Three Sooners Take Third, Advance

March 8, 2008

STILLWATER, Okla. -- The winners of the morning cap rested while those defeated battled in the consolation bracket for third place in the afternoon session at the Big 12 Championships in Stillwater, Okla.

To advance to the NCAA Championships, wrestlers must place in the top three in their respective weight classes or be selected as a wild card voted on by league coaches at the conclusion of the day.

All Sooners dropped to the afternoon bracket except Oklahoma senior Joshua Weitzel. The Sooner recorded a victory of Raymond Jordan of Missouri in the first round to advance to the finals at 7 p.m.

The Lincoln University, Pa., native will wrestle No. 1-ranked Jake Varner of Iowa State for the crown.

First Round Consolations

After dropping his first match of the day versus No. 16 Tyler Shinn of OSU, No. 15 Joey Fio (two seed) set his sights on John Olanowski (five seed) of Missouri. Fio, worked quick, recording a takedown in the first and a reversal in the second to take a 4-2 lead. The Sandpoint, Idaho, native added two more takedowns in the third to earn the win, 10-4.

Brian Shelton (five seed) at 133 pounds tried to work his way through the consolation side of the bracket versus the third seed Kenny Jordan (No. 10) of Nebraska. After two periods the Husker posted two takedowns and led by a 5-0 score. After scoring another takedown in the third, Jordan took the 8-0 decision win.

Third seeded Chad Terry (No. 17) was the next Sooner to vie for third place, as the 157-pounder was pitted against Chris Oliver (four seed) of Nebraska. Terry, who dropped his first match versus Sanderson of ISU, trailed 4-1 after the first period. After choosing down to begin the second, Terry scored a reversal to pull back to within one point, 4-3.

An escape by Oliver followed, making it a 5-3 advantage for the Husker. A takedown and a stalling penalty by Oliver was not enough for Terry third, as the Husker added two escapes to take the win by a 7-6 final and advance further in the consolation bracket.

Pat Flynn (four seed) at 174 pounds looked to pick up his first win on the day versus the three seed, Aron Scott of Iowa State. After a scoreless first, Flynn gave up a reversal to fall behind, 2-0. Flynn quickly scored an escape following the reversal and another to begin the third to tie the match at two. Despite the tie, a riding time point was awarded to Scott for the 3-2 win.

Senior Joel Flaggert's quest to end up on the podium at the end of the day hinged upon advancing in the consolation bracket after an earlier loss to Craig Brester of Nebraska. The Choctaw, Okla., native, ranked ninth nationally, scored three takedowns versus OSU's Clayton Foster to take a 6-2 lead to end the first.

An escape by Foster after choosing down to begin the second narrowed the Sooner's lead to three. After posting two more takedowns, Flaggert won 10-4, recorded his third win over Foster of OSU this season and remained in the hunt for third.

Heavyweight Nathan Fernandez (five seed) scored an escape in the second period to tie the match at two versus the third seeded Jon May of Nebraska. May scored three unanswered points to defeat the redshirt freshman from Oklahoma, 5-2.

125: No. 15 Joey Fio (OU) dec. John Olanowski (MU), 10-4
133: No. 10 Kenny Jordan (NU) maj. dec. Brian Shelton (OU), 8-0
157: Chris Oliver (NU) dec. No. 17 Chad Terry (OU)7-6
174: Aron Scott (ISU) dec. Pat Flynn (OU), 3-2
197: No. 9 Joel Flaggert (OU) dec. Clayton Foster, 10-4
HWT: No. 14 Jon May (NU) dec. Nathan Fernandez (OU) 5-2

Consolation Finals

True freshman Joey Fio needed a win versus Tyler Clark (four seed) of Iowa State to place third and automatically advance to the NCAA's. Clark struck first, recording a takedown in the first. Fio opted for the down position and quickly scored an escape to inch within one, 2-1.

The Sooner scored another takedown and forced a tie at 3 after a Clark escape to end the second period. Clark scored an escape to begin the third to take a 4-3 lead. With seconds winding down, Fio scored a sudden takedown as time wound out to steal the automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.

After going 1-1 earlier in the day, Sooner Bailey wrestled for third versus No. 12 Mike Rowe (third seed) of Nebraska. After a scoreless first, Bailey posted the only points of the second period with an escape.

The 141 pound match was tied at one after an escape by Rowe to start the third period. Bailey scored a takedown with 11 seconds to go and released Rowe for an escape as time expired, posting another Sooner third place finish, 3-2.

Will Rowe was next to try and punch a ticket to nationals at 149 pounds versus the second seed Josh Wagner (No. 14 nationally) of Missouri. The Sooner opened the match scoring a takedown and a nearfall to lead 5-0. Twenty-one points later, the junior from Arlington, Texas prevailed, 16-13 and grabbing the third place medal.

The win marked the third-straight Top 14 opponent the Sooners took down in the consolation matches. It was then Dean's turn at 165 pounds to try and win the consolation side of his respective bracket versus Jon Reader, who he defeated earlier in the day. Dean was only able to score two escapes in the match for third place, losing to Reader, 6-2.

Joel Flaggert posted two points to begin the match to decide third place at 197 pounds versus the fourth seed David Bertolino of Iowa State. After an escape by the Cyclone, the match was tied to start the second period. Bertolino scored a takedown in the third and held on to beat Flaggert by a 6-2 final with riding time.

Third Place Match Results

125: No. 15 Joey Fio (OU) dec. No. 14 Tyler Clark (ISU), 2-1
141: No. 16 Zack Bailey (OU) dec. No. 12 Mike Rowe (NU), 3-2
149: No. 17 Will Rowe (OU) dec No. 14. Josh Wagner (MU), 16-13
165: Jon Reader (ISU) dec. Max Dean (OU), 6-2
197: No. 16 David Berolino (ISU) dec. No. 9 Joel Flaggert (OU), 6-2

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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