Sooners Qualify Six at Big 12 Championship

TULSA, Okla. -- Oklahoma qualified six wrestlers for the 2020 NCAA Championship via automatic-qualification at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship over the weekend.

Four Sooners, Tony Madrigal (133), Dom Demas (141), Anthony Mantanona (174) and Jake Woodley (197), punched their tickets to Minneapolis with their performances on Saturday at Big 12s. Two other Sooners, Christian Moody (125) and Justin Thomas (157) would take advantage of the opportunity to secure their spots on Sunday in the early session.

Moody would start the day off for the Sooners in the 125-pound consolations. The senior, and three-time NCAA qualifier, faced North Dakota State's McGwire Midkiff in the first bout of the day. Trailing 7-4 in the third period and with his season on the line, Moody was able to flip Midkiff over and pin him at the 5:56 mark to earn his fourth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championship. With his auto-bid in hand, Moody then wrestled Northern Iowa's Jacob Schwarm in the third-place bout at 125 pounds. Once again, Moody trailed late in the first period but was able to reverse Schwarm and pin the No. 2 seed to claim third-place at the Big 12 Championship, the best finish of his career.

"Being a four-time qualifier is a whole lot better than a three-time and going out as a senior." Moody said after clinching his spot. "You don't have a chance at winning titles if you don't make it to nationals. I've put my name on the board and we'll see what happens in Minneapolis."

Justin Thomas needed to earn a victory on Sunday to clinch his spot in Minneapolis and he would do just that in his first bout of his day when he defeated UNI's Paden Moore via 11-7 decision to punch his NCAA ticket. Later in the morning session he wrestled NDSU's Jared Franek in the third-place bout, but dropped a close 4-2 decision to give the redshirt junior fourth place at the championship.

Darrien Roberts wrestled his way onto the Big 12 podium by winning the seventh-place bout over Air Force's Jacob Thompson via 5-2 decision but did not earn an automatic qualifying bid. Roberts will need to secure an at-large bid on Wednesday, March 11, courtesy of the NCAA Selection Committee if he wants to compete in Minnesota.

At 197, Jake Woodley secured fifth place when he defeated Wyoming's Stephen Buchanan, 3-1. The Pittsburgh, Penn., product earned his NCAA spot after clinching a berth in the semifinals on Saturday.

Dom Demas represented the Sooners in the Big 12 title bout at 141, as he looked to defend his 2019 title versus Iowa State's Ian Parker, the No. 2 seed at the weekend's championship. The redshirt sophomore was able to score an escape point early in the third period to tie the bout at one, but neither wrestler scored any further points in the final frame, pushing the title match to sudden victory. Parker secured a single-leg on Demas in the first sudden victory period, but the All-American was able to fight out of the hold before Parker could score a winning takedown. Both wrestlers would earn escape points in the following tiebreakers to send the championship to a second sudden victory period. As the clocked ticked away in SV-2, Parker was able to take Demas down early in the frame to win the 141-pound championship. Demas, who earned an auto-bid to the national championships over the weekend, will turn his focus to NCAAs, where he earned fourth last season as a redshirt freshman.

Up next in the evening session was Anthony Mantanona, who wrestled for the Sooners in the 174-pound title match after beating Iowa State's Sam Colbray, 6-5, in the semifinal on Saturday. Mantanona came out firing, securing a takedown and reversal in the opening frame, but was still tied at 5-5 after the first three minutes. The redshirt sophomore would battle tough in the second period, but trailed 8-6 heading into the final frame. In the third and final period, Steiert avoided a shot from Mantanona and was able to flip him over for the fall. OU's 174-pounder now prepares for Minneapolis where he'll look to make a run at the NCAA Championship.

As a team, the Sooners finished in sixth place with 83 points, five more than they had as a team last season.

UP NEXT

The six qualifying Sooners now head to Minneapolis, Minn., on March 19-21 for the NCAA Championships. At-large selections will be announced on Wednesday, March 11, along with brackets for the championship.