Beauty and the Beast Up Next

No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 23 Virginia Tech
Date & Time	Friday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. CT
Location	Lloyd Noble Center
Tickets	Adults - $8 \| Youth - $5 \| Order Online
Promotions	Beauty and the Beast \| Giveaways
Coverage	Live Webcast \| Live Scoring

No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Lehigh
Date & Time	Sunday, Jan. 29 at 12 p.m. CT
Location	McCasland Field House
Tickets	Adults - $8 \| Youth - $5 \| Order Online
Promotions	Oklahoma Day \| 250 Ice Cream Cups
Coverage	Live Webcast \| Live Scoring \| Radio

NORMAN, Okla. -- The 10th-ranked University of Oklahoma wrestling squad will host a pair of top 20 opponents this weekend, beginning with No. 23 Virginia Tech in the fifth annual "Beauty and the Beast" event at the Lloyd Noble Center on Friday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. Following Friday's dual, the Sooners return to the McCasland Field House to battle 15th-ranked Lehigh on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 12 p.m.

On Friday, the wrestlers will compete alongside the No. 5-ranked Oklahoma women's gymnastics team who will take on No. 20 North Carolina State, while the Sooners' (10-2, 3-1) wrestling squad will take on Virginia Tech (6-3) for the first time in program history.

"I'm excited about the opportunity to compete in the same gym as our women's gymnastics team," Mark Cody said. "They have a great program and are coming off a third-place finish at NCAA's last year. It will be a lot of fun for our fans to come out because they have the opportunity to watch very technical individual sports side-by-side."

"Virginia Tech is going to be a tough opponent and will be a great match for fans to watch," Cody explained.

Following Beauty and the Beast, OU turns its attention to No. 14 Lehigh (8-4) on Sunday.

"We are expecting a very competitive dual against Lehigh, which is what we are looking for this time of the year," Cody said. "I think the more we challenge ourselves at this time of the year the better off we will be in March at the NCAA tournament. Lehigh is going to bring a good solid team and it will be a very competitive dual and will be a lot of fun for the fans to come out and watch."

Oklahoma is 7-1 since the holiday break and is riding a seven match win-streak that includes wins over Arizona State (33-7), Iowa State (19-16), Harvard (28-9), Appalachian State (41-0), Utah Valley (43-0, then-No. 24 Binghamton (20-15) and Navy (26-10).

Following this weekend's action, Cody's squad will travel to Columbia, Mo., to battle No. 15 Missouri on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 1 p.m.

RANKINGS RUNDOWN

Five Sooners are ranked by InterMat, headlined by the nation's No. 3-ranked 141-pounder in Kendric Maple. Reigning All-American Jarrod Patterson is ranked No. 7 at 125 pounds. Nick Lester sits ninth among 149 pounders. Three Sooners are ranked outside the top 10 in their respective weight classes. Matt Lester checks in at No. 15 among 157-pounders. Jordan Keller is No. 11 at 133 pounds. Two-time NCAA Qualifier, Erich Schmidtke, fell out of the 184 pound rankings. Keldrick Hall (197) is No. 19 in the Amateur Wrestling News rankings, while Bubby Graham is No. 17.

Virginia Tech counters with three ranked wrestlers of their own and are led by the top-ranked 133 pounder in Devin Carter. Zach Neibert is the No. 19 ranked wrestler at 141 pounds. At 165 pounds, the Hokes have seventh ranked Peter Yates.

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks have five ranked by InterMat and are led by nation's third ranked heavyweight, Zack Rey. At 184 pounds, Robert Hamlin is No. 4. Lehigh's Joe Kennedy (197 pound) is No. 10, while Brandon Hatchett is 11th among 165 pounders. Stephen Dutton (141) is the final ranked Mountain Hawk at No. 15.

Sooner Participants (Weight)	Hometown (Year)	Record
Jarrod Patterson (125)	Cushing, Okla. (Jr.)	19-3
Jordan Keller (133)	Wichita, Kan. (Sr.)	18-3
Kendric Maple (141)	Wichita, Kan. (RSo.)	20-1
Nick Lester (149)	Eureka, Mo. (RSo.)	16-6
Justin DeAngelis (149)	Tulsa, Okla. (RFr.)	12-8
Matt Lester (157)	Eureka, Mo. (RSo.)	14-7
Bubby Graham (165)	Annapolis, MD (RJr.)	13-9
Nolan McBryde (174)	Eagle River, Alaska (RSo.)	4-11
Marcus Armato (174)	Kansas City, Mo. (RJr.)	6-10
Erich Schmidtke (184)	Aberdeen, Wash. (RJr.)	14-8
Keldrick Hall (197)	Dallas, Texas (RJr.)	16-6
Kyle Colling (HWT)	Arcade, N.Y. (RFr.)	12-7

SOONER WRESTLING NOTES

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST PROMOTIONS
Prizes for the event include a $100 Circle K Gas Card, movie passes from the Warren Theater, a Pickleman's gift card, two ping pong tables and autographed team items.

LAST ACTION
The Sooners downed Iowa State (19-16) and Arizona State (33-7) this past weekend to extend their winning streak to seven. Between the two duals, the Sooners collected eight major decision victories, a technical fall and a fall totaling 13 bonus-points.

SERIES RECORD VS. VIRGINIA TECH
Friday's dual marks the first meeting ever between the Sooners and Hokies.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH
The Hokies are 6-3 in dual competition this year and are coming off a 29-12 win over North Carolina and 30-6 victory over Duke. VT has won three straight with its last loss coming at the hands of Iowa State (20-14) on Jan. 13. The Hokies are 2-2 on the road this year.

Sooner to Watch

Jordan Keller | RSr. | 133 pounds
Keller, a 2011 NCAA qualifier, will take on Virginia Tech's top-ranked Devin Carter on Friday.

