Rowe Still Standing in St. Louis

March 21, 2008

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Four Sooners began the day with the quest of becoming All-Americans and medaling at the 2008 wrestling NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo. At the end of the Friday afternoon session, Will Rowe was the only Sooner still standing with the dream of a podium finish and All-America honors. The junior caught fire after a first round loss, winning three straight matches at the championships, including two victories today.

Rowe began his climb out of the consolation bracket in the morning session with a match versus Ryan Lang of Northwestern, who last year advanced to the NCAA finals at 141 pounds.

The Sooner displayed a dominant performance for Oklahoma fans, recording six takedowns in the first two periods of the 149 pound match. Leading 14-6 after the second, the Arlington, Texas, native added another takedown, an escape and a riding time point to demandingly defeat the Wildcat by an 18-10 major decision.

Rowe's second match of the early session pitted him against David Jauregui of West Virginia. After a 2-0 lead to start the second, Rowe went on a 9-2 run, scoring two takedowns, a reversal and an escape for the lead.

Jauregui chose down the begin the third and scored a reversal to climb back to within three, 9-6. Rowe added an escape and a takedown in the final period, along with a riding time point to win his second match of the day by a 13-7 final, advancing in the consolation bracket.

Sooner redshirt freshman Zack Bailey at 141 pounds started his day versus No. 10 seed Cody Cleveland of UT-Chattanooga.

Cleveland built a substantial 9-0 lead after the first period with a takedown and three nearfalls against Bailey. After the Sooner chose down to begin the second, Cleveland scored a reversal to build his lead to 11-0. Bailey then began to rally, scoring a takedown, two nearfalls and two escapes to end the period and trail by a 12-7 margin.

The Sooner added another takedown to score the first two points of the final period. A nearfall added by Bailey made it a 12-11 deficit before an escape by Cleveland to pull back in front by two. With 36 seconds to go, Bailey shot and scored a takedown to tie the match at 13, but knew he would need to release Cleveland for an escape because of a riding time advantage. The Sooner from Kansas City, Mo., released to go behind 14-13, but was not able to record the takedown and dropped the match by a 15-13 final.

Bailey ends his Sooner season with a 27-13 record. The future looks bright for the redshirt freshman, as Bailey led the team in total victories and owned two upset wins in the final two weeks of the season (defeated No. 12 Mike Rowe of Nebraska on March 8 and No. 8 Dan Laclere of Iowa in the opening round of the NCAA's).

Continuing wrestleback action, Phillip Bomberger of North Carolina State stood in the way of Sooner Joshua Weitzel's (No. 5 seed) mission to advance through the bracket.

Although no points were scored through the first two periods, Weitzel had complete control after racking up two minutes of riding time after Goodman chose down to start the second. An escape by the Sooner in the third gave him a 1-0 lead and then extended it to 3-0 with a takedown at 1:42. The Lincoln University, Pa., native rode Bomberger the rest of the way and won by a 4-0 decision with riding time.

Weitzel tried to extend his Sooner career with another win over No. 10 Kirk Smith of Boise State in the fourth round of the consolation matches. Neither wrestler was able to post anything offensively in the first period of the 184 pound match. Smith chose the down position to begin the second and scored a reversal to take a 2-0 lead over the Sooner. Those points were all the Bronco needed to take the win, posting the victory over the Sooner senior by a 3-0 final after riding time.

Weitzel ends his Oklahoma career with a 26-5 record, falling short in his third NCAA Championship appearance.

No. 10 Joel Flaggert hoped to also avoid an early exit at the championships in a match versus Matt Koz of UT-Chattanooga. After a scoreless first, Koz chose the down position and scored an escape to take a 1-0 lead. Koz added two more points with a takedown as time ran out in the second period for a 3-0 advantage over the Sooner senior.

Flaggert chose the down position to start the third and was awarded an escape with one minute to go in the final period. The Choctaw, Okla., native could not put together a rally, losing by a 4-0 final after surrendering a riding time point to Koz.

Flaggert's stellar career at Oklahoma included being named a two-time All-American and a three-time NCAA national qualifier.

Rowe returns this evening to looking to continue his run through the consolation bracket with a match versus the No. 5 seed Joshua Churella of Michigan at 6 p.m.

