Sooners Open Big 12 Championship on Saturday

Big 12 Championship

Oklahoma (5-7, 3-6 Big 12)

March 7-8 | All Day | BOK Center | Tulsa, Okla.

Notes | Stats Hub | Watch | Tickets | Pre-seed Brackets

Oklahoma Competitors (with Big 12 pre-seed)
Weight	Wrestler	Record
125	No. 7 Christian Moody	7-15
133	No. 4 Anthony Madrigal	19-7
141	No. 1 Dom Demas	23-3
149	Jacob Butler	13-14
157	No. 4 Justin Thomas	19-8
165	Elijah Joseph	1-7
174	No. 2 Anthony Mantanona	18-6
184	No. 6 Darrien Roberts	12-10
197	No. 3 Jake Woodley	18-7
HWT	Josiah Jones	5-16

NORMAN – Oklahoma will open the 2020 Big 12 wrestling championship on Saturday morning at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. The Sooners head to Big 12s in good form, after winning two of their final three duals. The seeding and brackets for the championship will be finalized on Friday evening by the Big 12 wrestling coaches, but the conference released its pre-seeds on March 4.

Oklahoma finished fourth at the 2019 Big 12 wrestling championship with 78 team points. Dom Demas (141) was crowned conference champion after pinning Oklahoma State's Kaid Brock to win the title. Four other Sooners earned auto-bids to the NCAA Championships, including three that are on the 2020 roster.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

The championship is split into four sessions over two days of competition.

Saturday, March 7
Session I -11:00 a.m. - ESPN+
Preliminary & Quarterfinal Matches
Session II - 5:00 p.m. - ESPN+
Semifinal & Consolation Quarterfinal Matches

Sunday, March 8
Session III - 11:00 a.m. - ESPN+
Consolation Semifinals, 3rd & 5th Place Matches
Session IV - 6:00 p.m. - Fox Sports
Championship Matches

OU AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

Oklahoma has collected 23 conference championships in its history, including two Big 12 titles, in 1999 and 2002. The Sooners' two Big 12 titles are the third most in the conference behind Oklahoma State and Iowa State. Six Sooners have been named the Big 12's Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Dom Demas (2019; 141)
Cody Brewer (2016; 133 pounds)
Jarrod Patterson (2010; 125 pounds)
Sam Hazewinkel (2007; 125 pounds)
Teyon Ware (2003; 141 pounds)
Shane Valdez (1999; 125 pounds)

Current OU assistant coach Mike Lightner had a Big 12 championship career to remember. As a Sooner, Lightner was a four-time Big 12 champ at 141 pounds (1998-2001). His conference title run in 2001 helped him achieve a perfect 37-0 record as a senior. The Sooners have crowned a total of 185 individual conference championships in school history, including 12 in the past decade.

RANKED SOONERS SHINING

The Sooners had five wrestlers ranked in the latest NCAA coaches' panel, released on Feb. 27.

No. 14 Anthony Madrigal (133)
No. 5 Dom Demas (141)
No. 15 Justin Thomas (157)
No. 10 Anthony Mantanona (174)
No. 18 Jake Woodley (197)

The five ranked wrestlers went a combined 21-3 in February, including undefeated records from Madrigal, Demas and Woodley. They outscored their opponents 147-91 during that stretch, registering five bonus-point wins.

NCAA DIVISION I QUALIFIER ALLOCATIONS

Each weight class from each conference sends a different number of competitors to the NCAA championship. The number of allocations is decided by the NCAA Wrestling Coaches' Panel. The following numbers are the Big 12's 2020 allocations. If a wrestler does not earn an allocated auto-bid, he can still receive an at-large bid to Minneapolis if the NCAA selection committee chooses him.
125: 4
133: 8
141: 5
149: 5
157: 5
165: 4
174: 5
184: 5
197: 6
285: 7
Total: 54

TOURNAMENT INFO

Live stats for the tournament will be available through Track Wrestling's Big 12 hub. Live video streams will be shown on ESPN+, with a different camera on each mat, and whip-around coverage also provided. The fourth and final session (championship finals) will be telecast on Fox Sports.

UP NEXT

The Sooners that qualify for the NCAA championships will travel to Minneapolis, Minn. for the tournament, held at US Bank Stadium on March 19-21.

For updates, follow @OU_Wrestling on Twitter, or like Oklahoma Wrestling on Facebook.