OU Hosts Top Five Big 12 Foes
Feb. 5, 2009
NORMAN, Okla. – The No. 14 University of Oklahoma wrestling team is set to host two top-five Big 12 opponents this weekend in its final home matches of the season at the McCasland Field House. The Sooners (15-1, 1-1) take on No. 5 Missouri Friday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m., and No. 4 Nebraska at 2 p.m., on Sunday, Feb. 8. Doors open one hour prior to the matches and admission is free to the public. A win Friday over the Tigers would give the 2009 Sooners the best start to a season in program history and would remain in second place in the conference. Currently, Iowa State leads the pack at 3-0, with Oklahoma and Nebraska both tied at 1-1. Mizzou is 0-1 and Oklahoma State sports a 0-2 record. Winning will be no easy task, as MU has six ranked in this week’s individual rankings, all in the top 10. The Huskers also own six ranked this week. Oklahoma counters with seven notched in the rankings, led by Joey Fio and Jeff James ranked seventh at 125 and 174 pounds, respectively. Also in the top 10 is Kyle Terry, who owns a 19-match win streak, at 149 pounds. Eric Lapotsky is No. 11 among 197-pounders and Shane Vernon is No. 15 at 157 pounds, although probable to compete for the Sooners at 165 pounds. Heavyweight Nathan Fernandez is No. 16 and Pat Flynn ranks No. 19 at 184 pounds. OU leads the all-time series over both foes by significant margins. The Sooners lead Missouri 39-7 dating back to 1924 and own a 35-15-1 advantage over the Huskers since 1927. The Tigers and Huskers have had recent success over the Sooners, however. MU has won five of the past six and NU has recorded a victory in four of the last five.
Friday’s match, deemed “Student Night,” will feature 50-cent hot dogs and cokes for fans while supplies last. A $400 Mid First Bank check card will also be awarded to the largest official OU student group in attendance. Additionally, the first 250 fans in the doors will receive an OU wrestling koozie. On Sunday, the team invites fans to help honor two Sooners, Will Rowe and David Armstrong for “Senior Night.” Wrestling legend Danny Hodge will also be on hand to sign autographs of his newly released book, Oklahoma Shooter: The Dan Hodge Story. The book contains over 60 pictures, some never seen before of Hodge's great wrestling career. Also on hand after the match will be the Sooner wrestling team and coaches for pictures and autographs. Author of Hodge's book, Mike Chapman, will also be on hand for autographs beginning at 1 p.m. Chapman has written 21 books and been named National Wrestler Writer of the Year five times. Both weekend matches are free to the public, with doors opening one hour prior to the start of the duals.
Since 1924, the Sooners own an impressive 39-7 series lead over Missouri. It was not until 1978, 54 years after the first matchup between the two, that the Tigers topped the Sooners. Five of the Tigers’ seven victories, however, have come in the past six seasons, including three straight. The last time OU defeated Missouri was in 2005 by an 18-14 triumph. Mizzou is outscoring Oklahoma by an average of 21-15 during that seven year span. Last season, the Sooners traveled to Columbia, Mo., on Feb. 8 and was handed a 23-10 defeat. Jeff James (174 pounds) is the only Sooner in this year’s lineup that recorded a win a year ago (Missouri has five).
Oklahoma (15-1, 1-1) looks to pick up its second win in the Big 12 Conference for the first time since the 2002-2003 season versus the Missouri Tigers Friday evening, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m., inside the McCasland Field House. After claiming a win versus then-No. 9 Oklahoma State on Dec. 7, the Sooners suffered their first Big 12 loss on the road to Iowa State on Jan. 23 (23-15). A win over the Tigers would move OU into a tie for second place in the conference. Currently, Iowa State leads the pack at 3-0, with Oklahoma and Nebraska both tied at 1-1. Mizzou is 0-1 and Oklahoma State sports a 0-2 record.
The Tigers sport a 15-3 overall record heading into Friday’s matchup with the Sooners and are 0-1 in the Big 12. Mizzou was handed its first loss in the conference last week by Nebraska, who edged the Tigers 16-15 in Columbia, Mo. Missouri is 12-2 this season away from home, with its most impressive victory on Jan. 25 over then-No. 2 Cornell, winning 18-14. MU is coached by Brian Smith, who is in his 11th season at the helm. The 1990 Michigan State graduate has compiled a 134-63-2 record at Missouri and has led his team to seven consecutive winning seasons (dating back to 2001-02 season). Inheriting a struggling program, Smith is now first in MU history in winning percentage and has built the program into a national contender. Last season he sent a record eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. The Tigers and Sooners have competed against five common opponents this season in Old Dominion, Maryland, Cal-Fullerton, Cal-Bakersfield and Cal Poly. Both OU and MU went 5-0 against the foes. Oklahoma outscored them by a 28-9 margin and the Tigers bested the same opponents by a 30-9 margin.
The Sooners lead the all-time mark against Nebraska by a 35-15-1 margin. With the series beginning in 1927, The Huskers did not record a victory over Oklahoma until 1949. Four of Nebraska’s wins have come in past five years. Last season in Lincoln, Oklahoma fell short, losing 21-9 on Feb. 10. Highlighting that match was 125-pound Sooner Joey Fio recording a win over defending national champion Paul Donahoe of Nebraska.
