Even though the scoreboard showed a 34-3 rout, the 4th ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys were pretty uneven against a scratched together team of West Virigina Mountaineers Sunday afternoon in Morgantown. While the Pokes sent their usual starters, West Virginia had backups in 4 of 10 spots, including a possible duck in what would have been a matchup of the nations #1 and #2 ranked wrestlers at 157.
You would have expected the Pokes to dominate, but most matches were way closer than the final score would appear, and most of the guys did not score in the way we have expected from the David Taylor Pokes we have watched for the last season and a half.
Here’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly:
THE GOOD
In what turned out to be the only matchup of top 10 wrestlers, Troy Spratley was on a two-match losing streak to Jett Strickenbarger, but you wouldn’t know it from the way Spratley wrestled Sunday.
Troy was aggressive and tough on top (as usual), and Strickenbarger was game. Spratley got a takedown about a minute in and rode Strickenbarger out, holding on through several rolls and solid attempts at escape. Spratley got a reverse and solid ride in 2d before Strickenbarger escaped. Surprisingly, Strickenbarger took down in 3d and Spratley again put on a solid ride and ended up winning 6-2 with the riding time.
Alex Facundo and Landon Robideau both got tech fall wins over backups (Leo Contino and Cole Evans, respectfully), and Konner Doucet continued channeling Wyatt Hendrickson with several takedowns before finally turning and pinning his man, Wilson Spires in the first period.
THE BAD
Although these were all wins for the Pokes, they just weren’t the kind of effort you expect from guys hoping to podium against lesser competition. Zach Ryder sort of lucked out, winning 2-1 over Ian Bush on a late stall point that could’ve really gone either way.
