By Michael Kinney
In its first top-20 battle of the season, Oklahoma wanted to come out Sunday and put an early stamp on the wrestling season. Facing No. 20 Arizona State, they had a chance to send a small message throughout the country that the 12th ranked Sooners will have to be dealt with.
After a slow start, the Sooners proved their point. They stormed back to knock off a strong Sun Devils' squad 24-11 at McCasland Field House
"They are a lot better than top-20 I think," Oklahoma coach Jack Spates said. "I think this is a team that is going to beat a lot of teams. I thought this could very well go right down to the wire. So it's a credit to our team how well they performed."
The Sooners (2-0) didn't gain control of the match until deep into their lineup. Eric Lapotsky secured the win for the Sooners when he pinned the Sun Devils' Anthony Pike in the first period of their 197-pound match. OU led 21-11 with one match left.
"It's always my goal to just go out there and pin the guy," Lapotsky said. "I knew it clinched the team score to. That was huge and an extra motivator."
Lapotsky, who is ranked seventh in the nation at 197 pounds, moved to 6-0 on the season and has earned a pin in five of his six victories. His intensity has been a factor in Oklahoma's early success.
"He really is the leader on the team in terms of aggression," Spates said of Lapotsky. "From the second that he shakes hands, he is all over the player. And always looking for the pin. Really a good role model for our guys."
However, the match didn't start out well for OU. Justin Forest was manhandled 16-0 by All-American Anthony Robels at 125-pounds. The one-legged junior from ASU has turned from an inspirational story into a powerhouse who was too much for Forest to deal with.
Losses by Alex Ekstrom and Zack Bailey put the Sooners behind 11-0 before the crowd had settled in their seats.
Bailey's defeat at 141-pounds was particularly harsh because the junior was an NCAA qualifier last year and came into the match with a 4-1 record. But he was unable to do anything with Chris Drouin, who is ranked fifth in the nation and an All-American. Drouin won 3-1.
It wasn't until the Sooners' highest ranked wrestler, No. 3 Kyle Terry, earned a 3-0 victory over Vicente Varela that Oklahoma got on the board. Shane Vernon and Tyler Caldwell kept the momentum going with wins at 157 and 165.
Seventh-ranked Jeff James edged out Eric Starks 4-3 and gave Oklahoma its first lead of the afternoon .
After Oklahoma's Eric Schmidtke and Lapotsky put the match out of reach, Nathan Hernadnez closed out the night when he outlasted Erik Nye 3-2. The junior from Lawton improved his record to 9-2.
After losing their first three matches, the Sooners ran off nine straight victories to close out Arizona State. They also kept intact Spate's undefeated record at home in the month of November.
"It's indicative of the way our guys are working and the way our guys are battling," Spates said. "If you work hard and you battle hard, good things are going to happen. That's what's taking place."
Michael Kinney 366-3537 mkinney@normantranscript.com