The 11th-ranked 133 pounder from Wichita, Kan., is currently riding an eight match winning streak.

SERIES RECORD VS. LEHIGH
Oklahoma holds a 12-3 all-time advantage over the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh took the previous meeting, 18-16, in the semifinals of the Virginia Duals on Jan. 9, 2010.

SCOUTING LEHIGH
Lehigh is 8-4 on the year and are winners of their last three duals, including wins over Rutgers and Bucknell last weekend. Each of the Mountain Hawk's four losses (Pittsburgh, Illinois, Penn State and Cornell) came at the hands of opponents ranked in the top 20.

LEHIGH DUAL ON TAKEDOWN RADIO
Takedown Wrestling Radio will broadcast the Lehigh dual LIVE from Norman, Oklahoma. Two of the nation's toughest teams are set to square off at 12 noon CT. The pre-match broadcast starts at 11:30 am CT on theMat.com.

Sunday marks the return of former Sooner Head Coach Jack Spates. The "Coach" joins Takedown Wrestling's Scott Casber and Steve Foster for all the action of this dual in Norman. "We're excited for the return of Jack Spates and Takedown Wrestling Radio. Spates has been a leader for our sport for years and we all know what Takedown Wrestling has done in promoting our sport. We welcome the opportunity to compete in front of their national audience," said Sooner Head Coach Mark Cody.

MAPLE EARNS TWO BIG 12 ACCOLADES
Redshirt sophomore Kendric Maple was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Month and Big 12 Wrestler of the Week (1/2/12) this season.

He earned his first career conference honor after being named the Big 12 Conference Wrestler of the Month for his performance in November where he compiled a 6-0 overall record (3-0 dual) at 141 pounds. During that span, he accumulated three victories by major decision and two technical falls.

On Nov. 12, Maple won the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold title after he posted a 3-0 record and defeated Rutgers' 16th-ranked Billy Ashnault by major decision, Army's Connor Hanafee via a technical fall and American's No. 9-ranked Matthew Mariacher, 5-0. After his impressive outing at the tournament, he was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Maple was named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 2, after he claimed the 141 pound title at the Midlands Championships. Over the course of the tournament, Maple posted a 6-0 record and defeated the nation's top ranked wrestler in Iowa's Montell Marion, 5-3.

SOONERS TAKE THIRD AT MIDLANDS
The Oklahoma wrestling squad finished third overall and Kendric Maple claimed the 141 pound title and Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2011 Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern University, Dec. 29-30.

Oklahoma finished the tournament taking home the third place trophy with 94.5 points. Iowa ran away with the title after tallying 152 points. Northwestern placed second with 105.5 points. Virginia Tech (76.5) and Edinboro (74.5) rounded out the top five.

Leading the way for Oklahoma was redshirt sophomore Kendric Maple who won the 141 pound title to remain unbeaten (12-0) on the year. The Wichita, Kan., native entered Friday's semifinal matchup having earned bonus points in each of his last seven bouts. In the semifinals Maple defeated Iowa State's Luke Goetti, 13-1. In the championship bout, Maple downed Iowa's No. 1-ranked Montell Marion, 5-3.

In addition to OU's 141 pound champion, five other Sooners - Jarod Patterson (fifth), Nick Lester (fourth), Matt Lester (fifth), Bubby Graham (sixth) and Erich Schmidtke (fifth) - claimed top six finishes among their respective weight classes.

RETURNING QUALIFIERS
OU returns seven NCAA qualifiers and adds another in transfer Bubby Graham. Highlighting the returning group is 2011 All-American Jarrod Patterson (125), who collected a 29-9 overall record last season.

Other returning starters that qualified for the NCAA Championships include Jordan Keller (133), Matt Lester (149 pounds), Chase Nelson (157) and Erich Schmidtke (184) and Kendric Maple, a 2009-10 NCAA qualifier that redshirted last year.

PATTERSON COMPETES IN ALL-STAR DUAL
Oklahoma junior Jarrod Patterson competed in the 46th-annual NWCA All-Star Classic where he fell to then-No. 4 ranked Nic Bedelyon of Kent State, 7-3.

BUBBY A SOONER
OU adds another NCAA qualifier in American transfer Bubby Graham. The talented wrestler from Annapolis, Md., looks to anchor the 165 pound spot for the Sooners. Graham was a two year starter for the Eagles where he competed at 157 and 165 pounds.

SOONERS SIGN SIX IN EARLY PERIOD
Mark Cody recently signed six high school seniors to National Letters of Intent, four of which rank in the top-20 nationally in their respective weight classes.

Leading ranked recruits is Clark Glass from Brandon, Fla., ranked No. 6 nationally among 160 pounders by InterMat. Brad Johnson , a product of Homer Glenn, Ill., is a three-time All-State selection and is ranked by CollegeWrestling.net as the No. 49 overall recruit nationally. Kyle Garcia (125 pounds), Greg Wilson (195), Tim Hamilton (141) and Garrison McCauley (157) round out the class.

BROCKPORT CHAMPIONS
Oklahoma won its 13th-straight Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic title on Nov. 12, 2011. Five Sooners claimed individual titles and five more garnered top-five finishes. Kendric Maple earned the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award. Chase Nelson was the aggregate pin leader after posting falls in 0:11 and 1:17.

The Sooners won the team portion with 182 total points. The Sooners closest competition was Maryland, who finished with 174.5 points. Going undefeated on the day to capture individual crowns were Jarrod Patterson (125 pounds), Jordan Keller (133), Maple (141), Matt Lester (157) and Erich Schmidtke (184).

UP NEXT...
Following this weekend's action, Cody's squad will travel to Columbia, Mo., to battle No. 15 Missouri on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 1 p.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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