• Rowe only Sooner to make it to Friday night
Transcript Staff
ST. LOUIS — In a disappointing showing, Oklahoma’s wrestling season ended Friday, one day short of the last day of the NCAA Championship.
The Sooners qualified five wrestlers, but only Will Rowe, at 149 pounds, was still competing by Friday night. Joey Fio at 125, Zack Bailey at 141, Josh Weitzel at 184 and Joel Flaggert at 197 were out by the afternoon.
“This has been a disappointing tournament for us but we refuse to hang our heads,” OU coach Jack Spates said. “We’ll be back.”
Rowe, Fio and Bailey will return next season, along with three other starters.
Rowe lost his first round match Thursday, but rebounded by winning three straight to get within one win of being an All-American. He opened the day Friday by beating Northwestern’s Ryan Lang 18-10.
He followed that with a 13-7 win over West Virginia’s David Jauregui.
In the evening session, he faced Michigan’s Joshua Churella, but fell 7-6.
“Will battled back after an early loss (Thursday) and really fought,” Spates said. “Obviously, it wasn't enough. Still, we are very proud of Will and look forward to his future.”
Tennessee-Chattanooga’s Cody Cleveland eliminated Bailey, 15-13, while Weitzel was knocked out by Boise State’s Kirk Smith 3-0. Flaggert’s season ended with a 4-0 loss to Tennessee-Chattanooga’s Matt Koz.
