Sooners Take Down Trojans

²⁵Oklahoma

Little Rock

Little Rock at OU
Wt.	Result	Team
125	No. 32 Joey Prata (OU) over Jayden Carson (LR) (Dec. 5-2)	OU 3-0
133	No. 20 Tony Madrigal (OU) over Jaylen Carson (LR) (Dec. 6-4)	OU 6-0
141	Jacob Butler (OU) over Conner Ward (LR) (MD 9-0)	OU 10-0
149	No. 21 Willie McDougald (OU) over Joseph Bianchi (LR) (Dec. 6-1)	OU 13-0
157	No. 14 Justin Thomas (OU) over Austin Keal (LR) (MD 20-7)	OU 17-0
165	Tyler Brennan (LR) over Troy Mantanona (OU) (MD 12-0)	OU 17-4
174	No. 20 Anthony Mantanona (OU) over Triston Wills (LR) (Fall 2:44)	OU 23-4
	Little Rock Team Point -1.0	OU 23-3
184	Keegan Moore (OU) over Brayden Dillow (LR) (Fall 6:09)	OU 29-3
197	No. 14 Jake Woodley (OU) over Brooks Sacharczyk (LR) (TF 22-4 3:44)	OU 34-3
285	No. 28 Josh Heindselman (OU) over Josiah Hill (LR) (Dec. 6-2)	OU 37-3

NORMAN – In the first of two duals that make up the final home stand of the season, Oklahoma wrestling dominated the visiting Arkansas-Little Rock 37-3.

Wins in nine of the ten bouts carried the Sooners (7-5, 2-4 Big 12) to a comfortable victory on Friday night. Five of those wins came with bonus points as OU picked up two pins, a tech fall and two major decisions to rack up its most individual points of any dual this season with 95.

"There were some really good things that happened today," said head coach Lou Rosselli. "The excellence is in the pursuit. The best part of it is watching a few of the weight classes pursue their opponent and increase their attack rate. I want to see points on the board and building a lead and a lot of them did that today and i was glad to see that."

Three of the seniors set to be honored on Sunday, No. 14 Justin Thomas (14-5), No. 20 Anthony Mantanona (13-5) and Keegan Moore (3-1), led the way for the Crimson and Cream. All three picked up bonus points in their wins with Mantanona and Moore securing pins back to back at 174 and 184. It was Mantanona's fourth fall of the season, moving him into a tie for twelfth on the all-time program pin leaders list. Thomas bagged his fourth major decision and Moore grabbed his second pin as a Sooner.

"You have to have senior leadership like that," said Rosselli. "That's how young people learn. They learn by watching. I can tell them whatever I want but, they learn from their peers. Once they see it done it starts becoming real. It's important for them to help the younger kids on this team grow and be elite."

The other bonus points on the night came in the form of a major decision from Jacob Butler (5-8) and the second tech fall of the season for No. 14 Jake Woodley (18-5). Butler got his first shutout win of the year thanks in large part to some good defense. He used an impressive roll-through to turn a high single from his opponent into a takedown of his own for a 9-0 major. Woodley only needed two periods to finish off a dominant 22-4 (3:44) tech fall victory with a four-point near fall.

Riding time favored the Sooners throughout the night. OU picked up the riding time point in seven of the ten matches and it was especially important for No. 32 Joey Prata (12-5) and No. 20 Tony Madrigal (9-5). Prata maintained control for the length of the third period in his match, preventing his opponent from mounting any kind of comeback and ultimately earning his fourth straight win. Madrigal got an early takedown in the first and rode well to get the riding time on his side. It proved to be a crucial point in a close match.

No. 21 Willie McDougald (11-3) used takedowns in the second and third to win his first bout as a ranked wrestler. He remains undefeated in dual action in his career and extended his win streak to eight matches.

To wrap up the night for the Sooners, No. 28 Josh Heindselman (11-8) claimed a victory over Little Rock's Josiah Hill in a 6-2 decision. It is the largest margin by which any of his bouts this season have been decided, win or lose. In all eighteen of his other matches, he and his opponent were separated by two points or less.

OU will play host to No. 23 South Dakota State on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. CT in McCasland Field House. It will be senior night for the Sooners, with ceremonies scheduled to start 20 minutes prior to the first bout.

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

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Players Mentioned

Jacob Butler

Josh Heindselman

Tony Madrigal

Anthony Mantanona

Troy Mantanona

Willie McDougald

Keegan Moore

Joey Prata

Justin Thomas

Jake Woodley

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics