Brewer Punches Ticket to NCAA Finals

133-pound Semifinals Results (with tournament seed)
133	No. 13 Cody Brewer	maj. dec.	No. 1 Chris Dardanes (Minnesota), 15-3
133	No. 3 Cory Clark (Iowa)	dec.	No. 7 James Gulibon (Penn State), 7-5

ST. LOUIS — In impressive fashion, Oklahoma redshirt junior Cody Brewer continued his quest for a national title as he moved into the 133-pound finals at the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships inside Scottrade Center.

Brewer, the No. 13 seed, handed No. 1 seed Chris Dardanes of Minnesota his first loss of the season, doing so by a 15-3 major decision. The bonus-points victory was Brewer's fourth in as many matches at the national tournament. On the season, Brewer improved to 21-1, while Dardanes dropped to 26-1.

Dardanes scored first with a takedown early in the contest, but it was all Brewer from that point forward. With the match tied at 3, Brewer used a five-point move with a takedown followed by three-point nearfall at the end of the first frame to jump ahead 8-3.

The rest of the bout, Brewer held Dardanes scoreless while adding an escape, takedown and three-point nearfall himself in the second frame. With 2:03 total, Brewer also took the riding time point.

“He's a good starter and I was a little nervous coming out, but in big matches like that you have to rise to the occasion and step up a little bit," Brewer said of Dardanes. "He was the veteran guy. He knew that too. I knew the more points I scored the better off I was going to be.”

Fourth-year OU head coach Mark Cody said Brewer stuck with the strategy assistant coach Michael Lightner put together, and he is glad to see him advance to the finals.

“He's been dominant this whole tournament," Cody said. "I'm very pleased with the way he's wrestling because he got the ball rolling early in his early matches and has continued this through the semifinals. I really can guarantee that tomorrow night he's going to be the same way. He's going to get the ball rolling and continue his dominance. We're really happy that he's in the finals, and he's sure scored a heck of a lot of points for us."

Brewer, now a three-time All-American, said getting in the tournament, not the seed he was awarded, was what actually mattered.

“As long as I was in the bracket I was good with whatever seed I had," Cody said. "Coach Cody talks all the time about how once you get in there you're good. You've got a chance. When you get a chance to get in there in the big matches, it's good. The 13 seed was probably not what I was looking for, but it turned out to be good. Now I'm one of the top two left.”

Brewer will face Iowa's No. 3 seed Cory Clark in the NCAA Championships finals on Saturday night. The session is slated to begin at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday with the action airing on ESPN. Coverage of each mat will be available online at ESPN3.com.

Players Mentioned

Cody Brewer

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