Sooners Advance to Friday's Action

March 20, 2008

ST. LOUIS, Mo. --Two Sooners entered the evening-cap in the championship bracket hoping to advance to the quarterfinals tomorrow at the wrestling NCAA's in St. Louis, Mo.

After an opening round upset, Sooner Zack Bailey at 141 pounds tried for his second victory of the day versus No. 9 Nick Gallick of Iowa State. It marked the second meeting between the Big 12 foes, with Gallick besting Bailey by a 10-3 decision on Jan. 25.

The Cyclone needed just 20 seconds to post a takedown in the first, which would mark his first of four total in the match. Bailey's rally in the third, down 8-5, was not enough, losing to the Iowa State grappler by a 10-7 final. Bailey returns to action tomorrow morning competing in the loser's bracket.

No. 10 Joel Flaggert's second round match was also a tough one. Wrestling against No. 7 Hudson Taylor of Maryland, the Choctaw, Okla., was never able to recover from a takedown and nearfall early in the first period. Down 6-0 to begin the third, Flaggert was unable to produce anything offensively, dropping the second round match by a 7-0 final after riding time.

Three other Sooners who dropped their opening round matches looked to bounce back in the consolation bracket.

No. 15 Fio began his climb at 125 pounds with a match versus Ross Gitomer of Virginia in a pig-tail match in the consolation bracket.

Gitomer led Fio after the first period 4-2 with two takedowns to Fio's two escapes. Fio inched back to within one with an escape after choosing the down position to begin the second. A Sooner reversal and an escape by Gitomer tied the match at five after two.

The Cavalier chose the down position to start the third and scored an escape with 1:06 to go in regulation and take the lead, 6-5. With 23 seconds left, Fio shot and scored a takedown and rode Gitomer the remainder of the period to take the victory by an 8-6 final after being awarded a riding time point.

Fio advanced to take on Anthony Robles of Arizona State with the victory, marking the second matchup of the season between the two. Robles recorded a fall on Feb. 1, in Norman to defeat the Sandpoint, Idaho, native.

Robles quickly made it 5-0 after a takedown and nearfall in the first. After Fio managed an escape, the Sun Devil scored another takedown to take a 7-1 lead into the second period. After a Robles escape, Fio cut the lead to 8-3 with a takedown.

Five unanswered points by Robles quickly made it a 13-3 deficit for Fio after two periods. Robles posted the victory with a takedown, an escape and a riding time point in the third for a 17-7 final.

The loss marked Fio's second of the championship, ending his freshman season with a 21-10 record.

No. 17 Will Rowe hoped to get on the winning track in the evening session by taking on Kyle Fried of Binghampton in the wrestleback division.

Up 3-2 to begin the second, Rowe scored an escape and two takedowns to take an 8-3 lead into the third period. The Sooner from Arlington, Texas, added another takedown and was awarded a riding time point to take the win at 149 pounds, 11-5.

Rowe is now 24-8 on the season and will continue competition in the consolation bracket tomorrow morning.

No. 5 Joshua Weitzel, coming off an upset-loss this morning, also was wrestling to advance to tomorrow's 184 pound competition. His opponent for the first round of the consolations was Phil Bomberger of Penn State.

After scoreless first and second periods, Weitzel chose the down position to begin the third. The Sooner senior took a 1-0 lead after escaping from Bomberger. The Penn State wrestler quickly snagged the lead back by scoring a takedown. An escape by Weitzel tied the match at two and with seconds left, he recorded his second takedown of the match, winning by a 4-2 final.

Weitzel joins three other Sooners (Bailey, Rowe and Flaggert) to advance to competition tomorrow in the consolation bracket.

"We have to come out tomorrow and battle," head coach Jack Spates said. "We have to take it match-by-match and have the sense of urgency that each could be our last."

Sooner Match Results

125: No. 15 Joey Fio (OU) dec. Ross Gitomer (UVA), 8-6
125: Anthony Robles (ASU) maj. dec. No. 15 Joey Fio (OU), 17-7
133: No. 9 Nick Gallick (ISU) dec. Zack Bailey (OU), 10-7
149: No. 17 Will Rowe (OU) dec. Kyle Fried (BU), 11-5
184: No. 5 Joshua Weitzel (OU) dec. Phil Bomberger (PSU), 4-2
197: No. 7 Hudson Taylor (UM) dec. No. 10 Joel Flaggert (OU), 7-0