Sooners Host Bedlam Showdown Thursday

Feb. 15, 2012

No. 12 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Oklahoma State
Date	Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. CT
Location	Howard McCasland Field House
Match Info	Notes \| Tickets \| Promotions
T.V.	Sooner Sports Network - Cox Channel 3 (SD) and 703 (HD)
Online	Webcast \| Live Stats \| @OUWrestling
Oklahoma Info	2011-12 Roster \| Staff \| Stats

NORMAN, Okla. -- Bedlam wrestling returns to Norman, Okla., this Thursday, Feb. 16, when the 12th-ranked University of Oklahoma squad challenges No. 1 Oklahoma State inside Howard McCasland Field House at 7 p.m.

OU looks to upend the Cowboy after dropping the first meeting of the season in Stillwater, 25-13. Oklahoma (13-4, 3-2) will attempt to top the Cowboys (14-0, 4-0) in Norman and snap a four match losing skid.

First year head coach Mark Cody is quite familiar with the in-state rivalry as he served as an assistant coach from 1986-87 and 2000-02 under current OSU head man John Smith.

“We are looking forward to the Bedlam dual,” Cody said. ”Everyone is healthy and I think we are in as good of a situation as we possibly can be going into this dual. I'm really looking forward to the great crowd support from the wonderful Sooner fans.”

The Sooners are 2-5-1 against the Cowboys in the past eight meetings, with OSU leading the all-time series 26-129-9.

Oklahoma is coming off a solid performance at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Regional at Cornell, where the Sooners dominated Cody's former American team, 35-12, but were defeated by the eventual regional champ, No. 7 Illinois, 21-18.

Thursday's match marks senior day, the last at home for seniors Jordan Keller, Erich Schmidtke, Marcus Armato and Ben Bridell. The four, who have combined for 146 career wins at Oklahoma, will be honored prior to the dual.

“I hope we can fill McCasland to give our seniors a special sendoff, as this will be there last time to compete at home for the University of Oklahoma Sooner wrestling team,” Cody said.

The rivalry will air to the state of Oklahoma on Cox Television with Toby Rowland calling and former OU head man Jack Spates adding commentary on Cox Channel 3 (Standard Definition) and 703 (HD) in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and tickets are still available for purchase. Prices are $15 for reserved seating, $10 for general admission and $5 for pre-arranged group tickets. Fans can purchase online or call the OU Ticket Office at (405) 325-2424 or toll-free (800) 456-GoOU.

RANKINGS RUNDOWN

Seven 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. 9 at 125 pounds. At 133 pounds, Jordan Keller is ranked No. 11. Twins Nick and Matt Lester are each ranked No. 14 at 141 and 149 pounds, respectively.

Keldrick Hall jumps to No. 17 after collecting back-to-back wins over ranked opponents. Bubby Graham stayed solid at No. 20 among 165 pounders.

Oklahoma State counters with seven highly-ranked individuals and are led by the nation's top-ranked 133 pounder in Jordan Oliver. OSU has two wrestlers that rank second, Jamal Parks (149 pounds) and Alan Gelogaev (HWT), in their respective weight classes. Chris Perry, who was wrestling 184 pounds, dropped to the 174 pound weight class where he is ranked third. At 197 pounds OSU's Blake Rosholt checks in at No. 8.

Three Cowboy's fall just outside of top 10 rankings. Josh Kindig (141) and Albert White (157) are each ranked No. 12 among their weight classes, while 125 pounder Jon Morrison is No. 13.

Sooner Participants (Weight)	Hometown (Year)	Record
Jarrod Patterson (125)	Cushing, Okla. (Jr.)	22-5
Jordan Keller (133)	Wichita, Kan. (Sr.)	20-6
Kendric Maple (141)	Wichita, Kan. (RSo.)	25-1
Nick Lester (149)	Eureka, Mo. (RSo.)	19-8
Justin DeAngelis (149)	Tulsa, Okla. (RFr.)	12-8
Matt Lester (157)	Eureka, Mo. (RSo.)	18-8
Bubby Graham (165)	Annapolis, MD (RJr.)	16-11
Kyle Detmer (174)	Wichita, Kan. (RSo.)	7-5
Erich Schmidtke (184)	Aberdeen, Wash. (RJr.)	16-11
Keldrick Hall (197)	Dallas, Texas (RJr.)	19-8
Kyle Colling (HWT)	Arcade, N.Y. (RFr.)	13-11

SOONER WRESTLING NOTES

LAST ACTION
The Sooners, the third seed, went 1-1 at the Cornell regional in Ithaca N.Y. OU started the day with a dominating win over Mark Cody's former American squad, 35-12, but fell to the eventual regional champs, No. 7 Illinois, by a final of 21-18.

