Oklahoma State sweeps National Duals

Jon Morrison entered the final period of the opening match against No. 6 Ohio State trailing Johnni DiJulius and filling Cowboy fans with anxiety.

With less than a minute remaining, Morrison got an escape and recorded a takedown to claim a victory for the Cowboys, and top-ranked Oklahoma State was on its way to a 25-6 victory against the Buckeyes.

Oklahoma State also won earlier in the day against No. 10 Wyoming, 28-7, to advance to the finals against Ohio State.

Morrison's go-ahead takedown occurred with 15 seconds left in his match and gave the Cowboys the momentum they needed to advance to the final four of the NWCA National Duals.

"In big duals like that, momentum is everything," Morrison said. "It was good to get that takedown at the end and get the team started on a good note."

Coach John Smith said he wasn't particularly pleased with the way Morrison wrestled, but he was satisfied with his effort late in the match.

"I'm also pleased he is winning in the third period, that he is scoring when it is critical, and it's coming down to who is going to win the match," Smith said. "I think it is important for him to see himself scoring points at critical times, and you got a chance of your confidence growing."

Although the final score shows a 19-point win for the Cowboys, the matches were closer than the final score indicates. The Cowboys entered the final period of six matches either trailing or tied with their opponents.

Smith said winning close matches is something that has made his team successful all season, and it showed in its match against the Buckeyes.

"It's been a good year from the standpoint of plugging along, winning good meets, not falling into wins, but earning them," Smith said. "That's what you like to see, and I thought today we earned a couple tough wins and didn't fall into them. We went out and won battle matches, won close matches. We got to be careful of shutting down a little bit."

In a match between the top two ranked wrestlers at 133 pounds, defending national champion Jordan Oliver entered the final period tied at two with Logan Seieber, but Oliver scored a reversal and a takedown to come away with the victory.

"I know he has a great offense and I have a great offense," Oliver said. "It was just going to be who wrestled their style better."

The road ahead of the Cowboys will only be more difficult. The Cowboys travel to Norman for Bedlam on Thursday evening and will host the finals for the national duals on Sunday. The Cowboys will wrestle Illinois in the semifinals.

Smith said his team would embrace the challenge.

"It gets a lot tougher next week, so we have to get a lot tougher," Smith said. "We wrestle Thursday and then again Sunday, but so what? Let's go do it. It's no disadvantage to us."

sports@ocolly.com