Sooners have 3 wrestlers advance, Buchanan goes 2-0
Mar. 21—Oklahoma's Stephen Buchanan went 2-0 on the first day of the NCAA Championships to set up an All-American match on Friday.
Buchanan was seeded eighth in the 197 division and opened up the tournament with a win by tech fall over Cleveland State's Benjamin Smith on Thursday morning. He wrestled nine-seed Stephen Little of Little Rock Thursday evening and won by major decision.
Buchanan is a two-time All-American, but has not competed at the NCAA Championships since transferring to Oklahoma from Wyoming.
Friday's two sessions will both be televised starting at 11 a.m. on ESPNU with additional coverage on ESPN+.
Two other Sooners still have a chance to battle their way back to earning All-American honors.
Josh Heindselman was an 11-seed in the 285 division heading into the tournament, but knocked off Oregon State 14-seed Boone McDermott by 4-2 decision in the first round. He was defeated by 6-seed Zach Elam from Missouri in the second round, but remains alive in the consolation bracket.
21-seed Willie McDougald advanced to the second round of the championship bracket with a narrow win by 5-4 decision in the first round. He lost by major decision to West Virginia's Ty Watters and will face Rider's Quinn Kidder in the 149-division consolation bracket on Friday.
Jace Koelzer and Jared Hill each went 0-2 and were eliminated on the first day.
The Sooners had two All-Americans in 2023 (Michael Caliendo and Jared Franek), which were the first two All-Americans for the program since 2015.
