Over 8000 people packed into Historic Gallagher Iba Arena to watch a much-anticipated dual between to top ten teams. Oklahoma State came in ranked #3, while the Wolfpack of NC State entered the hallowed halls at #6
The crowd was especially good considering the dual was originally scheduled for Sunday, but was delayed by 24 hours due to weather.
The dual got off to a nerve-racking start for OSU when Troy Spratley was upset in the first match of the night, but that was the last match OSU lost for the rest of the night. Starting with one of the classic wrestling moments at Gallagher Iba, Cael Hughes won the next match by coming up with a super exciting pin over Kai Orine, who is ranked #7 in the country at 133
The Matches
It was a very competitive match last night at 125 for Troy Spratley. He looked for all the world like he was going to get his right foot out and tie the match at 4-4 in the 3rd period, but couldn’t quite clear the foot, and lost a tough match 7-4. Spratley is the 2nd ranked wrestler at 125, but Robinson is also at #16, so is very good as well & it made for a great matchup. One to look forward to if there is a rematch somewhere down the line.
What a moment last night inside Historic Gallagher Iba Arena, when Cael Hughes turned a scramble into a pin at 133. The Pokes were down 3-0 in the match, and Orine was the #7 ranked wrestler at 133, so this was a huge turning point in this dual. Hughes looked for a second like he was the one that was in danger of going to his back, but, in a gritty scramble, ended up flipping the nationally ranked Orine, and put the big crowd into a frenzy. OSU wrestling can create some pretty awesome moments inside Historic Gallagher Iba Arena, and this was one of them.
Carter Young hit a single leg a little over a minute into his match at 149 against Besgens of NC State. Both wrestlers were ranked, so this was a premiere match.
After a little bit of a scramble, Young finished his single leg to take an early 3-0 lead. Buesgens got away fairly quickly and the 1st period ended 3-1 in favor of Young.
Buesgens won the flip and chose down to start the 2nd, and got away quickly again to move the match score to 3-2, but then got 1 point stall penalty to give Young a 4-2 lead, which was the score to end the 2nd.
Young chose down to start the 3rd & escaped in just 12 seconds then hit another single leg, and, after another scramble, eventually finished the move about 20 seconds later to take an 8-2 lead in the match.
NC State challenged the takedown and won, which moved the score back to 5-2 with both wrestlers on their feet and a minute to go.
Neither wrestler was able to execute a move from their feet, and that’s how the match ended.
Great win for Young, just a grinder, and very gritty. His win moved the dual score to 14-3.
At 157 Caleb Fish took on All-American from 2023, Ed Scott, and beat him in the most exciting and most improbable moment you’ll ever see.
We’ll get back to that!
After a scoreless 1st, Fish escaped to start the 2nd, then completed a double leg before allowing Scott to escape to move the match score to 4-1, which was the score moving into the 3rd.
Scott chose down to start the 3rd, with no riding time either way and when Scott escaped, the scene was set with the match at 4-2.
Scott got in on a leg, then after a scramble finished his move to take a 5-4 move, then almost took Fish to back points, but somehow Fish rolled out of it to tie the match at 5-5 with 30 seconds left.
Finished then NAILED a double leg, took Scott to his back for 3, then got 4 near fall points, and in total, it was a 7-point move right at the buzzer. Wow!
Cameron Amine finished what looked like a single to double to take a 3-0 lead, then rode out the 1st period. Amine escaped fairly early in the 2nd period, then Fields escaped to start the 3rd, then an illegal hold penalty point was charged to Amine to move the score to 4-2. Add the 1 point of riding time and the final was 5-2 to move the dual score to 20-3.
Dean Hamiti Jr. gave up an early takedown to #19 Singleton at 174, but that was the only offensive he gave up for the rest of the match.
From that point on Hamiti Jr. outscored Singleton 8-1!
Hamiti Jr. shot in a single that didn’t land but then kept working the move and eventually got a takedown on a double leg.
Great job at just continuing to work until the next window opened!
With 30 seconds left Singleton shot in, but Hamiti Jr. blocked the shot, then eventually got around and turned the shot of his opponent into points for himself.
Dude put on a clinic on the technical aspects of wrestling, both with his offense and defense.
You can’t lose if your opponent doesn’t score, and Dustin Plott shut out Fishback who was nationally ranked coming in at #11.
Plott shot a double towards the edge of the mat and was able to pull Fishback back in to get a 3-point takedown, then also had 1:58 of riding time to add up to his 5-point win. What a grinder!
Luke Surber shot in a double within the first 30 seconds of his match, switched to a single, and got a quick 3-point takedown against #26 ranked Knop of NC State at 197.
Surber gained 48 seconds of riding time following his 3-point takedown. Then, with both wrestlers back on their feet, Surber ended up with a squirrely scramble takedown that goes to show his balance, skill level, and overall grit.
Surber took down Knop twice in the 3rd period and then got him turned 4 four back points to win the match 18-2. Total Dominance over a really good opponent.
Wyatt Hendrickson finished a double leg about 30 seconds into his match at Heavyweight against #4 nationally ranked Trumble for NC State.
He then hit a single and kept working the move to score again with less than 30 seconds left in the 1st to move the score to 6-2. Trumble scored 2 escapes, and Hendrickson finished the 1st with over 1 minute of riding time.
Hendrickson started the 2nd in the top position, then got Trumble turned for 3 near fall points, then rode up a lot of riding time from there.
Trumble did reverse Hendrickson to move the match to 9-4, then Hendrickson added an escape point in the 3rd to finish the match with a 10-4 win. Total dominance for OSU against a very good opponent!
What’s Next?
Oklahoma State is next in action on Sunday as they host West Virginia, another nationally ranked club, who will bring in 4 nationally ranked wrestlers.
Peyton Hall at 165, Jordan Titus at 141, Brody Conley and Dennis Robin are all ranked wrestlers for the Mountaineers.
The first match will start at 2:00.
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