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| Oklahoma State Claims NCAA Championships |
| CORNELL'S TRAVIS LEE WINS NCAA TITLE |
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| Click here for PAGE TWO. |
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| by Jim and Tony Nordland |
| Kansas City, Missouri- Oklahoma State dominated the 73rd annual NCAA Wrestling Championships held at the Kemper Arena. The Cowboys amassed 143 points to finish ahead of Minnesota (104.5), Oklahoma (78), Lehigh (69) and Arizona State (65). The Pokes were led by defending champion junior Johnny Thompson (29-2) who defeated rival Ryan Lewis (Minnesota) by scoring with two double leg takedowns for a 5-3 decision en route to the 133-pound title. Redshirt freshman Jake Rosholt (23-9) won the 184-pound crown and third place finishers were earned by three-time All-American Shane Roller (30-4, 106-42 career mark) at 157, sophomore Chris Pendelton (30-2) at 174 and Muhammed Lawal (30-4) at 197 pounds. Roller stunned the crowd as he clamped defending champion Luke Becker |
| (Minnesota) with a 34 second fall to capture the bronze medal and conclude a stellar career at OSU. Head coach John Smith commented on his team's performance, "I really enjoyed it with my kids, they really set out to do something and they did." He also added, "We changed some things around this year and when you win 10 out of 12 matches on Saturday, you're going to win the title, its a good step up for our confidence." |
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| The opening finals bout was entertaining as 16,436 fans witnessed a battle between two unbeaten grapplers. Purdue's Chris Fleeger (32-1) opened the scoring with a low single leg takedown but Cornell's Travis Lee (34-0) battled back to keep the match close entering the final stanza. With 30 seconds remaining in the match Lee scored the decisive takedown with a slick underhook ankle pick to post a 6-4 victory and the 125-pound championship. |
| True freshman Teyon Ware (32-4) of Oklahoma battled for seven minutes with Dylan Long (Northern Iowa) as the bout was knotted 4-4 after regulation. Eighteen seconds into the overtime period Ware countered a good single leg shot with a spin behind takedown and the 141-pound title. About his thrilling 6-4 overtime victory, Ware said, "I was real nervous when he got in on my leg, I knew I had to do something quick and try to win." Win, he did, along with teammate Robbie Waller (32-7) who defeated Pitt's Carl Fronhofer (Salem HS), 7-2, to capture the 174-pound crown. Head coach, former NYS champion, Jack Spates (Smithtown HS) whose Sooner squads have garnered two consecutive |
| Travis Lee's ankle pick helped win him a national title for Cornell at 125 pounds. |
| Three-time All-American Shane Roller (Oklahoma State) pins defending champ Luke Becker (Minnesota) to finish third at 157. |
| Oklahoma State was led by two-time national champion Johnny Thompson at 133 pounds. |