Lightner And Waller Back In Action For Wrestling Squad

Jan. 31, 2001

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

#8/#6 Oklahoma Sooners (14-3-1)
at #4/#4 Iowa State (14-4) - Ames, Iowa - 7:30 p.m.
vs. 13/#15 Oregon State (9-4) - Marlow, Okla. - 1 p.m.
Missouri (6-8-1) - OU Field House - 7 p.m.

THE SOONERS
Oklahoma enters this weekend's action sporting a 14-3-1 record and is ranked eighth by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/TheMat.com and sixth by InterMat. Several Sooners are currently battling injuries including Michael Lightner, Bo Maynes and Robbie Waller, who missed both OU's last dual against Missouri Valley and the John Hancock Invitational on Saturday. Lightner and Waller will be back in the lineup for this weekend's competition but Maynes (ribs) will be out of the lineup and will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis. Nine OU starters are ranked nationally by either Amateur Wrestling News or InterMat.

LAST TIME
The Sooners claimed the team title at the John Hancock Invitational in Golden, Colo. OU tallied 138.5 team points to out-distance runner-up Air Force (128). Five Sooners - Matt Ridings (125), Witt Durden (133), Jared Frayer (149), Josh Lambrecht (184) and Waymon May (197) - won individual titles. Frayer was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler and heavyweight Leonce Crump won the "Most Falls, Least Time" award.

IOWA STATE
Oklahoma will meet Iowa State for the second time this season when they travel to Ames this Friday. The Cyclones won the first meeting, 19-17, in the quarterfinals of the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals. OU won three of the dual's first four matches but Iowa State won the next five. ISU is led by top-ranked and NCAA record holder for consecutive wins Cael Sanderson (184 pounds). Sanderson is currently 28-0 and won by major decision against the Sooners at the National Duals. Joe Heskett (165) is also ranked first by Amateur Wrestling News and has defeated OU's Waller twice this season. Other ranked Cyclones include Zach Thompson (second at 197), Cole Sanderson (#7/#6 at 157), Perry Parks (#9/#7 at 174), Zach Roberson (#9/#7 at 141), Matt Azevedo (#10/#7 at 133), Billy Maldonado (#13/#8 at 149) and Mark Knauer (#17/#18 at heavyweight). Maldonado, who is battling a knee injury, last wrestled in dual-meet action on Jan. 14. The dual will be televised on tape delay by Iowa Public Television at 9 p.m. the same night.

OREGON STATE
Oregon State will battle Oklahoma State on Friday before facing the Sooners on Sunday in Marlow, the hometown of three-time All-American Michael Lightner. The Beavers had been riding a five-dual winning streak before falling to Arizona State on Jan. 26. Based on national rankings, Oregon State could be favored in as many as four weight classes: 125 (Ben Richards), 157 (Eric Jorgenson), 174 (Nathan Coy) and heavyweight (Jason Cooley). Five OSU wrestlers are ranked nationally: Navarro (#9/#8), Ben Richards (#18 by InterMat at 133), Jorgenson (#6/#7), Coy (#8/#10) and Cooley (#11/#8).

MISSOURI
Missouri has claimed two straight duals wins over Eastern Illinois and Central Missouri State to bring a record of 6-8-1 into its bout with the Sooners. The marquee match of the dual will come at 174 pounds where a pair of top 10 wrestlers, MU's John Kopnisky and OU's Michael Barger will wrestle off. In their only previous meeting this season, Kopnisky downed Barger, 9-3. The dual will also feature a Spates' family flair. OU Head Coach Jack Spates' son, Justin, is the starting 125 pounder for the Tigers.

LIGHTNER SELECTED FOR ALL-STAR DUAL
OU senior 141-pounder Michael Lightner has been selected to compete in the NWCA All-Star Dual at Franklin and Marshall University. The nation's second-ranked wrestler at 141, Lightner will not participate in the competition.

SPATES WINS 100TH DUAL AT OU
Head Coach Jack Spates won his 100th dual at Oklahoma with a 21-16 victory at Fresno State on Jan. 14. Spates' record at OU currently stands at 104-41-5.

LIGHTNER AIMS FOR CAREER-WIN RECORD
Senior 141-pounder Michael Lightner will be aiming for several Sooner records this season, including the career victory mark. His 131 career wins ranks second all-time in OU history. The school record holder in single-season victories (42 in 1999), Lightner would need to break his own record to tie Dan Chaid's mark of 150 wins. He will also try to become OU's first four-time conference champion, the first four-time Big 12 champion and Oklahoma's first four-time All-American since John Kading (1994-1997). Lightner has won 20 of his 24 matches (83 percent) by bonus this season.

