Sooners 3-1 During First Day Of National Duals

CLEVELAND, Ohio The University of Oklahoma wrestling team defeated No. 22 Penn State, 27-13, Cleveland State, 39-3, No. 4 Michigan, 24-12, and lost to No. 2 Illinois, 21-12 during the first day of the Cliff/NWCA National Duals presented by Hershey's SmartZone Bar at the Cleveland State University Convocation Center in Cleveland, Ohio, Saturday.

Seeded eighth, the Sooners controlled their first dual of the day against Penn State and won eight out of ten matches, four against ranked opponents.

“I'm real pleased and proud of our performance,” said head coach Jack Spates. “Sam wrestled a kid who upset him last year, and this time Sam controlled the match.”

“Randy Sulaver and Charles Jones came through with big wins,” said Spates. “Matt Storniolo dominated in an important match for him, seeing that he transferred from Penn State.”

At 149 pounds, Matt Storniolo, faced his former teammates for the first time since transferring to Oklahoma in September. Storniolo dominated Jack Decker allowing no points to be scored against him, while he scored 10 points in nearfalls.

“We were very conservative at the end, by putting a backup in at 197 pounds and forfeiting at heavyweight,” said Spates. “We want to stay fresh for the rest of our duals, but overall our guys wrestled very well.”

Oklahoma faced No. 2 seed Illinois in the second dual of the day. No. 1 Sam Hazewinkel (125) defeated No. 2 Kyle Ott by a 4-2 decision with a takedown in overtime, which expanded his winning streak to 22-0. The Sooners won at 125, 141, 149, and HWT, but failed to take control and lost the dual, 21-12.

“It was a tough match, the score was in no way indicative of the way we wrestled,” said Spates. “We lost three extremely close matches, about as close as you can wrestle, with the three guys ranked ahead of us and we wrestled well. We need to do a little bit more and make it happen; we've got to come back and wrestle tough.”

Oklahoma took that to heart and came back to dominant Cleveland State, 39-3. Oklahoma's lineup included freshmen Trey Blakely (133) and Jerome Featherstone who defeated their opponents by decisions.

“We wrestled well, but it just gets tougher from here,” added Spates. “We wrestled well against Penn State, we wrestled well against Illinois, but we just couldn't win enough of those close matches to win.”

We've beat some real good people, and came close to some others, but that just doesn't count at the national duals.”

What did count at National Duals was when the Sooners defeated No. 3 seed Michigan in the last dual of the night by an impressive 24-12 victory. Hazewinkel (24-0) and Ware (22-0) ended the night with their undefeated records in tacked.

“Wow. That was a big time win,” said Spates. “Wrestling the fourth ranked team in the country and really dominating them. It was like the reverse of the Illinois match. We won the tough bouts and we won the matches at the end."

At 197 pounds, Joel Flaggert returned to the Sooners lineup and pinned Steven Heleniak of Michigan at the 1:53 mark.

"It was really great to see Joel Flaggert bounce back from his injury. He was a monster tonight and he showed a lot of character,” said Spates. “Randy Sulaver fought one of the best wrestlers in the country and fought to stay off his back, he just was not willing to give in and get pinned.”

Charles Jones battled a national champion and didn't give up extra points. We've still got our work cut out for us, but it was a great win and I'm really proud of our kids.”

The Sooners will return to the mat tomorrow at 11 a.m. to wrestle against No. 4 seed Lehigh in the consolation bracket to battle for a chance at third place.

Round 1: Final Score: No. 10 Oklahoma 27, No. 15 Penn State 13
Weight-By-Weight Results
125: #1 Sam Hazewinkel (OU) dec #15 Adam Smith (Penn) 7-2
133: Bryan Heller (Penn) dec Joe Comparin (OU) 11-5
141: # 2 Teyon Ware (OU) maj. dec #17 DeWitt Driscoll Jr. (Penn) 12-4
149: #3 Matt Storniolo (OU) tech fall Jack Decker (Penn) 5:32
157: Charles Jones (OU) dec #9 Nate Galloway (Penn) 2-0
165: Randy Sulaver (OU) dec Jarred Turner (Penn) 6-3
174: #7 E.K. Waldhaus (OU) dec James Yonushonis (Penn) 8-3
184: #14 Justin Dyer (OU) fall #6 Eric Bradley (Penn) 3:28
197: #17 Phil Davis (Penn) maj. dec Austin David (OU) 12-0
HWT: Forfeit (OU) C.J. Wonsettler (Penn)

Round 2: Final Score: No. 2 Illinois 21, No. 10 Oklahoma 12
Weight-By-Weight Results
125: #1 Sam Hazewinkel (OU) dec # 2 Kyle Ott (Illinois) 4-2 ot
133: #3 Mark Jayne (Illinois) dec Joe Comparin (OU) 6-1
141: # 2 Teyon Ware (OU) dec Cassio Pero (Illinois) 7-0
149: #3 Matt Storniolo (OU) dec #19 Anton Dietzen (Illinois) 3-0
157: #2 Alex Tirapelle (Illinois) dec Charles Jones (OU) 3-1
165: #13 Donny Reynolds (Illinois) fall Randy Sulaver (OU) 2:55
174: #5 Pete Friedl (Illinois) dec #7 E.K. Waldhaus (OU) 3-0
184: #4 Brian Glynn (Illinois) dec #14 Justin Dyer (OU) 5-1
197: #14 Tyrone Byrd (Illinois) dec #12 Joel Flaggert (OU) 2-1 ot
HWT: #12 Jake Hager (OU) dec #14 Mike Behnke (Illinois) 4-0

Round 3: Final Score: No. 10 Oklahoma 37, Cleveland 3
Weight-By-Weight Results
125: #1 Sam Hazewinkel (OU) fall Joe Wornoff (CSU) 1:20
133: Trey Blakely (OU) dec David Armstrong (CSU) 6-2
141: # 2 Teyon Ware (OU) Forfeit (CSU)
149: #3 Matt Storniolo (OU) dec Ryan Hurley (CSU) 3-2 ot
157: Jerome Featherstone (OU) dec Josh Ging 4-3
165: Randy Sulaver (OU) maj. dec David Gilkey (CSU) 10-2
174: #7 E.K. Waldhaus (OU) dec Matthew Klinger (CSU) 7-1
184: # 14 Justin Dyer (OU) tech fall Ron Howard (CSU) 17-2
197: Austin David (OU) dec Joseph Phillips (CSU) 5-4
HWT: #12 Jake Hager (OU) Forfeit

Round 4: Final Score: No. 10 Oklahoma 24, No. 4 Michigan 12
Weight-By-Weight Results
125: #1 Sam Hazewinkel (OU) Forfeit (MU)
133: #12 Mark Moos (MU) dec Trey Blakley (OU) 10-3
141: # 2 Teyon Ware (OU) dec #16 Josh Churella (MU) 4-1
149: #3 Matt Storniolo (OU) dec #7 Eric Tannenbaum (MU) 4-2
157: #5 Ryan Bertin (MU) dec Charles Jones (OU) 6-3
165: #2 Ryan Churella (MU) maj. dec Randy Sulaver (OU) 11-0
174: #7 E.K. Waldhaus (OU) dec #13 Nick Roy (MU) 3-1
184: #14 Justin Dyer (OU) dec Josh Weitzel (MU) 6-2
197: #12 Joel Flaggert (OU) fall Steve Heleniak (MU) 1:54
HWT: #2 Greg Wagner (MU) dec #12 Jake Hager (OU) 3-2

Sooners 3-1 During First Day Of National Duals

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Sooners 3-1 During First Day Of National Duals

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