No. 9 OU Takes Aim at Navy Saturday

Jan. 6, 2012

No. 9 Oklahoma at Navy
Date & Time	Saturday, Jan. 7 at 6:30 p.m. CT
Location	Annapolis, Md. \| Wesley Brown Field House
Internet	No live stats available \| Oklahoma Notes
Oklahoma Info	2011-12 Roster \| Staff \| Stats
Schedule	2011-12 Sooner wrestling schedule

NORMAN, Okla. -- The ninth-ranked Oklahoma wrestling squad will take on Navy this Saturday, Jan. 7 at 6:30 p.m. CT, inside the Wesley Brown Field House in Annapolis, Md.

Oklahoma (3-2, 2-1) is coming off a loss at No. 18 Wyoming, 18-17, where the Sooners earned just two bonus points to the Cowboy's three, which proved to be the difference in the dual. Prior to the Wyoming dual, OU finished third at the Midlands Championships where Kendric Maple took home the 141 pound title and five other Sooners finished in the top six of their respective weight classes.

Navy (2-2) is fresh off an 11th-place finish (out of 22 teams) at the Southern Scuffle held this past week at UT Chattanooga where 50-plus nationally-ranked wrestlers were in action. Two-time NCAA qualifiers and nationally-ranked Navy seniors Aaron Kalil (Salem, N.H.) and Luke Rebertus (Gloucester, Va.) both placed sixth in the event among their respective weight classes.

The Sooners are 9-0 in the all-time series against Navy. The two squared off in Norman last year where the Sooners rallied to trounce the Midshipmen, 28-9, at the fourth annual "Beauty and the Beast" event held at the Lloyd Noble Center.

Up next, the Sooners travel to New York to take on No. 23 Binghamton on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

RANKINGS RUNDOWN

Seven Sooners are ranked by InterMat, headlined by the nation's top-ranked 141-pounder in Kendric Maple. Reigning All-American Jarrod Patterson is ranked No. 8 at 125 pounds. Nick Lester sits tenth among 149 pounders. Four Sooners are ranked outside the top 10 in their respective weight classes. Matt Lester checks in at No. 12 among 157-pounders. Jordan Keller is No. 11 at 133 pounds. Two-time NCAA Qualifier, Erich Schmidtke, is No. 20 among 184 pounders, along with Bubby Graham (165). Keldrick Hall (197) debuts at No. 18 by Amateur Wrestling News.

Navy counters with two ranked wrestlers. The Midshipmen are led by 184-pounder Luke Rebertus, ranked No. 14. Aaron Kalil (133), ranked No. 20, is the only other ranked wrestler for Navy.

Sooner Participants (Weight)	Hometown (Year)	Record
Jarrod Patterson (125)	Cushing, Okla. (Jr.)	12-3
Jordan Keller (133)	Wichita, Kan. (Sr.)	11-3
Kendric Maple (141)	Wichita, Kan. (RSo.)	14-0
Nick Lester (149)	Eureka, Mo. (RSo.)	12-4
Matt Lester (157)	Eureka, Mo. (RSo.)	11-3
Bubby Graham (165)	Annapolis, MD (RJr.)	7-8
Nolan McBryde (174)	Eagle River, Alaska (RSo.)	3-8
Erich Schmidtke (184)	Aberdeen, Wash. (RJr.)	10-5
Keldrick Hall (197)	Dallas, Texas (RJr.)	9-6
Kyle Colling (HWT)	Arcade, N.Y. (RFr.)	7-5

SOONER WRESTLING NOTES

LAST ACTION
Oklahoma is coming off a loss at No. 18 Wyoming, 18-17, where the Sooners earned just two bonus points to the Cowboy's three, which proved to be the difference in the dual. Prior to the Wyoming dual, OU finished third at the Midlands Championships where Kendric Maple took home the 141 pound title and five other Sooners finished in the top six of their respective weight classes.

SERIES AGAINST NAVY
The Sooners are 9-0 in the all-time series against Navy. The two squared off in Norman last year where the Sooners rallied to trounce the Midshipmen, 28-9, at the fourth annual "Beauty and the Beast" event held at the Lloyd Noble Center.

Sooner to Watch: Kendric Maple

Kendric Maple | RSo. | 141 pounds
Maple, a 2010 NCAA qualifier and Big 12 champion, takes on Navy's Raymond Borja.

The top-ranked 141 pound redshirt sophomore from Wichita, Kan., was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week (1/2/12) and looks to remain unbeaten (14-0) on the year.

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...
The Sooners travel to New York to take on No. 23 Binghamton on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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