Wrestlers Battle Cornhuskers At OU Field House

Feb. 7, 2001

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

THE SOONERS
Oklahoma enters this weekend's action sporting a 16-4-1 record and is ranked eighth by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/TheMat.com and sixth by InterMat. Nine OU starters are ranked nationally by either Amateur Wrestling News or InterMat.

LAST TIME
OU routed Missouri, 34-4, in Big 12 action. OU's only loss came at 157 pounds where Jesse Jordan majored Tony Moore, 10-2. Highlights included major decisions by Robbie Waller (165) and Witt Durden (133), a technical fall by Michael Lightner (141) and heavyweight Leonce Crump's pin in 1:10. Michael Barger (174) and Matt Ridings (125) both recorded upsets.

NEBRASKA
Nebraska, who will face Oklahoma State the day before it battles the Sooners, enters its Oklahoma road trip with an 11-3 record and is ranked eighth by the NWCA/TheMat.com and No. 13 by InterMat. The Huskers are led by a trio of All-Americans - Todd Beckerman (133), Bryan Snyder (157) and national champion Brad Vering (197) - along with Oklahoma native Jason Powell (125). Vering sports a 20-1 record and is the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 197 pounds. He has not lost in dual competition this season. Two-time All-American Bryan Snyder (#2/#3) also has only one loss on his record. Powell (17-4) and Beckerman (17-3). The Sooners lead the all-time series, 30-13-1.

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 134 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 22 of his 27 matches (81.5 percent) by bonus this season.

FRAYER ON FIRE
With 18 pins on the season, Jared Frayer has now moved into sixh in career falls at OU with 33. The 18 pins are a career high and ties former Sooner grappler Herb Calvert (1976) for the second-most falls in a season. Frayer has beaten three opponents ranked in the top 10 and has won eight-straight matches. He has won 77.4 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 24-9 record. The champion of the Oklahoma Open, he is second on the team in pins with 11, the highest total by a heavyweight since Herb Calvert posted 18 in 1976. Crump is currently ranked 10th 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.

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 106-42-5.

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.

OU'S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACHES
Head coach Jack Spates is among the all-time leaders in career wins and winning percentage by OU coaches. The 1999 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Spates ranks third in both career wins and winning percentage.

KING PINS
With 70 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 18 pins. He has led OU in pins in each of the last two seasons and ranks sixth in career falls with 33. His 18 pins are the highest single-season total since Herb Calvert recorded 18 falls in 1976. Heavyweight Leonce Crump has tallied 11 pins in his freshman campaign, the highest total by an OU heavyweight since Calvert in 1976. Michael Lightner and Waymon May have also both set career bests for falls with six and nine, respectively. Frayer (51.4 percent) would currently place in the 12th 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.

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 did not participate in the competition due to injury.

SOONER BONUS
OU coaches stress the importance of winning matches by bonus points and this season Sooner wrestlers have clamed 73 matches by major decision or better. The following are OU's bonus points leaders.

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. 11 against Nebraska at 3 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
OU travels to Stillwater, Okla., to battle second-ranked and instate-rival Oklahoma State.