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Sunday, February 20
Stillwater, OK

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Oklahoma State

Keegan Moore OSU

Hard-Fought Bedlam Bout Goes Against OU

February 20, 2022 | Wrestling

24 Oklahoma
Oklahoma
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12 Oklahoma State
Northern Iowa
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STILLWATER, Okla. – The closest Bedlam wrestling match in nine years saw the two programs split the bouts at five apiece, but bonus points gave No. 12 Oklahoma State the narrow 18-16 win over No. 24 Oklahoma. 

The Sooners (8-6, 3-5 Big 12) picked up wins from Justin Thomas, Joe Grello, Keegan Moore, Jake Woodley and Joey Prata that gave them enough team points to lead until the very last match as three bonus-point victories gave the Cowboys (13-4, 6-3 Big 12) the edge. 

"Overall we just have to attack more," said OU head coach Lou Rosselli. "There are some weight classes that we just didn't attack enough. It's a team thing. There's no one person, it's a group effort. There were a lot of good things I saw. There are always good things that happen, but it's about being competitive and learning the right way to doing things and making sure you feel these losses for a while so you can perform better the next time around." 

Redshirt senior and 17th-ranked Woodley (19-6) was dominant en route to picking up the lone bonus point victory for OU. A flurry of single-legs produced five takedowns for Woodley, and points for riding time and stalling gave the All-American the 13-3 major decision over Gavin Stika. 

OU got huge top-10 upset wins from both No. 32 Prata (14-5) and Moore (4-2) on Sunday.

Prata used an impressive third period to dismantle No. 7 Trevor Mastrogiovanni and give the OSU wrestler only his second loss of the season. A redshirt senior, Prata maintained control in the top position for the majority of the third to give himself the riding time point and grabbed a last-second takedown to boot to secure the 4-1 decision. The win pushed his active win streak to six with two victories over ranked opposition in that stretch. 

Moore wrestled No. 8 Dakota Geer and controlled the match from start to finish. Two takedowns in both the first and second period gave Moore a 9-4 decision win in his return to Gallagher-Iba Arena. Moore, a transfer from Northern Iowa, started his collegiate career at Oklahoma State. 

"They both have a workmanship mentality," Rosselli said after the dual. "Joey Prata is a pro when it comes to the work. He does all the little things. He's got discipline. He's tough when he needs to be tough and Keegan Moore is the same way. He's talented and he's a believer and he's been dying for an opportunity to be in the lineup where he can make a difference. Today, he showed up and did what he was supposed to do. For us to win, everybody needs to do their job and those two do. Sometimes we can't control everything that happens in a match, but the amount of effort can always be controlled. And those two give maximum effort." 

Sixth-year senior and No. 14 Thomas (16-5) secured the first win of the afternoon for the Sooners in what was his final face-off against OSU. A takedown in all three periods gave him a 9-3 decision. The victory means he will end his collegiate career with a 5-3 record in Bedlam duals. 

Immediately following Thomas, No. 32 Grello (5-6) picked up his first Bedlam win in a hard-fought 3-0 decision. A reversal in the first five seconds of the second period proved to be decisive for Grello, who also grabbed the riding time point with some tough riding in the third. 

The dual was the last of the regular season for the Sooners, who now have two weeks to prepare to defend their Big 12 title. The Big 12 Championship will be held March 5-6 at the BOK Center in Tulsa. 

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

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