Sooners Primed for Bedlam Home Opener

¹⁷ Oklahoma

⁴ Oklahoma State

Sunday, Dec. 12 / 5 p.m. CT / Norman / Lloyd Noble Center

TV: ESPNU / Live Stats / Match Notes(pdf)

Projected Starters (Rankings by Flo/Intermat)
No. 17 Oklahoma
Wt.	Result	Team
125	No. 19/21 Joey Prata	6-1
133	No. 14/19 Tony Madrigal	6-2
141	No. 14/6 Dom Demas or Jacob Butler	0-0 / 2-3
149	No. 15/15 Mitch Moore or Dom Demas	8-5 / 0-0
157	No. 17/15 Justin Thomas	7-3
165	Troy Mantanona or No. NR/29 Joe Grello	3-3 / 2-2
174	Anthony Mantanona	6-3
184	No. 18/18 Darrien Roberts or Keegan Moore	10-3 / 0-0
197	No. 8/11 Jake Woodley	11-2
285	HM/NR Josh Heindselman	5-5

Projected Starters (Rankings by Flo/Intermat)
No. 4 Oklahoma State
Wt.	Result	Team
125	No. 7/12 Trevor Mastrogiovanni or Reece Witcraft	3-0 / 3-0
133	No. 2/2 Daton Fix	3-0
141	No. NR/28 Carter Young or Dusty Hone	1-1 / 5-0
149	No. 17/20 Kaden Gfeller	2-1
157	No. 16/16 Wyatt Sheets	2-1
165	No. 7/5 Travis Wittlake	2-1
174	No. 13/9 Dustin Plott	3-0
184	No. 6/7 Dakota Geer	3-0
197	No. 1/1 AJ Ferrari	3-0
285	No. NR/30 Luke Surber	2-1

NORMAN - Oklahoma wrestling is set to take on No. 4 Oklahoma State this Sunday at the Lloyd Noble Center in their home opener for the 2021-22 season.

Last Time Out

The Sooners traveled to Las Vegas, Nev., last weekend for the 2021 Cliff Keen Invitational. As one of the most prestigious and competitive regular season tournaments in collegiate wrestling, this year's Cliff Keen featured 10 teams ranked in the NWCA Coaches' Poll.

Four Oklahoma wrestlers fought their way onto the podium in Las Vegas. Jake Woodley (4th), Darrien Roberts (5th), Mitch Moore (6th) and Justin Thomas (7th) all placed in their respective weight classes. The four combined for seven wins over ranked opponents. Mitch Moore saw ranked wrestlers in six of his seven matches in the tournament.

The team collected a record of 23-19, finishing in 11th with 57.5 points despite not fielding a full roster.

Bedlam History

The two historic programs have met nearly every year since 1920 and were named the greatest (OSU) and fourth-greatest (OU) wrestling programs in history by the NCAA. The term "Bedlam" originated from the rowdy wrestling matches between the two schools and then grew to accompany all sports.

Sunday's dual is the 182nd meeting between the programs.

The two programs have produced a combined 758 All-America honors, 210 individual national champions, 61 Olympians and 41 team national championships - all marks are more than any other rivalry in the country.

The Last Bedlam Bout

The Sooners last faced the Cowboys in the final regular season dual of the season on Feb. 21, 2021 in Stillwater. OU won four bouts (141, 157, 174, 285) but were ultimately downed 24-16 in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The match was highlighted by a win via fall for Dom Demas, a major decision victory for Justin Thomas and an upset win for Anthony Mantanona.

Josh Heindselman also won his match, making the Oklahoma native 2-0 in Bedlam matchups in his career. Demas is also unbeaten in Bedlam, going a perfect 7-0.

Scouting the Cowboys

OSU comes into this dual off a 45-0 win against Drexel in its last dual action. The Cowboys are 3-0 on the year with wins on the road against then ranked No. 24 Stanford and No. 11 Minnesota.

The team has a ranked wrestler at all ten weight classes, including five wrestlers inside the top 10.

The Cowboys went 10-0 in dual action last season and finished in a tie for first-place with the Sooners for the 2021 Big 12 title. They then finished third at the NCAA Championships behind Iowa and Penn State.

Sooner Magic in Bedlam

On Dec. 1, 2013, after trailing 15-3 through six matches the then fourth-ranked Oklahoma wrestling team scored 13 unanswered points to take the Bedlam bout 16-15.

The scoring run included upset wins from Andrew Howe, freshman Dan Chaid and a decisive major decision victory from redshirt senior Travis Rutt.

The final victory came from redshirt freshman Ross Larson who earned a dramatic 3-2 decision victory that sealed the comeback win for the Sooners.

Must See TV

This Sunday's dual with Oklahoma State has been moved to ESPNU, marking the fourth season in a row that at least one of the Bedlam duals has been televised on ESPN networks.

Shawn Kenney, Virginia wrestling alumni Rock Harrison and Iowa State wrestling legend Jim Gibbons will be calling the dual.

Sooners in the Rankings

Oklahoma comes into this weekend's Bedlam action as the No. 17-ranked team in the country according to the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

The three primary wrestling rankings (Flo/Intermat/OpenMat) selected a host of Sooners in their rankings once again this week. FloWrestling tabbed seven Oklahoma starters as top-25 wrestlers in their respective weight classes, with one more as honorable mention, while Open Mat selected six Sooners inside of its top 33. Eight Sooners claimed spots in this week's edition of the Intermat Wrestling poll.

Darrien Roberts appeared in all three polls for the first time this season following an impressive run at the Cliff Keen Invitational this weekend. He makes it seven OU wrestlers ranked in all three polls.

Last Time Out

Bedlam History

The Last Bedlam Bout

Scouting the Cowboys

Sooner Magic in Bedlam

Must See TV

Sooners in the Rankings

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jacob Butler

Dom Demas

Joe Grello

Josh Heindselman

Tony Madrigal

Anthony Mantanona

Troy Mantanona

Keegan Moore

Mitch Moore

Joey Prata

Darrien Roberts

Justin Thomas

Jake Woodley

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics