by By Micah Thompson, soonersports.com
HAMPTON, Va. – The No. 15 Oklahoma wrestling team went 3-1 at the 2017 Virginia Duals to finish the tournament in second place. The 12-team event was held at the Hampton Coliseum.
The Sooners downed No. 19 Arizona State, 25-11, in the semifinal contest before falling to No. 5 Virginia Tech, 24-10 in the championship match. The Sooners improve to 5-4 on the season after wrestling four duals in the event.
The Sooners return home on Sunday, Jan. 22 at noon CT for a Big-12 contest with West Virginia inside McCasland Field House. Tickets are available online at SoonerSports.com or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (405) 325-2424 or toll-free at (800) 456-GoOU.
No. 15 Oklahoma 25, No. 19 Arizona State 11
Christian Moody matched up with ASU’s Joshua Krammer in the 125-pound bout, and the two were knotted at 0-0 at the end of the opening frame, but Moody went to work over the next two periods, tallying six takedowns and a reversal for a 15-8 decision to give the Sooners an early 3-0 advantage.
In the 133-pound bout, Jacob Rubio went to work early, tallying three takedowns in the first period for an early 8-2 lead over Ted Rico. Rubio tacked on two more takedowns in the second period and the riding-time point for a 13-6 win to keep the momentum rolling for Oklahoma.
Mike Longo recorded a 5-0 decision over Nicholas Villarreal of ASU in the 141-pound bout. All of Longo’s points came in the second frame as he escaped to start the period then connected for a takedown and a 2-point nearfall for the win.
At 149 pounds, Davion Jeffries (Muscogee Creek Nation) got the first bonus-point win for the Sooners with an 11-3 major decision over Joshua Maruco. Jeffries tallied a first-period takedown and 4-point nearfall en route to the bonus-point victory.
Junior Andrew Dixon tallied a first-period takedown, an escape and secured the riding-time point for a 4-1 decision in the 184-pound bout over ASU’s Jacen Petersen.
At 197 pounds, Brad Johnson clinched the win for Oklahoma with a 7-1 decision over Austyn Harris. Johnson registered a takedown early in the first period and tacked on an escape, takedown and a stall point in the second before securing the riding-time point.
Redshirt senior Ross Larson capped off the dual at heavyweight with a win by fall in 19 seconds over Sullivan Cauley.
Clark Glass dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 13 Joshua Shields at 157 pounds, and No. 9 Anthony Valencia downed Yoanse Mejias in a 12-3 major decision in the 165-pound bout. At 174, No. 3 Zahid Valencia registered a 12-3 major decision over Matt Reed.
No. 5 Virginia Tech 24, No. 15 Oklahoma 10
Mike Longo downed Virginia Tech’s Brenden Ryan by 10-2 decision in the 141-pound bout. Longo recorded a first-period takedown and added an escape and a takedown in the second to hold a 5-0 advantage through two frames. The junior tacked on two takedowns and secured the riding-time point in the third period for the bonus-point win and to put the Sooners on the board.
Clark Glass, ranked No. 12 at 165 pounds, tallied a big win for the Sooners in the 157-pound matchup with a 5-4 decision over No. 14 Sal Mastriani. Mastriani struck first, but Glass escaped twice over the first two periods to lock the score at 2-2 entering the final frame. Mastriani connected on a takedown, but Glass escaped and countered with a takedown of his own for the win.
In the 165-pound bout, junior Yoanse Mejias knocked off David Bergida by 7-2 decision to put the Sooners within two points in the team score. Mejias recorded two first-period takedowns and added another in the third in the victory.
No. 2 Joey Dance of Virginia Tech pinned redshirt freshman Christian Moody in 5:47 at 125 pounds, and redshirt sophomore Jacob Rubio dropped a 3-2 decision to Dennis Gustafson in tiebreaker two.
In the 149-pound bout, No. 11 Davion Jeffries lost to No. 7 Solomon Chishko by 5-3 decision, and redshirt senior Matt Reed dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 2 Zach Epperly at 174 pounds.
At 184 pounds, No. 4 Zachary Zavatsky beat Andrew Dixon, 4-2, and No. 3 Jared Haught downed Brad Johnson by 5-1 decision. No. 19 Ross Larson dropped a 9-3 decision to No. 3 Ty Walz in the heavyweight matchup.
