Cyclones Defeat Sooner Wrestlers

NORMAN, Okla., -- The No. 8/13 Oklahoma Sooners (8-4, 0-2 Big 12) were defeated by the No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones (8-3, 2-0 Big 12), 27-9 Saturday night in Ames, Iowa at the Hilton Coliseum.

“We ate a lot of humble pie tonight,” head coach Jack Spates said.

The Sooners were able to get within a point of the Cyclones lead with Matt Storniolo's 4-0 decision over Cyler Sanderson at 149-pounds after losing the first match of the evening. This was Storniolo's first action since partially tearing his left bicep muscle against Utah Valley State on Jan. 6 at the Lone Star Duals.

After Storniolo's decision, Oklahoma was not able to score another victory until Joshua Weitzel put up three team points for OU at 174-pounds. Weitzel notched a 4-0 decision over Iowa State's Grant Turner.

OU vs. Iowa State Play-by-Play

“This was a very frustrating experience for our team, because we are still not healthy and we were flat out not able to compete,” Spates continued.

Joel Flaggert (21-2) pushed his current winning streak to six as he defeated Cyclone Kurt Backes by a decision of 6-5 at 197-pounds. Flaggert's decision was the last victory for the Sooners.

The Sooners are still without three starters as Sam Hazewinkel (125-pounds), Joe Comparin (133-pounds), and Kyle Terry (141-pounds) still recover from injuries. Hazewinkel and Terry were injured at the NWCA National Duals and Comparin (pronounced com-PREEN) is still recovering from a pre-season injury.

“This is a good experience for us because I believe it will help make us stronger heading into the Big 12 Championships and the NCAA Championships. We flat out were out-wrestled tonight and it showed in the end,” Spates said.

The Sooners are home again Sunday, Feb. 4, when they play host to the No. 2/2 Missouri Tigers at 3 p.m., inside the Howard McCasland Field House. At halftime of the match the Sooner wrestling program will present former Sooner great Danny Hodge with a special gift. Prior to the dual, two local youth wrestling clubs will wrestle each other.

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