SERIES RECORD VS. OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma has lost their last four duals to the Cowboys. The Sooners are 2-6-1 since 2008 against the squad from Stillwater (2-5-1 last eight meetings). OU posted back-to-back wins against OSU (Feb. 2008, Dec. 2009) for the first time since 1993.

The Cowboys took the first contest this year in Stillwater back on Dec. 11, 2011 by a final of 25-13.

SCOUTING THE COWBOYS
Oklahoma State is the only undefeated team remaining in college wrestling. The Cowboy have amassed 14 wins, eight of which are ranked in the top 20 of the NWCA/Coaches poll. Additionally, OSU has defeated four teams ranked in the top 10: Minnesota (23-14), Iowa (17-16), Ohio State (25-6) and Missouri (22-12).

OKLAHOMA STATE CONNECTIONS
Head coach Mark Cody served two stints as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State from 1986-87 and 2000-02, where he helped OSU to a Big 12 Championship and a fifth-place finish at the 2002 NCAA Championships.

OU volunteer assistant coach Tyrone Lewis wrestled for Oklahoma State from 2001-04, where he won two Big 12 individual championships in 2001 and 2004, was a four-time All-American and compiled a 120-15 record. Lewis then served as an assistant coach at OSU from 2008-11 before joining the Sooners.

SENIOR FAREWELL
Thursday's match marks the last at home for seniors Jordan Keller, Erich Schmidtke, Marcus Armato and Ben Bridell. The four, who have combined for 146 career wins at Oklahoma, will be honored prior to the dual.

Keller, a 133 pounder from Wichita, Kan., finished second at the 2011 Big 12 Championships and qualified for the NCAAs in his first full season as a Sooner. Keller boasts a 38-17 career record at OU.

An Aberdeen , Wash., native, Schmidtke, is a two-time NCAA qualifier and has amassed 71 career wins and 54 losses competing at 184 pounds for the Sooners.

Armato, a native of Kansas City, Mo., ends his OU career with a record of 23-23. The 174 pounder went 1-3 in dual action this season.

Bridell, a formerly of Birmingham, Ala., suffered an ACL injury and has not competed on the year. Bridell, a 174 pounder, holds a 14-14 record and is 0-1 in dual action.

Sooner to Watch: Kendric Maple

Kendric Maple | RSo. | 141 pounds
Maple, a 2010 NCAA qualifier, takes on Oklahoma State's Josh Kindig, ranked No. 12. In their first meeting Maple ran away with a 13-3 major decision victory.

The No. 3 ranked 141 pound redshirt sophomore from Wichita, Kan., is one of three wrestlers to earn three Big 12 accolades in the same season.

MAPLE EARNS THREE BIG 12 ACCOLADES
Redshirt-sophomore Kendric Maple was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Month and Big 12 Wrestler of the Week twice (1/2 & 1/30) this season. Maple joins OSU's Jordan Oliver (2010) as the only Big 12 wrestlers to earn three honors in a single 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.

Most recently, Maple was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for matches from Jan. 23-29, where he defeated two ranked wrestlers by way of major decisions, Virginia Tech's 19th-ranked Zach Neibert and Lehigh's No. 15-ranked Steve Dutton, to help the Sooners defeat then-No. 23 Virginia Tech (19-12) and No. 14 Lehigh (22-16).

NATIONAL DUALS RECAP
The Sooners, the third seed, went 1-1 at the Cornell regional in Ithaca N.Y. OU started the day with a dominating win over Mark Cody's former American squad, 35-12, but fell to the eventual regional champs, No. 7 Illinois, by a final of 21-18.

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...
Oklahoma has a little over two weeks off before traveling back to Columbia, Mo., to compete in the 2012 Big 12 Championships. Last year, OU finished third and was unable to crown a champion for the first time since 2008.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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