UNI went to Stillwater, Oklahoma, for a dual with the Oklahoma State Cowboys Friday night. The Panthers fell 24-9 to the Cowboys, their first conference dual loss on the year. UNI was only able to secure three wins, as Josh Alber, Bryce Steiert, and Taylor Lujan all notched wins, but the rest of the squad put up a solid fight, with five of OSU’s wins coming by decision.
Josh Alber needed all 420 seconds of his match to get his 4-3 win over #12 Kaid Brock. The two were tied at two after the second period, but Brock earned an escape after starting the period on bottom to take a 3-2 lead. Neither man was able to get much going until Alber hit a takedown with 5 seconds left in the period to get the 4-3 win.
(I would like to describe more about the win, but the stream was busy showing a replay of the two wrestlers going out of bounds when Alber scored).
Bryce Steiert won a tough match, 2-0, over Andrew Shomers. Steiert scored a takedown early in the first period, then loaded him up with the bow and arrow we saw last week but was stopped by the official for a potential dangerous move. The Oklahoma State trainer came out onto the mat for injury time, however that must not have actually happened because Steiert did not get his choice of position afterwards.
Shomers rode Steiert out of the second, and then neither man could find a score in the third, giving Steiert the 2-0 win.
Another man who needed all 420 seconds in his match was Taylor Lujan, who got the 5-4 win over #5 Joe Smith. Lujan trailed 3-2 going into the second period after scoring a reversal on Smith, who got the takedown and escape to take the lead. Lujan trailed again 4-3 after another Smith escape in the third, and he ended up scoring the go ahead takedown with short time left in the period and Smith just worn down.
In Max Thomsen’s match at 149 pounds it seemed to be going all UNI’s way. Thomsen had a takedown and escape in the first period to take a 3-2 lead into the second. Kaden Gfeller started in the bottom position, stood up with Thomsen behind him, and held onto Thomsen’s wrists to draw a stall call on Thomsen. As Thomsen went down to an ankle, he drew a five count and was hit for another stall warning, tying the match at 3. Gfeller took the lead after an escape and led going to the 3rd.
Thomsen started that period on bottom and was up and out right away, making the match 4-4. The Panther stayed on the offensive and scored another takedown, but with 20 seconds left and Gfeller trailing 6-5, the cowboy suddenly decided to shoot. And with about five seconds left he connected with a double leg to tie the match at seven (Thomsen was awarded a point for riding time).
Gfeller was able to trip up Thomsen in the overtime period, getting the takedown and winning the match. Thomsen also had at least two sequences where he was working for a takedown stopped by the official for potentially dangerous holds.
Number four Nick Piccininni won by technical fall, 16-1, over Jay Schwarm. The Panther threatened early, and then rode Piccininni for a few seconds in the third, but couldn’t find any offense.
Paden Moore lost a hard fought match with Wyatt Sheets. Neither guy had much offense, but Sheets had one takedown more than Moore, who lost 3-2 to the Cowboy.
Tyrell Gordon found some of his offense, scoring an opening period takedown to take a 2-1 lead into the second period. Gordon went down against #11 Dakota Geer, who used a wrist tilt to lay on top of Gordon the majority of the period. Geer was unable to actually turn Gordon, who did a fantastic job of fighting off the back points for what seemed like more than half the period. After Geer rolled through with Gordon on his final tilt attempt, Gordon was hit for stalling (because SOMEONE has to be stalling in this situation, right?) and then Gordon was hit AGAIN when Geer continued to ride the wrist but wasn’t looking for a tilt, tying the match at 2.
Geer went down to start the third, and got up and out, putting him in the lead 3-2. Gordon wasn’t able to get to another takedown, though he was very close at the buzzer, and Geer won 3-2.
Heavyweight Carter Isley fell 10-4 to #3 Derek White. Isley looked solid at points, but seemed to gas out a little at the end, and White is a top-notch wrestler.
The Panthers are next in action next weekend as they travel to Utah Valley for a dual with the Wolverines before returning home the following weekend for senior night against Iowa State.
#2 Oklahoma State 24, #17 UNI 9
125: #4 Nick Piccininni won by tech fall, 16-1, over Jay Schwarm
133: #2 Dayton Fix won by major decision, 18-7, over Jack Skudlarczyk
141: #3 Josh Alber won by decision, 4-3, over #12 Kaid Brock
149: #5 Kaden Gfeller won by decision, 9-7 in sudden victory, over #10 Max Thomsen
157: Wyatt Sheets won by decision, 3-2, over Paden Moore
165: #9 Bryce Steiert won by decision, 2-0, over Andrew Shomers
174: #8 Taylor Lujan won by decison, 5-4, over #5 Joe Smith
184: #9 Jacobe Smith won by decision, 8-4, over #6 Drew Foster
197: #11 Dakota Geer won by decision, 3-2, over Tyrell Gordon
285: #3 Derek White won by decision, 10-4 , over Carter Isley