'We're definitely average': OSU wrestling suffers second straight home loss, this time to Iowa State
STILLWATER — Coach John Smith acknowledged the distractions the past week have provided for his Oklahoma State wrestlers.
But he wasn’t letting his team off the hook with any excuses.
The third-ranked Cowboys suffered back-to-back losses, falling to Northern Iowa 19-15 on Saturday night before taking a 20-12 defeat against No. 7 Iowa State on Sunday at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Cowboys had won 26 straight home duals entering the weekend, and were seeking the program's all-time 500th win in the arena.
“We need to be battle-ready a little bit more,” Smith said on Sunday. “The weekend showed some things, how easy it is to get distracted, and just throw you off. I feel like there have been a lot of distractions this week — not making excuses.
“It don’t take a whole lot to throw you off, and you go from a pretty good team to average pretty quickly. We’re definitely average right now.”
'Pretty impressive': Oklahoma State seeking 500th wrestling victory in Gallagher-Iba Arena
Smith mentioned “three or four” distractions that the team had dealt with, not just the major one at the beginning of the week, when 197-pound sophomore A.J. Ferrari was involved in a scary car accident that left him hospitalized for two nights.
Smith didn’t go into detail about the other distractions, but pointed more to the attitude of his team over the weekend.
“When you’re losing matches with riding time, that’s just attitude,” Smith said. “It’s got something to do with skill, trust me. Skill is important. But really, it’s just attitude. It’s about being determined to get out.”
On Sunday, the Cowboys got wins from Daton Fix at 133 pounds, Kaden Gfeller at 149, Travis Wittlake at 165 and Dustin Plott at 174. Plott’s win gave OSU a 12-10 lead, but Iowa State won the final three matches to seal the dual victory.
Gfeller, who is ranked No. 14 at 149, got a late escape against No. 21 Jarrett Degen to tie the match with 23 seconds left. Then Gfeller scored a takedown in the first minute of overtime for a 6-4 win.
Plott, who is No. 9 at 174, got pinned on Saturday night for his first loss of the season, but bounced back with a solid 6-1 decision against No. 18 Joel Devine.
She Said, He Said: Why many details of wreck involving OSU's Ferrari, Rodriguez will stay with us a long time
“This week was a little up and down with emotions,” Gfeller said. “But that’s not an excuse. We came out flat-footed, especially (Saturday) night. We just gotta get better. It’s gotta be a motivator for us, because we’ve got some good teams coming up, and then the postseason. We’ve got to use this to motivate all of us, and continue to get better each week.”
The Cowboys have another challenging week ahead, with a home dual against South Dakota State at 7 p.m. Friday, before traveling to Missouri for a 2 p.m. Sunday dual.
With Ferrari, the reigning national champion at 197, out of the lineup for an unknown length of time because of injuries suffered in the car accident, the Cowboys can’t count on the regular points Ferrari provides late in duals.
“You take a starter out that typically wins, that can be an eight-point, nine-point swing at times,” Smith said. “That can be a little bit challenging. So for that reason, somebody’s gotta pick up the pace.
“We need to bounce back with an attitude. I don’t think we had it today.”
Sunday’s results
At Gallagher-Iba Arena
IOWA STATE 20, OKLAHOMA STATE 12
125: Kysen Terukina, Iowa State, dec. Trevor Mastrogiovanni, 2-1
133: Daton Fix, OSU, dec. Ramazan Attasauov, 5-1
141: Ian Parker, Iowa State, dec. Carter Young, 4-0
149: Kaden Gfeller, OSU, dec. Jarrett Degen, 6-4 SV
157: David Carr, Iowa State, maj. dec. Wyatt Sheets, 12-3
165: Travis Wittlake, OSU, dec. Isaac Judge, 5-1
174: Dustin Plott, OSU, dec. Joel Devine, 6-1
184: Marcus Coleman, Iowa State, dec. Dakota Geer, 8-3
197: Yonger Bastida, Iowa State, maj. dec. Gavin Stika, 18-6
HWT: Sam Schuyler, Iowa State, dec. Luke Surber, 4-2
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State vs. Iowa State wrestling score, recap of Cyclones' win
