win over the 12th-ranked Cowboys on Saturday night in the Bout at the Ballpark at Globe Life Field.
“Some of those losses, we can’t accept,” Fix said. “We don’t go to practice five, six times a week, sometimes twice a day, to go out there and not give full effort.”
Oklahoma State got on the board first with a thrilling victory by 125-pound sophomore Trevor Mastrogiovanni that had the majority of the 12,028 in attendance roaring.
OSU wrestling: No. 10 Cowboys rout No. 23 South Dakota State for 500th dual win at Gallagher-Iba Arena
Mastrogiovanni scored two takedowns in the final 45 seconds for a 6-5 decision over Iowa’s Jesse Ybarra, picking up the winning points with two seconds remaining on a takedown call that was upheld by video review.
Mastrogiovanni suffered an ankle injury against South Dakota State on Feb. 4, and had not practiced all week before Saturday’s match.
“He didn’t get on the mat one day,” OSU coach John Smith said. “He recognized in the middle of the match, what am I doing? I need to go win this match. It’s something we didn’t know if he would have, being off the mat for eight days. In the end, it was a good win.”
In the 133-pound match, second-ranked Fix had a takedown with just over a minute to go that ultimately sealed his 5-3 decision over third-ranked Austin DeSanto of Iowa.
From that point, Iowa took control, winning five straight matches. Cowboy wrestlers scored seven total points in those matches, all coming on escapes, with the exception of a reversal by Kaden Gfeller at 149 pounds.
“For us, it was — are you out there to win?” Smith said. “We had three or four guys that, are you out there to win or just represent tonight?
“Let’s go out and score a takedown. It’s almost like, have you been taught anything?”
Smith pointed to the middle weights of 141, 149, 157 and 165 pounds as a key area of struggle.
“That group there didn’t seem to really compete on their feet,” Smith said. “They need to recognize that they’re leaving a lot on the mat. I think it’s an opportunity for us to grow and to prepare for next week.”
OSU added to its team score at 184, when 11th-ranked Dakota Geer took a 9-2 decision over No. 15 Abe Assad. Geer nearly had a major decision, but Assad escaped with just a few seconds left to prevent the Cowboys from adding a bonus point.
Despite the team loss, the Cowboys acknowledged the uniqueness of the event.
“It was awesome getting to have a dual in an environment like this on a baseball field with as many fans as there were,” Geer said. “It was definitely a cool idea and a fun event to be a part of.
“I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.”
Smith considered the event an overall success.
“I think these guys will remember it — these guys that won will remember it as a great experience,” Smith said. “The ones that lost and didn’t do a whole lot, they’ve got some thinking to do on the way home.
“I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the process. In the end, I would say, considering all the situations, it was a successful event for wrestling.”
It was a full day of wrestling at Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers, with youth competitions to begin the day. Then the Team USA men’s and women’s squads swept their duals against international all-star teams prior to the OSU-Iowa main event.
Wrestling for Team USA, Fix defeated Giusseppe Rea of Ecuador by technical superiority with a 10-0 score at 61 kilograms just 1:41 into the match.
“Anytime I get to represent my country, it’s an honor,” Fix said. “I know not everybody has an opportunity to do that, so I never take anything like that for granted. I was able to stand up there with guys who have done things that I dream of doing. A bunch of Olympic champions, world champions.”
For the Cowboys, they have two duals remaining — next Friday against Bucknell, then Sunday against OU, both at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater — before the Big 12 championships March 5-6 in Tulsa.
“There’s no quit in us,” Smith said. “It’s just a little disappointing. We knew it was an uphill battle as far as winning (against Iowa). We gotta recognize that we gotta do more.
“And we can do more.”
Saturday’s results
At Globe Life Field
Arlington, Texas
IOWA 23, OKLAHOMA STATE 9
125: Trevor Mastrogiovanni, OSU, dec. Jesse Ybarra, 6-5
133: Daton Fix, OSU, dec. Austin DeSanto, 5-3
141: Jaydin Eierman, Iowa, dec. Carter Young, 6-1
149: Max Murin, Iowa, dec. Kaden Gfeller, 5-2
157: Kaleb Young, Iowa, dec. Wyatt Sheets, 4-1
165: Alex Marinelli, Iowa, dec. Travis Wittlake, 3-2
174: Michael Kemerer, Iowa, dec. Dustin Plott, 6-1
184: Dakota Geer, OSU, dec. Abe Assad, 9-2
197: Jacob Warner, Iowa, maj. dec. Gavin Stika, 11-3
HWT: Tony Cassioppi, Iowa, maj. dec. Luke Surber, 9-1
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU wrestling vs. Iowa: Cowboys face Hawkeyes at Globe Life Field
