Wrestling Unveils 2016-17 Schedule

NORMAN – University of Oklahoma Head Wrestling Coach Lou Rosselli and Vice President and Director of Athletes Joe Castiglione announced Thursday the 2016-17 OU wrestling schedule, which features nine contests against WIN Magazine Preseason top-25 teams.

The season, which includes four home contests before winter break and four after, is highlighted by home duals against top-10 teams in No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Missouri, No. 6 Michigan and No. 8 Cornell.

“Everything is in preparation for the NCAA Tournament, so we're excited that we are going to have some great competition,” Rosselli said. “We'll try to prepare for each event to make sure that we're ready to go and put a good product out there for OU fans. I think the premier matches are what people want to see. That's why people congregate and like to watch college wresting and the best teams wrestle each other. When it's a lopsided match I don't know that it's as interesting for people. We have plenty of good schools coming in and we're excited about the opportunity to compete against them."

"Everything is in preparation for the NCAA Tournament, so we're excited that we are going to have some great competition. We'll try to prepare for each event to make sure that we're ready to go and put a good product out there for OU fans."
Lou Rosselli

The Sooners will hold their annual Red/White Scrimmage on Wednesday, Nov. 2 in McCasland Fieldhouse before traveling to Albany, N.Y., for the Northeast Duals (Nov. 13), marking the official start of competition.

OU is slated for two Bedlam duals against in-state rival Oklahoma State, with the first coming on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. in Norman and the second in Stillwater, Okla., on Feb. 12, which is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.

The squad's home nonconference schedule features contests against Michigan (Nov. 18), Cornell (Dec. 18), Missouri (Jan. 8) and No. 20 Oregon State (Feb. 17). OU's other home conference matchups are slated for Nov. 20 against North Dakota State, Jan. 22 against West Virginia and Feb. 10 against No. 21 Wyoming.

The Sooners will travel to Chicago, Ill., on Dec. 29-30 for the Midlands Invitational before competing in the Virginia Duals in Virginia Beach, Va., on Jan. 13-14.

The Sooners have three consecutive Big 12 road matchups on Jan. 27 against No. 17 Iowa State, Jan. 29 against Northern Colorado and Feb. 3 against South Dakota State. OU's only other road contest is at No. 18 Northern Iowa on Feb. 5.

“The season is built on preparing yourself for the NCAA Tournament and getting yourself qualified,” Rosselli explained. “The harder the matches are, the more you get calloused and hardened up over the year. You get exposed by wrestling good competition. Sometimes when you wrestle a lesser opponent you can get away with some things that you can't get away with competing against a top-tiered team. I think if we focus on the growth of our student-athletes, making sure that they are fixing their problems, this competition will come in handy.”

Following regular season action, the Sooners will stay in Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship, slated for March 4-5 inside the BOK Center in Tulsa. Qualifying wrestlers will then compete in St. Louis, Mo., at the 2017 NCAA Championships (March 16-18) inside the Scottrade Center.

For ticket information, please contact the OU Athletics Ticket Office by phone at (800) 456-4668 or by email at outickets@ou.edu.

2016-17 Oklahoma Wrestling Schedule
Date	Opponent	Location	Time (CT)
Nov. 13	Northeast Duals	Albany, N.Y.	All Day
Nov. 18	Michigan	Norman	7 p.m.
Nov. 20	North Dakota State	Norman	2 p.m.
Dec. 2	Oklahoma State	Norman	7 p.m.
Dec. 18	Cornell	Norman	2 p.m.
Dec. 29-30	Midlands	Evanston, Ill.	All Day
Jan. 8	Missouri	Norman	2 p.m.
Jan. 13-14	Virginia Duals	Virginia Beach, Va.	All Day
Jan. 22	West Virginia	Norman	Noon
Jan. 27	Iowa State	Ames, Iowa	7 p.m.
Jan. 29	Northern Colorado	Greeley, Colo.	3 p.m.
Feb. 3	South Dakota State	Brookings, S.D.	8 p.m.
Feb. 5	Northern Iowa	Cedar Falls, Iowa	2 p.m.
Feb. 10	Wyoming	Norman	Noon
Feb. 12	Oklahoma State	Stillwater, Okla.	2 p.m.
Feb. 17	Oregon State	Norman	7 p.m.
March 4-5	Big 12 Championship	Tulsa, Okla.	All Day
March 16-18	NCAA Championship	St. Louis, Mo.	All Day

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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