Wrestlers Bow Out in St. Louis

March 20, 2009

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Three Sooner wrestlers – Joey Fio, Kyle Terry and Eric Lapotsky – entered session four Friday evening at the 2009 NCAA Championships needing one victory to become Oklahoma's newest All-Americans.

All three faced ranked foes, and all three fell by decisions, bowing out of the national championships one win shy of becoming All-Americans.

“It's heartbreaking,” head coach Jack Spates said. “Those three guys wrestled tough and put themselves in position but just fell short. Coming into tonight, I would never dreamed we would have gone 0-3. They did not lose because of a lack of effort.”

No. 7 Fio was pitted against No. 18 Nicholas Bedelyon of Kent State in the opening 125-pound match inside the Scottrade Center. With 10 seconds remaining in the first, Bedelyon scored a takedown and rode Fio the remainder of the period to take a 2-0 lead.

A Fio escape to begin the second cut the lead to one, but Bedelyon quickly countered with a takedown and two-point nearfall to lead 1-6 heading into the third. Bedelyon scored an escape after choosing the down position to begin the final stanza, followed by Fio posting his first takedown of the match to inch within four, 7-3. Bedelyon then scored an escape and held off the Sooner the remainder of the match to win, 8-3.

The match concluded Fio's sophomore campaign, a year in which he tallied a 23-5 record, including 16-straight on his way to a Big 12 crown.

No. 5 Terry drew No. 12 Kyle Borshoff of American University at 149 pounds in his match to become an All-American. Borshoff scored a takedown with seven seconds remaining in the first to lead 2-0. Terry scored the second period's only points to trail 2-1 after an escape. In the final stanza, the American wrestler scored two takedowns while only allowing one point from Terry to win, 7-2.

Terry ends his junior campaign with a 30-3 overall record, a team high for wins. The Midwest City, Okla., native's run this season included 28-straight victories (7-0 against Big 12 competition) leading him to the Big 12 conference crown.

No. 6 Brent Chriswell of Boise State stood in the way for No. 12 Lapotsky in the 197-pound battle. With 37 seconds remaining in the first, Chriswell took a 2-0 lead with a takedown. A Lapotsky escape t made it 2-1 to end the opening period. The Bronco scored the second period's only point with an escape to lead Lapotsky, 3-1. The Sooner chose the down position to begin the third and posted an escape to inch within one, 3-2, but was unable to rally.

Lapotsky bows out of the national championships with a 24-10 overall record during his junior season.

“We fell short, and we must go back and evaluate what is going to make us better,” Spates said. “All eight that qualified for the NCAA's this week are returning next year, but none of them are All-Americans. As a team and as a staff, we must find out what will make the difference for next year.”

SESSION IV RESULTS

125: No. 18 Nicholas Bedelyon (Kent St.) dec. No. 7 Joey Fio (OU), 8-3
149: No. 12 Kyle Borshoff (American) dec. No. 5 Kyle Terry (OU), 7-2
197: No. 6 Brent Chriswell (Boise St.) dec. No. 11 Eric Lapotsky (OU), 3-2
*Above are Intermat rankings

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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