Wrestling Claims Two Individual Titles, Places Second at Southern Scuffle

Monday, January 1

Chattanooga, Tenn. | McKenzie Arena

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University of Oklahoma

Southern Scuffle

Wrestling Claims Two Individual Titles, Places Second at Southern Scuffle

January 02, 2024 | Wrestling

Results Final Brackets Photo Gallery

By: OU Athletics Communications

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The No. 19 Oklahoma wrestling team claimed two individual titles and took second overall at the 2024 Southern Scuffle Tuesday at McKenzie Arena on the campus of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

The Sooners (4-2, 2-2 Big 12) made their first ever trip to the 21^st edition of the tournament and came away with two champions and 13 total placewinners, the most out of any team in the field. The duo of Stephen Buchanan and Josh Heindselman went a combined 8-0 with six bonus point wins over the two days. Both have reached the finals in all three tournaments Oklahoma has participated in this season.

OU finished second overall, finishing with 136 points. The Sooners finished behind only team champion Stanford (153.5). Indiana (134), Army (133) and Northern Colorado (110.5) rounded out the top five.

Buchanan was the first title winner to take the mat for the Sooners. Three takedowns and six near fall points gave him a comfortable lead on his way to a 16-1 tech fall over Oklahoma State's Kyle Haas. Buchanan moved to 15-0 on the season after winning four matches this week in the 197-pound bracket.

Immediately after Buchanan's victory, Heindselman stepped on the mat to face Bucknell's Dorian Crosby in a heavyweight title bout. Heindselman took the down position after a scoreless first period and escaped early before ending the middle period with a single leg takedown. The redshirt senior added another takedown in the third period to escape with a 7-3 victory.

The Sooners entered the second day of the Scuffle trailing Stanford and Indiana in the team race but overtook the Hoosiers and narrowed the deficit with help from the Sooner depth in the wrestlebacks. Following narrow defeats in the semifinals, Jared Hill and Tate Picklo responded on Tuesday with wins in the late rounds of consolations to advance to the third-place matches. Hill finished in third place at 157 pounds while Picklo competed at 174 pounds and ended the tournament in fourth place.

Conrad Hendriksen (125), Carter Schmidt (141), Giuseppe Hoose (184) and Juan Mora (285) took fifth place in their respective brackets. John Wiley made it two Sooners to place at 157 pounds with a sixth-place finish while Jace Koelzer (133) and Cael Carlson (165) added seventh-place finishes. Gabe Vidlak (133) and Gerrit Nijenhuis (174) rounded out the Sooners on the podium as they finished in eight place. Kaden Smith (141) and Mannix Morgan (165) lost their first match of the day, which eliminated them from the tournament.

Full tournament results of the Southern Scuffle presented by Compound Sportswear can be found here.

Looking ahead, the Sooners will now turn their focus to the Virginia Duals as they will hit the road to Hampton, Va., to participate in the 43rd edition of the dual-meet style tournament on Jan. 12-13.