Team Standings

1. Iowa (67 Points)
T2. Oklahoma State (47.5)
T2. Nebraska (47.5)
4. Ohio State (45.5)
5. Central Michigan (43)
6. Penn State (42)
7. Missouri (38.5)
T8. Cornell (34.5)
T8. Minnesota (34.5)
T10. Iowa State (33)
T10. Michigan (33)
.....
35. Oklahoma (8)

Sooner Match Results

141: No. 10 Cody Cleveland (UTC) dec. Zack Bailey (OU), 15-13
149: Will Rowe (OU) maj. dec. Ryan Lang (NU), 18-10
149: Will Rowe (OU) dec. David Jauregui (WVU), 13-7
184: No. 5 Joshua Weitzel (OU) dec. Phillip Bomberger (NCST), 4-0
184: No. 10 Kirk Smith (BSU) dec. No. 5 Joshua Weitzel (OU), 3-0
197: Matt Koz (UTC) dec. No. 10 Joel Flaggert (OU), 4-0

Match-by-Match Results

Zack Bailey (OU) vs. No. 10 Cody Cleveland (UTC)

First Period...2:37, Cleveland takedown (0-2)...1:00, Cleveland nearfall (0-4)...:57, Cleveland nearfall (0-7)...0:01, Cleveland nearfall (9-0 Cleveland lead)

Second Period...Bailey chooses down...1:47, Cleveland reversal (0-11)...1:13, Bailey escape (1-11)...1:04, Bailey takedown (3-11)...0:55, Bailey nearfall (5-11)...0:40, Cleveland escape (5-12)...0:06 Bailey takedown (7-12) (Cleveland leads 12-7)

Third Period...Cleveland chooses neutral...1:10, Bailey takedown (12-9)...0:59 Bailey nearfall (12-11)...0:49, Cleveland escape (13-11)...0:36 Bailey takedown (13-13)...0:25 Cleveland escape (14-13)...Riding time point Cleveland (Cleveland wins 15-13)

Will Rowe (OU) vs. Ryan Lang (NU)

First Period...2:04, Rowe TA (2-0)...1:57 Lang escape, (2-1)...1:33, Rowe takedown (4-1)...1:10, Lang escape (4-2)...0:39, Rowe takedown (6-2)...0:25 Lang escape (6-3)...0:20, Rowe takedown (Rowe leads 8-3 after first)

Second Period... Rowe chooses neutral...1:50, Rowe takedown (10-3)...1:35, Lang escape (10-4)...1:32, Rowe takedown (12-4)...1:25, Lang escape (12-5)...0:22, Rowe takedown (14-5)...0:05, Lang escape (Rowe leads 14-6 after two)

Third Period...Lang chooses down...1:52, Lang escape (14-7)...1:07, Rowe takedown (16-7)...0:57, Lang escape (16-8)...0:26, Lang takedown (16-10)...0:17, Rowe escape (17-10)...Rowe Riding time point (Rowe wins 18-10)

Rowe vs. David Jauregui (WVU)

First Period...Rowe takedown (Rowe leads 2-0 after first)

Second Period... Jauregui chooses neutral...Escape Rowe (3-0)...Takedown Jauregui (3-2)...Rowe reversal (5-2)... Jauregui escape (5-3)...Rowe Takedown (7-3)... Jauregui escape (7-4)...Rowe takedown (Rowe leads 9-4 after two)

Third Period... Jauregui chooses down... Jauregui reversal (9-6)...Rowe escape (10-6)... Rowe takedown (12-6)...Jauregui escape (12-7)...Rowe riding time point (Rowe wins 13-7)

No. 5 Joshua Weitzel (OU) vs. Ryan Goodman (NCST)

First Period...No points

Second Period...Goodman chooses down...Weitzel builds two minutes of riding time...No points

Third Period... Weitzel chooses down...1:59, Weitzel escape (1-0)...1:42, Weitzel takedown (3-0)...Weitzel 3:38 riding time...(Weitzel wins 4-0)

No. 5 Weitzel (OU) vs. No. 10 Kirk Smith (BSU)

First Period...No Points

Second Period...Smith chooses down...1:15, Smith reversal (Smith leads 2-0 to end second)

Third Period...Weitzel chooses down...Smith riding time point (Smith wins 3-0)

Joel Flaggert (OU) vs. Matt Koz (UTC)

First Period...No points

Second Period...Koz chooses down...1:44, Koz escape (0-1)...0:12, Koz takedown (Koz leads 3-0 to end second)

Third Period... Flaggert chooses down...1:00, Flaggert escape (1-3)...Koz riding time point (Koz wins 1-4)

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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