Wrestling Unveils 2011-12 Schedule

Oct. 14, 2011

NORMAN, Okla. – The 2011-12 wrestling schedule and new ticket information was announced Friday by the University of Oklahoma Vice President/Athletics Director Joe Castiglione and head coach Mark Cody.

“I think we have one of the most competitive schedules in the country,” Mark Cody said. “We're wrestling everyone in our conference, which in itself is quite an undertaking. Then we are bringing in Lehigh for the first time in quite a few years. We are also going to host Arizona State and Virginia Tech. We don't rank schedules in our sport, but it is definitely one of the toughest schedules in the country.”

The Sooners will kick-off the season by holding the annual Red/White intrasquad scrimmage on Oct. 27 inside the McCasland Field House in Norman, before official competition begins on Nov. 3, against Oklahoma City University in Norman.

Oklahoma's 14-match season includes seven home duals versus Missouri (Nov. 18), Iowa State (Jan. 20), Arizona State (Jan. 22), Virginia Tech (Jan. 27), Lehigh (Jan. 29) and Oklahoma State (Feb. 16) to close out the regular season.

For the first time, all home events will be ticketed. Season tickets, which includes reserved seating for the Bedlam dual, are available to the public for $45. Faculty and former letterwinners are $36. Individual public tickets are $8, while youth and senior citizens will be $5. Groups of 10-99 will get a discounted rate of $5 and 100-plus for $4. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased through the OU Athletics Ticket Office by phone at (800) 456-4668 or by email at outickets@ou.edu.

“One of the reasons we decided to charge was a lot of the alums and boosters thought it would add value to our event,” Cody explained. “I think the fact that we are offering a season ticket for all our home matches is going to help bring in crowds. We don't just want to fill McCasland for the Bedlam dual, but fill it for every dual. We're real excited about the possibility of getting a good crowd for every match.”

The dual against Virginia Tech will mark the fifth-annual Beauty and the Beast event, where Sooner wrestlers compete alongside the women's gymnastics team at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

The Sooners will once again compete in the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic on Nov. 12, where the Sooners hope to garner their 13th-straight title. For the second year, OU will compete in the Midlands Tournament in Chicago, Ill., Dec. 29-30. On Jan. 15, the Sooners travel to Arlington, Texas, to compete in the Lone Star Duals.

“The reason I kept the Midlands tournament on the schedule was because I felt it really helped us out at American to see a lot of the Big Ten teams,” Cody said. “It will help familiarize ourselves with a lot of the competitors that are in the Big Ten, which we don't get to see as much because we go home-and-home with everyone in the conference.”

Other road contests include Big 12 matchups at Iowa State (Nov. 27), Oklahoma State (Dec. 11) and Missouri (Feb. 5). The Sooners will also travel to Wyoming (Jan. 3), Navy (Jan. 7) and Binghamton (Jan. 10).

Before hosting the Bedlam dual on Feb. 16, OU will compete in the inaugural NWCA/Cliff Keen Division I National Dual Meet Championships. Under the new format, four schools will serve as regional hosts with one team from each region advancing to the championship round. The Sooners will travel to Ithaca, NY, for first round action.

“The National Duals, which we are heading out east for, is going to be a great competition for us. We are in the region with Cornell, American and some other really good nationally-ranked teams.”

Following regular season action, the Sooners travel back to Columbia, Mo., to compete in the 2012 Big 12 Championships. From there the Sooners travel to St. Louis, Mo., for the NCAA Championships.

“We have put in a very good summer here,” Cody exclaimed. “Our guy's preseason has been great and they have worked very hard. Fans are going to see that the ten young men in our starting lineup will be in great shape and technically as sound as we can get them to be. They are going to be on the attack and go after pins. We have a very exciting team that we are going to put on the mat this year.”
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To get your season tickets, contact the OU Athletics Ticket Office by phone at (800) 456-4668 or by email at outickets@ou.edu.

2011-12 Oklahoma Wrestling Schedule

Date - Time	Opponent/Tournament	Location
Oct. 27 - 7 p.m.	Red/White Classic (Scrimmage)	Norman, Okla.
Nov. 3 - 7 p.m.	Oklahoma City University	Norman, Okla.
Nov. 12 - All Day	Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic	Brockport, N.Y.
Nov. 18 - 7 p.m.	Missouri	Norman, Okla.
Nov. 27 - 2 p.m.	Iowa State	Ames, Iowa
Dec. 11 - 2 p.m.	Oklahoma State	Stillwater, Okla.
Dec. 29-30 - All Day	Midlands Tournament	Chicago, Ill.
Jan. 3 - 7 p.m.	Wyoming	Laramie, WY
Jan. 7 - 5 p.m.	Navy	Annapolis, Md.
Jan. 10 - 7 p.m.	Binghamton	Binghamton, N.Y.
Jan. 14 - All Day	Lone Star Duals	Arlington, Texas
Jan. 20 - 7 p.m.	Iowa State	Norman, Okla.
Jan. 22 - 2 p.m.	Arizona State	Norman, Okla.
Jan. 27 - 7 p.m.	Virginia Tech (Beauty & the Beast)	Norman, Okla.
Jan. 29 - 2 p.m.	Lehigh	Norman, Okla.
Feb. 5 - 1 p.m.	Missouri	Columbia, Mo.
Feb. 12	NWCA National Duals	Ithica, N.Y.
Feb. 16 - 7 p.m.	Oklahoma State	Norman, Okla.
March 3	Big 12 Championships	Columbia, Mo.
March 15-17	NCAA Championships	St. Louis, Mo.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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