James Hackney
he second round of Bedlam is in the books, and it was another dominant win for the Cowboys. They managed to turn three of the losses from the last one around, and beat up the Sooners in almost every match. OU had their moments, especially at 125 and 165. They also wrestled tough in the other matches, but couldn’t keep up with OK State’s offense.
It seemed like OK State came in determined to get some of the matches they lost last time back, and did for the most part. Young continued his strong second half of the season with another top eight win. Voinovich got his first ranked win this season over an opponent who beat him last time. Then Doucet won the heavyweight battle in rideouts, showing his defense and grit once again.
Comparing it to the earlier Bedlam, it just felt like OSU has made more developments since the last dual. They weren’t able to get to their offense nearly as frequently, and weren’t able to hit the same gear in matches. They were a few exchanges away from making this closer, but close doesn’t mean much here.
125lbs: #30 Joey Prata Dec. #28 Reece Witcraft (7-2)
Prata came out and got a rankings upset, looking solid in doing so. He managed to hold off Witcraft’s big moves, and found his own offense with a takedown and turn. Prata struggled to separate in matches at times this season, but picked a good time to change that. This was an important match in terms of seeding and a nice bounce back for Prata after being upset himself last week.
For Witcraft, it’s going to be an uphill battle to make the tournament….
