OU Wrestling In Third Place With One Session Left

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The University of Oklahoma wrestling team placed three wrestlers in the final round of the consolation brackets of the 75th Annual Division I NCAA Championships at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Mo., Saturday morning. At 125 pounds Sam Hazewinkel placed third, Joel Flaggert placed fourth at 197 pounds and at 149 pounds Matt Storniolo placed seventh. OU will enter the finals in third-place with 73.5 points.

“Obviously I'm real proud of our guys,” said OU head coach Jack Spates. “It's quite an accomplishment. We've wrestled hard, we've wrestled with courage and I'm really proud of our effort.”

OU had three wrestlers in the final consolation round: Sam Hazewinkel (125), Matt Storniolo (149) and Joel Flaggert (197).

After a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals Hazewinkel returned to the mat to defeat Efren Ceballos of Cal State-Bakersfield. Hazewinkel score a takedown in the first period and an escape in the second. With 1:01 in riding time, Hazewinkel won by decision, 4-0.

In Hazewinkel's third-place match he defeated Simmons of Michigan State for the second time by decision, 6-3. Hazewinkel score an early takedown in the first period and earned four more points in the second with a takedown and a reversal. Hazewinkel earned his second consecutive third-pace finish at the NCAA Championships.

“I obviously wanted to win the Championship, so I'm not as happy as I was last year with third,” said sophomore Sam Hazewinkel. “Third-place is still a great thing in a national tournament; but I'm just really glad that Teyon is in the finals and I'm positive that he is going to win it.”

“It (his 3-1 loss to Joe Dubuque in the semifinals) was a hard loss, but it's going to help me in the long run,” added Hazewinkel. “I'm still excited. You have to be excited about third-place.”

Hazewinkel went 5-1 in the tournament and ended his sophomore campaign with a season record of 40-2 and a career record of 75-7.

Joel Flaggert wrestled B.J. Padden of Nebraska for the third time this season. After losing to Padden 3-0 in dual competition and 8-6 at the Big 12 Championships Flaggert fought to clinch the win and a chance at third-place honors. He scored the first points of the match with a takedown in the first period. Padden counteracted with an escape and takedown to end the second tied at three. With 26 seconds left in the third Flaggert scored a takedown to end the match by a 7-6 decision.

In the third-place match Flaggert faced No. 1 seed Jon Trenge of Lehigh. Trenge was upset in the semifinals by No. 5 seed Sean Stender of Northern Iowa. Stender's also defeated Flaggert in the first round of the tournament. Trenge started out strong with a takedown and a three-point nearfall in the first period. At the end of the second Trenge lead 6-1 and scored six more points in the third to win by a major decision, 12-1. Flaggert is 0-2 against Trenge this season.

Flaggert finished his sophomore campaign with a season record of 27-10, 32-10-career record, All-American honors and first NCAA finish.

“To loss first round to the national runner-up and then to come back and win five straight matches of all top-10 ranked opponents,” said Spates. “I'm a little disappointed for him in that last match, but the bottom line is that he has had a tremendous tournament.”

At 149 pounds Storniolo suffered his second loss of the tournament Friday, which sent him to the seventh-place match. In the fight for seventh-place Storniolo defeated Mark DiSalvo of Central Michigan. DiSalvo scored the first takedown, but Storniolo reacted with an escape. In the second period Storniolo chose down and scored a reversal. With a scoreless third period Storniolo won by decision, 3-2. This is Storniolo's first time to place at the NCAA tournament and earns All-American honors.

“It's kind of disappointing taking seventh,” said sophomore Matt Storniolo. “Coming in as the No. 4 seed I expected to do a little bit better than that, but being an All-American is an accomplishment and I look at it as a stepping stone.”

Storniolo went 4-2 in the tournament and ended his first year at Oklahoma with a season record of 34-6.

Oklahoma will return to action with junior Teyon Ware (149) wrestling Iowa State's Nate Gallick in the NCAA Championships finals at 4 p.m. ESPN will broadcast live coverage.

For live updates and full results go to www.ncaasports.com.

Sam Hazewinkel Third Place
Joel Flaggert Fourth Place
Matt Storniolo Seventh Place

Final Consolation Bracket Results
125: Sam Hazewinkel (OU) dec. Efren Ceballos (Cal St. Bak.) 4-0
Sam Hazewinkel (OU) dec. Nick Simmons (Michigan St.) 6-3
149: Matt Storniolo (OU) dec. Mark DiSalvo (Central Michigan) 3-2
197: Joel Flaggert (OU) dec. B.J. Padden (Nebraska) 7-6
Jon Trenge (Lehigh) maj. dec Joel Flaggert (OU) 12-1

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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