Maple Earns All-America Status

March 16, 2012

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ST. LOUIS -- University of Oklahoma wrestler Kendric Maple is guaranteed All-America status for his first time after he advanced to the championship semifinals Friday morning in St. Louis, Mo. Jarrod Patterson and Nick Lester can reach All-America status by winning one more match in consolation action this evening.

Entering Friday's night cap, the Sooners stand in 11th place with 29 points. Penn State leads the pack with 78.5 total points. All of Friday's evening session will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN3.

Maple, OU's 264th All-American, advanced to the semifinals after he downed Virginia Tech's Zach Neibert by way of major decision, 15-3. The Wichita, Kan., native came out of the gate with a quick takedown and 2-point near fall. In the second, Maple chose the top position where he tallied seven near fall points. The second overall seed chose bottom to start the third and added an escape, takedown and riding time to advance.

Maple (31-1), a redshirt sophomore, is now guaranteed a top-five finish, but faces a difficult task in the semifinals of defeating Iowa's Montell Marion, the No. 3 seed, for the second time this season. In their first meeting in the finals of the Midlands Championships Maple downed the Hawkeye 5-3.

In the 149 pound championship bracket, OU's Nick Lester (22-11) suffered a tough loss to another unseeded wrestler in Hofstra's Justin Accordino, 10-3. Lester trailed, 5-1, after giving up a takedown and near fall in the first period. Accordino added a reversal and another near fall in the second. Lester closed out the match with a takedown, but gave up an escape. Lester faces Columbia's Steve Santos tonight.

Brackets | Team Standings | Agate Results | @OUWrestling | Preview

Jarrod Patterson (27-7) won two matches during the morning session to keep his All-American hopes alive. The Cushing, Okla., native opened the day with a 6-3 victory over Central Michigan's Joe Roth and followed that performance with a 3-2 win over Oklahoma State's Jon Morrison. In the Bedlam rematch, Patterson earned a takedown in the first period and gave up two back-points in the second after taking the bottom position. Patterson escaped Morrison's grasp, which proved to be the deciding factor in the bout. Patterson will face the No. 8 seed, Ryan Mango of Stanford.

Four Sooners were eliminated Friday morning, beginning with 157 pounder Matt Lester. Lester (21-21) fell to Binghamton's No. 9 seed Justin Lister, 10-7. Erich Schmidtke (19-14) wrestled his final match in a Sooner singlet as he fell to UNI's Ryan Loder, the No. 8 seed, by a final of 10-5. Schmidtke ends his career at OU having accumulated 74 wins and only 57 losses. Keldrick Hall (21-12) lost a highly-contested match to the No. 12 seed, Joseph Kennedy, of Lehigh, 3-2.

Bubby Graham (20-14) became the final Sooner to be eliminated after he dropped a 9-4 contest to Virginia Tech's Peter Yates, the No. 6 seed. Prior to that, Graham earned a 5-2 win over Northwestern's Pierce Harger.

Session IV action picks back up at 6:00 p.m. Friday and can be seen live on ESPNU and ESPN3.com. For the latest in OU wrestling news and updates be sure to follow @OUWrestling on twitter.

Session III Quarterfinal Results

141: No. 2 Kendric Maple (OU) MD. Zach Neibert (VATECH)
149: Justin Accordino (HOFS) Nick Lester (OU), 10-3

Session III Wrestleback Results

125: No. 7 Jarrod Patterson (OU) dec. Joe Roth (CMICH), 6-3
125: No. 7 Jarrod Patterson (OU) dec. Jon Morrison (OSU), 3-2
157: No. 9 Justin Lister (BING) dec. Matt Lester (OU), 10-7
165: Bubby Graham (OU) dec. Pierce Harger (NW), 5-2
165: No. 6 Peter Yates (VATECH) dec. Bubby Graham (OU), 9-4
184: No. 8 Ryan Loder (UNI) dec. Erich Schmidkte (OU), 10-5
197: No. 12 Joseph Kennedy (LEHIGH) dec. Keldrick Hall (OU), 3-2

Session IV Championship Matchups

141: No. 2 Kendric Maple (OU) vs. No. 3 Montell Marion (IOWA)

Session IV OU Wrestleback Matchups

125: No. 7 Jarrod Patterson (OU) vs. No. 8 Ryan Mango (STAN)
149: Nick Lester (OU) vs. Steve Santos (COLUMBIA)

Team Leaders Entering Session IV

1. Penn State (78.5)
2. Cornell (61.5)
3. Iowa (58.5)
4. Minnesota (56)
5. Oklahoma State (50)
6. Illinois (41.5)
7. Lehigh (40.0)
8. Ohio State (39)
9. American (31)
10. Pittsburgh (30.5)
11. Oklahoma (29)

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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