The Sooners lead both opponents this weekend in total number ranked in this week’s Intermat poll at seven. Joey Fio (125 pounds) and Jeff James (174) lead the way for Oklahoma, ranked seventh. Kyle Terry also hurdled into the top 10 this week, ranked No. 8 nationally among 149-pounders. Eric Lapotsky is No. 11 at 197 pounds and 157-pound Shane Vernon is ranked 15th. Heavyweight Nathan Fernandez jumped up three spots to No. 16 and Pat Flynn is No. 19 at 184 pounds. Missouri placed six in this week’s poll, all appearing in the top 10. The Tigers are led by No. 1 Mark Ellis at heavyweight. Max Askren is No. 4 at 197 pounds and Nick Marable (165 pounds) and Raymond Jordan (174) are fifth. Ranked eighth is Michael Chandler at 157 pounds and Marcus Hoehn rounds out the group at No. 10 among 141-pounders. The Cornhuskers also have six ranked this week. Craig Brester is No. 2 at 197 pounds and Jordan Burroughs and Brandon Browne are No. 3 at 157 and 174 pounds, respectively. Ranked sixth is Stephen Dwyer and Vince Jones is No. 11 at 184 pounds. Heavyweight Tucker Lane rounds out ranked Tigers at No. 19.
Three Sooners own impressive win streaks heading into this weekend’s matches, led by Kyle Terry at 149 pounds. The Midwest City, Okla., native is a winner of 19 straight, dating back to Nov. 13. In that span, he has recorded five falls and recorded a win over No. 3 Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State. Jeff James, ranked No. 7 nationally at 174 pounds, has been victorious in his last 18 matches dating back to Nov. 8, the first tournament of the season. Included in those wins are four major decisions and two technical falls. His top victory during the streak came against No. 8 Duke Burk of Iowa State. Lastly, Joey Fio is a winner of 10 straight, dating back to Dec. 13. The Sandpoint, Idaho, native owns a team-high two victories over top 10 opponents during that winning span. Fio defeated then-No. 8 Anthony Robles of Arizona State and then-No. 6 Tyler Shinn of Iowa State, back-to-back.
LAST TIME OUT... OU won eight of 10 total bouts, including pins recorded by Joey Fio (125 pounds) and Pat Flynn (184). Highlighting the night was No. 13 Kyle Terry’s upset of No. 3 Darrion Caldwell. Leading the match 5-0 in the first, Caldwell was forced to end the match due to injury after his injury time expired. The win was Terry’s 19th-straight this season. Also posting an upset was unranked Seth Vernon over No. 15 Joe Caramanica. With the win, Oklahoma improved to a perfect 14-0 against out of conference foes this season. OPPONENT CONNECTIONS... Now in his fifth season as an assistant at OU, Spates was an All-American for the Tigers his senior year in 2004. Mizzou head coach Brian Smith also has a connection with Oklahoma. He was an assistant for a brief time under current OU head coach Jack Spates at Cornell. SOONERS STREAK BROKEN... SPATES TOUGH AT HOME... Last season, the Sooners boasted a 7-2 mark, including the win over OSU. Oklahoma is 6-0 so far this season, with wins over Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, then-No. 20 Old Dominion, then-No. 9 Oklahoma State, Maryland and North Carolina State. SPATES MILESTONE... Averaging 14 wins a season, Spates has led OU to 14 straight campaigns of 10 wins or more and is second in all-time victories by a head coach in OU wrestling history. He became just the second coach in school history to notch 200 wins, joining Stan Abel (coached from 1973-93, 279 wins). Dating back to Cornell, Spates’ career record stands at 286-103-12. FOLLOW THE SOONERS TO NATIONALS... All-session tickets to the 2009 championships are on sale now. To order your tickets, call (800) 745-3000 (toll free). WRESTLERS HONORED BY BIG 12... Fernandez was awarded on Dec. 15 after a dominant performance at the Big 12/Pac-10 Challenge in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The Lawton, Okla., native recorded a three-match sweep at the California tournament, pinning two of three opponents, including No. 4-ranked Mitch Monteiro of Cal-Bakersfield early in the second period (3:19). The redshirt sophomore also recorded a fall versus Kelan Bragg (6:55) of Cal Poly and won by a 14-6 major decision over Kurt Klimek of Cal-Fullerton. The Big 12 selected Fio on Jan. 19, after helping guide the then-11th-ranked Sooners to two victories over Maryland (22-15) and Arizona State (36-7). Highlighting his two victories was a pin over eighth-ranked and 2008 NCAA qualifier Anthony Robles of Arizona State. The sophomore needed only the first period to record the fall, posting his second this season with a time of 2:08. STOUT 2008 RECRUITING CLASS... Headlining the class is Jake Kemerer from Hempfield Area, Pa., ranked No. 16 overall according to Intermat and rated No. 4 in the 171-pound class by Amateur Wrestling News. Also inked for next season is Alex Ekstrom from Palmyra-Macedonia, N.Y., ranked No. 31 overall and rated the third-best among 140-pounders. Joining them are the Lester twins, Matt and Nick, ranked No. 33 and No. 38 overall, respectively. The two hail from Eureka, Mo., and each own Missouri state titles. Matt is ranked No. 2 overall among 152-pounders and is Nick No. 5 at 140 pounds. Jarrod Patterson from Cushing, Okla., is a three-time Oklahoma state champion entering his senior year and ranked No. 6 in the 125 pound weight class nationally. Kyle Detmer rounds out the group of seniors, garnering a 135-5 record in high school, including posting pins in 31 of 35 matches for Bishop Caroll High School in Wichita Kan., last season. Derek Peperas, a transfer from Old Dominion, joined the Sooner program in January. The redshirt freshman is immediately eligible for OU upon arrival and will provide depth at 165 pounds. Winner of two New Mexico state championships, Peperas also was a two-time state runner-up. FORMER SOONER CHAMPION JOINS STAFF... Lightner can be found in various OU records, including second in career wins with a 144-16 record. His 37-0 record during his senior campaign led him to the national title and he became the 13th Sooner in school history to go undefeated in a season.   
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