FRAYER ON FIRE
With 17 pins on the season, Jared Frayer has now moved into sixh in career falls at OU with 32. The 17 pins are a career high and the highest season total for a Sooner grappler since Herb Calvert posted falls 18 in 1976. Frayer has beaten three opponents ranked in the top 10 and has won five-straight matches. He has won 78.7 percent of his matches by bonus. Frayer leads the Big 12 in pins.

CRUMP OFF TO FAST START
Redshirt-freshman heavyweight Leonce Crump is off to a fast start, beginning his Sooner career with an 22-8 record. The champion of the Oklahoma Open, he is second on the team in pins with 10, the highest total by a heavyweight since Mark Tatum posted 10 in 1986. Crump is currently ranked ninth nationally by Amateur Wrestling News.

KJELDGAARD, WORTHY OUT FOR SEASON AT 157
Considered one of OU's deepest weights during fall drills, 157 pounds has been depleted by a rash of early season knee injuries. Three grapplers - senior two-time NCAA qualifier David Kjeldgaard, junior Brian Burrows and redshirt-freshman Mark Worthy - were in a heated three-way battle for the starting nod. Kjeldgaard is currently recovering from knee surgery, his fourth in as many seasons, and is lost for the year. Worthy sported a 5-2 record and was ranked 18th in the country by Amateur Wrestling News before suffering an ACL injury in the Oklahoma State dual. Burrows, a junior transfer from OSU, was held out of drills for much of the early season due to a knee injury but made his season debut against Seton Hall. Redshirt-freshman Tony Moore competed for the Sooners at 157 in the Lone Star Duals, becoming OU's third grappler to start a dual at that weight.

SOONER HEAD COACH JACK SPATES
Spates came to the University of Oklahoma from Cornell, where he owned the school's highest winning percentage after compiling an impressive 74-14-1 record over five seasons. Oklahoma finished fourth at the 2000 NCAA Wrestling Championships, its highest finish since 1989. The Sooners also crowned its first national champion since 1996 and two Big 12 Champions. OU tallied a 17-4-1 dual record and climbed as high as third in the polls. This came just one season after Oklahoma won the conference championship for the first time since 1986 and placed sixth at the NCAA Championships. The man who led the Sooners to those feats was head coach Jack Spates, the 1999 Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year. Spates has produced 20 All-Americans while at OU, including four-time All-American and NCAA Champion John Kading at 190 pounds, undefeated NCAA Champion Byron Tucker at 174 pounds and three-time All-Amercian and two-time NCAA runner-up Michael Lightner.

KING PINS
With 66 pins already this season, OU wrestlers have already surpassed their total of last season. Several Sooners have either already set career highs for falls or have surpassed last season's total. Leading the pin parade is junior Jared Frayer with a career-high and Big 12 leading 17 pins. He has led OU in pins in each of the last two seasons and ranks sixth in career falls with 32. His 17 pins are the highest single-season total since Edcar Thomas recorded 18 falls in 1976. Heavyweight Leonce Crump has tallied 10 pins in his freshman campaign, the highest total by an OU heavyweight since 1988. Michael Lightner and Waymon May have also both set career bests for falls with five and eight, respectively. Frayer (53.1 percent) would currently place in the 10th in single-season fall percentage.

WELDON, JONES PROMOTED TO TOP ASSISTANTS
OU assistant coaches Barry Weldon and Rodney Jones have been promoted to head assistant coach and second assistant coach, respectively. After former assistant coach Chuck Barbee left to become the head coach at Army, head coach Jack Spated conducted a national search before promoting Weldon and Jones. Derek DelPorto will now serve as the Sooners' volunteer assistant.

OU ON THE INTERNET
Sooner wrestling will broadcast selected home and road duals on the official OU athletic website, soonersports.com. The action will be called by veteran radio personality James Hale with analyst Dr. Ron Tripp. Dual broadcasts can be accessed on the site's front page. The next scheduled broadcast is slated for Feb. 4 against Missouri at 7 p.m. Audio with Sooner head coach Jack Spates and selected OU wrestlers will also be available weekly by accessing the audio/video page of the website.

UP NEXT
The Sooners host Big 12 foe Nebraska on Sunday, Feb. 11, in the OU Field House. Action begins at 3 p.m.