Three Sooners Stand Atop Big 12 Podium

March 6, 2010

NORMAN, Okla. -- Three Oklahoma wrestlers won individual titles at the Big 12 Championships Saturday evening, a first for the Sooners since 2002. Those individual wins came at 125 pounds with Jarrod Patterson, at 149 with Kyle Terry and at 157 with Shane Vernon.

The conference title was the second-straight for Terry and the first for Patterson and Vernon.

"Three champions today," OU head coach Jack Spates said. "We had tremendous performances in virtually every match. Really, with the exception of one match, we wrestled better in every match than we had all year. So, it's just a great, great performance."

Final Brackets | Championship Central | Photo Gallery | Quotes

Oklahoma finished third in the team race with 64 points in front of a second-session crowd of 2,610 inside the Howard McCasland Field House. Oklahoma State claimed the title with 70.5 points, eclipsing Iowa State's 69 points. Missouri (33) and Nebraska (32) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

Additionally, Patterson was voted a "Co-Outstanding Wrestler" by league coaches. The true-freshman shared the honor with Oklahoma State's Jordan Oliver.

"It is a great feeling," Patterson said. "It was just last year I was wrestling in high school and I think I have come a long way since then. It is a big honor to be voted `Outstanding Wrestler' because a lot of other guys deserved it."

Zack Bailey was second at 141, while Kendric Maple (133), Tyler Caldwell (165) and Eric Lapotsky (197) all finished third in their respective classes.

Under the new qualifying criteria for the NCAA, nine Sooners -- Patterson, Bailey, Terry, Vernon, Caldwell, Erich Schmidtke, Lapotsky and Fernandez -- automatically punched their tickets to the National Tournament held in Omaha, Neb. March 18-20. OU's 133-pound Kendric Maple awaits at-large selections by the NCAA committee this Wednesday, March 10.

FINALS

125 Pounds: Oklahoma freshman Jarrod Patterson, ranked No. 13 nationally, won the Big 12 Championship at 125 pounds with a 5-3 decision over Iowa State's Andrew Long, ranked No. 5.

Patterson notched a takedown with 1:42 left in the first period then rode out the frame. He added an escape before Long got a takedown with 25 seconds remaining in the second. Patterson (28-9) iced it with a takedown at the 1:21 mark of the third period to get his seventh straight win. Long (23-6) escaped as time expired for the match's final point. The win avenged Patterson's only regular season loss in Big 12 competition.

It marked the second straight year that an OU freshman won the 125-pound division. Last year, it was Joey Fio.

141 Pounds: No. 6-ranked Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State downed No. 3 Zach Bailey of Oklahoma in the rubber match between the two this season. Parks (28-5) got the decisive takedown with 15 seconds remaining in the third period. He gave up an escape, but held on to win, 3-2.

The setback ended a 14-match winning streak for Bailey (24-6).

149 Pounds: OU's Kyle Terry successfully defended his title at 149 pounds with a 3-2 win over Iowa State's Mitch Mueller. The match paired the top two seeds in the class.

Terry (26-2) went up 2-0 with a takedown at the 1:40 mark of the first. He scored the back-breaker point on an escape with 1:41 remaining in the second. Mueller (25-8) wriggled away for an escape with 51 seconds left for the match's final point.

Terry became the first Sooner to win back-to-back Big 12 crowns since 125-pounder Sam Hazewinkel did so in 2006 and 2007.

157 Pounds: Oklahoma's Shane Vernon won with a thrilling 6-5 triumph over Oklahoma State's Neil Erisman. It avenged a loss for Vernon in the regular season finale.

Vernon (19-5) took a 4-3 lead into the third period, but Erisman's escape with 1:57 left squared the match. The Sooner wrestler responded with a takedown with only 55 seconds then withstood an escape by Erisman (27-8) with 27 seconds left to capture the title.

TEAM SCORES

1. OKLAHOMA STATE (70.5)
2. IOWA STATE (69)
3. OKLAHOMA (64)
4. MISSOURI (33)
5. NEBRASKA (32)

CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

125: No. 2 Jarrod Patterson (OU) dec. No. 1 Andrew Long (ISU), 5-3
133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (OSU) dec. No. 2 Nick Fanthorpe (ISU), 6-2
141: No. 2 Jamal Parks (OSU) dec. No. 1 Zack Bailey (OU), 3-2
149: No. 1 Kyle Terry (OU) dec. No. 2 Mitch Mueller (ISU), 4-2
157: No. 1 Shane Vernon (OU) dec. No. 3 Neil Erisman (OSU), 6-5
165: No. 2 Nicholas Marable (MU) dec. No. 1 John Reader (ISU), 6-5
174: No. 1 Stephen Dwyer (NU) dec. No. 2 Mike Benefiel (OSU), 9-5
184: No. 2 Clayton Foster (OSU) dec. No. 1 Max Askren (MU), 10-6
197: No. 1 Jake Varner (ISU) dec. No. 2 Craig Brester (NU), 5-2
285: No. 2 David Zabriskie (ISU) dec. No. 1 Jared Rosholt (OSU), 3-1 SV2

Three Sooners Stand Atop Big 12 Podium

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