Four Sooners Qualify for NCAAs on Day One of Big 12 Championship

TULSA, Okla. — Oklahoma wrestling concluded the first day of the Big 12 Championship on Friday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, with four Sooners punching their tickets to the NCAA Championships and three others still alive in the consolation rounds heading into Saturday's third session. As a team, Oklahoma finished day one in eighth place out of 14 teams with 53 points.

Tyler Wells (141), Carter Schubert (174), DJ Parker (184) and Juan Mora (285) all qualified for the NCAA Championships, while Conrad Hendriksen is set to compete in Saturday's consolation semifinal round with a bid to Cleveland on the line. Carter Schmidt (133) and Peyten Kellar (165) will wrestle for seventh place.

Wells, seeded sixth at 141 pounds, reached the semifinals by defeating Northern Colorado's Joel Aguilar-Guerrero (TF 17-2) and Utah Valley's No. 20 Haiden Drury (4-2) to become a three-time NCAA qualifier. The Princeton, Minn., native was edged by Iowa State's No. 3 and second-seeded Anthony Echemendia, 2-1, in the semifinal bout.

At 174, Schubert breezed through the opening round with a 15-2 major decision over Mason Espinoza of Cal Baptist before earning his first career NCAA qualification with a 3-1 victory in tiebreakers over West Virginia's No. 16 Brody Conley. In the rubber match of their third meeting this season, Schubert's finals hopes were cut short with a narrow 4-3 loss to Missouri's No. 9 Cam Steed.

Parker opened his tournament with two wins at 197 pounds, highlighted by his team-tying eighth ranked win of the season over South Dakota State's No. 6 Bennett Berge (8-3). The redshirt senior will look to find the podium in his second trip to nationals, hoping to avenge a blood-round loss from last year's NCAA Championships.

In the heavyweight division, Mora (seeded No. 5) saw his postseason fate come down to the third round of consolations for the second consecutive year, this time pulling off a win to qualify for his first NCAA Championships. The senior faced Air Force's Rylan Kuhn and outpaced the true freshman for an 8-6 victory to punch his ticket to Cleveland.

The seven Sooners still competing will be back in action for Saturday's third session starting at noon. All matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

Full results from Friday's first and second sessions can be found on FloWrestling.

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