Four Sooners Earn Quarterfinal Bids

March 17, 2011

PHILADELPHIA – Four Sooner wrestlers – Jarrod Patterson, Zack Bailey, Tyler Caldwell and Nathan Fernandez – advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2011 NCAA Championships helping the Sooners close out session II with a 7-9 record.

All four wrestlers earned second-round wins in front of 17,289 fans at the Wells Fargo Arena, earning spots in Friday-morning's quarterfinals. OU is tied with two other schools for the fourth most championship contenders remaining.

Jordan Keller and Erich Schmidtke also picked up wins in the consolation bracket to compete Friday and keep their All-American hopes alive.

After the first day, Oklahoma sits at No. 17 with 15 points. Penn State leads the pack with 30.5 points, while Cornell is close behind with 29. Iowa and Oklahoma State are tied for third with 25 points.

“I think we've done well today,” Jack Spates said. “We took some shots, battled back hard and won a lot of tough matches. We put four guys in the quarterfinals and we are wrestling well.”

Results |

Brackets |

Team Standings | Session I Play-By-Play | Live Results |

Photos | Blog Updates

Two Sooners, Patterson and Bailey, will battle No. 1 seeds in quarterfinal action Friday.

“The way we are looking at it is they have us. You can't worry about what a guy is seeded. You just have to come ready to wrestle.”

Patterson started the second session with a convincing win over Penn's Mark Rappo, 4-0. The No. 8 seed among 125 pounders recorded two takedowns to earn the victory. Patterson takes on the top seed Anthony Robles tomorrow morning.

Bailey defeated the No. 9 seed Cole VonOhlen of Air Force, 7-2, in second round at 141 pounds and will also take on the top seed in his weight class, Kellen Russell of Michigan. Bailey recorded three takedowns and an escape in his second round bout.

At 165 pounds Caldwell routed West Virginia's Donald Jones after posting a 7-2 decision. The No. 3 seed recorded two takedowns, an escape and added 2:04 of riding time. Caldwell takes on Paul Gillespie of Hofstra tomorrow. Gillespie defeated OSU No. 6 seed Dallas Bailey in the opening round.

Fernandez had the big upset of the day for OU, downing Iowa's seventh-seeded Blake Rasing in overtime. With the score tied, 1-1, Fernandez took a shot with 0:30 seconds remaining in the first overtime and wound up with the takedown, earning the 3-1 victory. Fernandez will try for his second upset of the tournament as he faces the No. 2 seed, Jarod Trice.

“That was a huge win for Fernandez. Nathan has a lot of character and he wrestled a big boy. He battled hard, took a risk at the end with a tough shot and it wound-up paying off for him.”

Keller and Schmidtke each picked up wins in consolation action. Keller posted a 4-3 win over Nathan Pennesi of West Virginia in overtime, while Schmidtke narrowly escaped Nathan Schiedel (BING), 3-2.

Action picks back up Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. CT.

Session II 2nd Round Championship Results

125: No. 8 Jarrod Patterson (OU) dec. Mark Rappo (PENN), 4-0
141: No. 8 Zack Bailey (OU) dec. No. 9 Cole VonOhlen (AFA), 7-4
165: No. 3 Tyler Caldwell (OU) dec. Donald Jones (WVA), 7-2
HWT: No. 10 Nathan Fernandez (OU) dec. No. 7 Blake Rasing (IOWA), 3-1

Session II Wrestleback Results

133: Jordan Keller (OU) dec. Nathan Pennesi (WVA), 4-3
149: Matt Lester (OU) dec. Ryan Medved (GWEBB), 3-1
Donnie Corby (CMICH) dec. Matt Lester (OU), 5-4
157: Bryan Deutsch (NIU) dec. Chase Nelson (OU), 9-4
184: Erich Schmidtke (OU) dec. Nathan Schiedel (BING), 3-2

Session III Championship Quarterfinal Matchups

125: No. 8 Jarrod Patterson (OU) vs. Anthony Robles (ASU)
141: No. 8 Zack Bailey (OU) vs. Kellen Russell (MICH)
165: No. 3 Tyler Caldwell (OU) vs. Paul Gillespie (HOFS)
HWT: No. 10 Nathan Fernandez (OU) vs. No. 2 Jarod Trice (CMICH)

Session III Wrestleback Matchups

133: Jordan Keller (OU) vs. Levi Mele (NW)
185: Erich Schmidtke (OU) vs. No. 10 Josh Ihnen (NEB)