JimBob
01-21-2008, 08:07 AM
OSU wrestlers fall to Nebraska
By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer
1/21/2008
Cowboys tie at Missouri Saturday before loss at Ford Center Sunday.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith liked the notion that the weekend schedule was not routine for his Cowboys.
Unfortunately, the back-to-back Big 12 Conference duals at Missouri on Saturday and Sunday night's matchup with Nebraska broke the Cowboys' winning routine.
Following Saturday's tie at Missouri, the second-ranked Cowboys were sluggish and fell 22-13 to No.3 Nebraska in the ESPU Wrestling Invitational at the Ford Center. The Cornhuskers' triumph broke a 14-match losing streak to OSU and was just their third in 52 all-time meetings.
"You just look at how we wrestled this weekend. I don't think anything we did this weekend was a disadvantage to us," Smith said. "If we're that soft, it's not going to happen for us anyway. But credit Nebraska, that's a strong team."
OSU (10-2-1) got hard-earned wins from Coleman Scott at 133 pounds (2-0) and Jake Dieffenbach in overtime at 165 pounds (10-8) to tie the score at 10-all entering the final four bouts.
However, Nebraska (10-2) was the more aggressive and the fresher team throughout the match. Those traits showed up as the Huskers won the next three matches to clinch the dual victory.
Nebraska's Brandon Browne used a late first-period takedown of OSU's Brandon Mason that proved to be the difference in a 2-1 victory at 174 pounds. Vince Jones followed with a first-period pin of OSU's Jack Jensen at 184 pounds and Craig Brester downed Clayton Foster 6-3 at 197.
"I know John tried to play it off (the back-to-back duals), but that had to affect their team a lot," Nebraska coach Mark Manning said.
Smith does not like to lose, and he anticipates the weekend's results will fuel the fire of his team. The OSU coach said he saw that from his team's opponents this weekend. Both Missouri and Nebraska were coming off tough losses the weekend before at the National Duals.
"We had to be perfect tonight, and when it came down to when we needed something to happen, it wasn't there," Smith said.
OSU senior 141-pounder Nathan Morgan, who posted a decisive 21-9 victory over Rob Sanders, agreed with his coach.
"We have to expect everything to be tough for us, and we can't offer any excuses," Morgan said. "There wasn't a lot of positives coming out of this weekend."
Nebraska 22, Oklahoma State 13
125: Donahoe (NU) d. Shinn 8-6
133: Scott (OSU) d. Jordan 2-0
141: Morgan (OSU) md. Sanders 21-9
149: Burroughs (NU) md. Fuentes 25-11
157: Oliver (NU) d. McSpadden 3-2
165: Dieffenbach (OSU) d. Dwyer 10-8, sv
174: Browne (NU) d. Mason 2-1
184: Jones (NU) p. Jensen 1:48
197: Brester (NU) d. Foster 6-3
285: Rosholt (OSU) d. May 4-3
By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer
1/21/2008
Cowboys tie at Missouri Saturday before loss at Ford Center Sunday.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith liked the notion that the weekend schedule was not routine for his Cowboys.
Unfortunately, the back-to-back Big 12 Conference duals at Missouri on Saturday and Sunday night's matchup with Nebraska broke the Cowboys' winning routine.
Following Saturday's tie at Missouri, the second-ranked Cowboys were sluggish and fell 22-13 to No.3 Nebraska in the ESPU Wrestling Invitational at the Ford Center. The Cornhuskers' triumph broke a 14-match losing streak to OSU and was just their third in 52 all-time meetings.
"You just look at how we wrestled this weekend. I don't think anything we did this weekend was a disadvantage to us," Smith said. "If we're that soft, it's not going to happen for us anyway. But credit Nebraska, that's a strong team."
OSU (10-2-1) got hard-earned wins from Coleman Scott at 133 pounds (2-0) and Jake Dieffenbach in overtime at 165 pounds (10-8) to tie the score at 10-all entering the final four bouts.
However, Nebraska (10-2) was the more aggressive and the fresher team throughout the match. Those traits showed up as the Huskers won the next three matches to clinch the dual victory.
Nebraska's Brandon Browne used a late first-period takedown of OSU's Brandon Mason that proved to be the difference in a 2-1 victory at 174 pounds. Vince Jones followed with a first-period pin of OSU's Jack Jensen at 184 pounds and Craig Brester downed Clayton Foster 6-3 at 197.
"I know John tried to play it off (the back-to-back duals), but that had to affect their team a lot," Nebraska coach Mark Manning said.
Smith does not like to lose, and he anticipates the weekend's results will fuel the fire of his team. The OSU coach said he saw that from his team's opponents this weekend. Both Missouri and Nebraska were coming off tough losses the weekend before at the National Duals.
"We had to be perfect tonight, and when it came down to when we needed something to happen, it wasn't there," Smith said.
OSU senior 141-pounder Nathan Morgan, who posted a decisive 21-9 victory over Rob Sanders, agreed with his coach.
"We have to expect everything to be tough for us, and we can't offer any excuses," Morgan said. "There wasn't a lot of positives coming out of this weekend."
Nebraska 22, Oklahoma State 13
125: Donahoe (NU) d. Shinn 8-6
133: Scott (OSU) d. Jordan 2-0
141: Morgan (OSU) md. Sanders 21-9
149: Burroughs (NU) md. Fuentes 25-11
157: Oliver (NU) d. McSpadden 3-2
165: Dieffenbach (OSU) d. Dwyer 10-8, sv
174: Browne (NU) d. Mason 2-1
184: Jones (NU) p. Jensen 1:48
197: Brester (NU) d. Foster 6-3
285: Rosholt (OSU) d. May 4-3