University of Oklahoma Athletics

Lorenzo Mat Return

Four Sooners Punch Tickets to Semifinals in Day One of Southern Scuffle

January 04, 2025 | Wrestling

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The No. 21Ā Oklahoma wrestling team wrapped up an impressive first day at the 2025 Southern Scuffle presented by Compound Sportswear on SaturdayĀ evening, closing out the opening rounds in second place as a team with 92.5 points.

The Sooners will head into day two of the prestigious tournamentĀ with four semifinalists, which is tied for the second most among all attending teams. Oklahoma will have a total of nine wrestlers still alive for tomorrow's competition, sharing the lead withĀ Army who sits atop the field in the team race with 97 points.

No. 23 Antonio LorenzoĀ was the first Sooner to punch his ticket to the semifinals after earning a trioĀ of bonus point winsĀ to stay in the title hunt at 125 pounds. The senior opened his dominant day with back-to-back pins of Chattanooga's Elijah Lowe (1:31) and American's Coen Bainey (4:27) before picking up a 10-1 major decision over Gardner Webb's Jeff Jacome in the quarterfinal bout.

At 149 pounds, No. 13 Willie McDougaldĀ capped his perfect day by knocking off Clarion's Kyle Schickel in the quarterfinal round viaĀ an 11-3 major decision. Prior to that, McDougaldĀ earned tech fall victories overĀ Sean Pitts (Bellarmine) and Yuta Otero (Chattanooga). Competing as the top seed in his respective bracket, McDougald outscored his opponents 52-12 on the day.

Looking to claim the fourth individual tournament title of his career, Tate PickloĀ put together a strong showing in the 174-pound bracket. The twoĀ seed earned a 19-3 (5:26)Ā tech fall over Little Rocks's Austin KealĀ before following it up with a 10-1 major decision win against Kylan Montgomery (Virginia Tech) and 19-14 decision versus Boeden Greenley (North Dakota State). Picklo will seek to improve on a fourth-place finish from the 2024 Southern Scuffle.

Oklahoma's final semifinalist came at 174 pounds, as No. 8 Gaven SaxĀ is set to represent the Crimson & Cream tomorrow. Sax took care of business in the Saturday night session as the two seed to stay alive, eliminating American's Caleb Campos by decision, 6-1. Sax is competing in his fourth career Southern Scuffle and first as a Sooner. The senior earned fourth place (2022) and third place (2024) podium finishes as a member of North Dakota State.

The Sooners also saw Beric Jordan, Mosha Schwartz, Mannix Morgan, DJ Parker and Bradley HillĀ compete in the quarterfinal round, but all were defeated to drop to the backside. Cleveland Belton rounds out the group of wrestlers still alive in the consolations heading into tomorrow's action.

The Southern Scuffle resumes tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. CT, with the semifinals and two rounds of consolations. The tournament is scheduled to conclude with the Finals session at 2:00 p.m. CT, with all live coverage of the event being held onĀ FloWrestling.

Full day one results as well as updated brackets of the Southern Scuffle presented by Compound Sportswear can be foundĀ here.Ā 

Thursday, March 19
Saturday, March 07
Friday, March 06
Sunday, February 08