James Hackney
#18 Oklahoma over Little Rock 26-10
The Sooners took on a tough team in Little Rock and came out with a win, but not unscathed. A mix of upsets and closer than expected matches kept the team score tighter than last year’s 37-0 bout. The team doesn’t have much time to recover either, as they’ll take on North Dakota State in another sleeper team matchup. Now 2-0 in duals, here are some recaps from their first dual of the weekend.
The Upsets
The Sooners were favored on paper in nine of the matches, but were upset at 157 and 174. At 157 Bianchi is someone that I warned about playing spoiler, and he did here with a major decision over #33 John Wiley. It looks like Wiley has won the starting spot over Jared Hill, but is yet to find the success expected early on. Bianchi is someone that will climb the rankings, but Wiley will need to start getting in the win column as the competition increases.
Another surprise upset came at 174lbs where Tyler Brennan took out #13 Tate Picklo in a close decision. Brennan scored the only takedown of the match in the first period, but a Picklo reversal gave thought that he should be able to come back. However Both wrestlers went on to take neutral, and Picklo was only able to force a stall call. Another Sooner having consistency issues, Picklo at his best is a potential podium contender. However until he starts winning matches like this, or the one in the CMU dual he later avenged, it will be hard to know where his ceiling is….
