Sooners Claim Two Wins on Day One in Virginia

¹⁸ Oklahoma

Lock Haven

Results

¹⁸ Oklahoma

Kent State

Results

Lock Haven vs. OU
Wt.	Result	Team
125	No. 27 Anthony Noto (LHU) def. No. 23 Joey Prata (OU) (Dec 8-3)	LHU 3-0
133	Gable Strickland (LHU) def. Caleb Tanner (OU) (Fall 3:45)	LHU 9-0
141	Jacob Butler (OU) def. Tyler Dilley (LHU) (Maj 14-4)	LHU 9-4
149	No. 16 (141) Dom Demas (OU) def. Connor Eck (LHU) (Maj 14-5)	LHU 9-8
157	No. 16 Justin Thomas (OU) def. Ben Barton (LHU) (Dec 4-1)	OU 11-9
165	Ashton Eyler (LHU) def. No. 28 Joe Grello (OU) (Dec 5-3)	LHU 12-11
174	Anthony Mantanona (OU) def. Tyler Stolzfus (LHU) (Fall 4:02)	OU 17-12
184	No. 21 Darrien Roberts (OU) def. Colin Fegley (LHU) (Dec 3-1)	OU 20-12
197	No. 11 Jake Woodley (OU) def. Parker McCleallan (LHU) (Maj 9-0)	OU 24-12
285	No. 33 Isaac Reid (LHU) def. No. 27 Josh Heindselman (OU) (Dec 3-1)	OU 24-15

Kent State vs. OU
Wt.	Result	Team
125	No. 22 Joey Prata (OU) def. Jake Ferri (KSU) (Dec 6-4)	OU 3-0
133	Gabe Vidlak (OU) def. Brandon Fenton (KSU) (Dec 7-0)	OU 6-0
141	Louis Newell (KSU) def. Jacob Butler (OU) (Dec 3-2)	OU 6-3
149	No. 16(141) Dom Demas (OU) def. Kody Komara (KSU) (Dec 6-3)	OU 9-3
157	No. 16 Justin Thomas (OU) def. Enrigue Munguia (KSU) (Fall 1:02)	OU 15-3
165	Troy Mantanona (OU) def. Brady Chrisman (KSU) (Dec 7-6)	OU 18-3
174	Anthony Mantanona (OU) def. Michael Ferre (KSU) (Fall 0:16)	OU 24-3
184	Keegan Moore (OU) def. Colin McCracken (KSU) (Maj 17-7)	OU 28-3
197	No. 11 Jake Woodley (OU) def. Tyler Bates (KSU) (Maj 12-4)	OU 32-3
285	No. 27 Josh Heindselman (OU) def. Jacob Cover (KSU) (Dec 3-1)	OU 35-3

HAMPTON, Va. – On its first of two days at the Virginia Duals, Oklahoma wrestling emerged with wins in both of its matches by coming out on top of Lock Haven 24-15 and Kent State 35-3.

The No. 18 Sooners (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) came out strong in their first action in 2022 to pick up the pair of victories after spending over a month away from competition. The team was led by Dom Demas, Justin Thomas, Anthony Mantanona and Jake Woodley who all picked up wins in both duals.

"Overall I thought it was a good day," said head coach Lou Rosselli. " Anytime you win it's good. I think we have some things to work on and I think we know that. We can be a lot better by the time nationals come around so we just need to keep plugging along. Tomorrow is a new day. We have to come ready again and take advantage of another opportunity."

Oklahoma 24 - Lock Haven 15

The Sooners started the first dual of the day slowly and lost their first two matches against the Bald Eagles, needing time to knock the rust off after four weeks away from the mat. Jacob Butler's 14-4 major decision victory got the team going, put points on the board for OU and Rosselli's squad proceeded to rattle off wins in the next three bouts and six of the next seven to see off Lock Haven.

"They had some scrappy guys and they have a scrappy team," said coach Rosselli. "I think we started off slow in the lightweights. Some of our guys weren't as ready as they should have been. They are a solid team, but I think we wrestled just very average."

Highlights from the dual included the first win of the year for No. 16 (141) Dom Demas, who followed Butler's major decision victory with one of his own in a dominant display. Six takedowns for the redshirt senior helped him earn bonus points for the Sooners after intentionally cutting Lock Haven's Connor Eck three times in the third period.

Anthony Mantanona got a first of his own when he secured his first pin of the year in the second period of his match when he already held a 10-0 lead. Justin Thomas and Darrien Roberts both earned decision victories in their matches. Caleb Tanner (1-3) made his collegiate dual debut in a loss in the match.

History came in the 197-pound match as Jake Woodley easily grabbed a 9-0 shutout major decision to claim his 75th career win. He joins teammates Dom Demas and Justin Thomas in the 75 win club.

"Jake is a huge asset to our program," coach Rosselli said of Woodley. "He works incredibly hard and has helped us get back to national prominence."

With his win this morning, @woodley_teamEGO earned his 75th career victory! Congrats to Jake and here's to many more ?????? pic.twitter.com/lYWjIkQ7Ne
— Oklahoma Wrestling (@OU_Wrestling) January 14, 2022

Oklahoma 35 - Kent State 3

Any more signs of rust were gone by match two for the Sooners, who were dominant from start to finish in their dual against Kent State. Oklahoma won nine of the ten matches, claiming bonus points in four of them.

"I thought we wrestled much better in the second match," said Rosselli. "Overall I think we just need to keep making improvements. I saw some good things out of [Dom] Demas and [Jake] Woodley who put points on the board for us. I think as we continue to compete and make weight and feel good and bring our intensity level higher and start putting more pressure on people we will find more success."

Anthony Mantanona (8-4) picked up right where he left off in the first match, pinning Kent State's Michael Ferre in just 16 seconds for his second fall of the day. The two pins moved him into 14th on the Oklahoma wrestling career pin leaders list and the 16 second fall is tied for the third fastest in program history.

Not one to be outdone, No. 16 Justin Thomas used an aggressive hip toss to grab a first period pin to pick up the first bonus points of the match for the Sooners. It was Thomas' first win via fall of the season and the fifth of his career. He had not won by pin since the 2019-2020 season.

No. 23 Joey Prata (7-3) bounced back from his loss against Lock Haven with a 6-3 decision victory in a back and forth affair with Jake Ferri, using a reversal immediately followed by a two-point near fall to secure the match.

At 133 pounds Gabe Vidlak (2-2) made his collegiate dual debut in impressive fashion when he earned a 7-0 decision thanks to a big second period reversal of his own. Keegan Moore (1-0) also made his debut in the Crimson and Cream against the Golden Flashes. Moore impressed as well, racking up 13 points in the third period to finish off a 17-7 major decision win.

No. 16(141) Dom Demas (2-1) won his second match of the day in a 6-3 decision in the 149 pound match. At 165, Troy Mantanona (4-3) used two key reversals and a late takedown in the third to take his match over Brady Chrisman.

Jake Woodley and Josh Heindselman wrapped the day up for the Sooners with a pair of victories. Woodley claimed his second major decision of the day by snagging two takedowns and a two-point near fall in the first period to jump out to an early lead and he didn't look back. Heindselman needed the sudden victory period to get his win, but he finished off a single leg shot to make sure OU ended its day on a high note.

The Sooners face two power five opponents tomorrow as they are scheduled to face off with Virginia and Maryland at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. CT respectively to wrap up their trip to the Virginia Duals.

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