NORMAN — Mark Cody wants more.
That was Oklahoma’s wrestling coach’s message following the Sooners’ 33-7 victory over Arizona State on Sunday afternoon at McCasland Fieldhouse. Even after the Sooners won 8 of 10 bouts and earned bonus points in seven of those eight victories.
“The good thing is that we are scoring a lot of points,” Cody said. “But we are stopping short of getting majors and technical falls. That’s where we really need to challenge ourselves. That’s where we really need to challenge ourselves and commit to scoring. That’s what I was a little bit disappointed about.”
It is part of the culture Cody, a first-year coach, is attempting to install in the Sooner program.
Yet, while he may have been “a little bit disappointed,” the Sooners did manage six major decisions against the Sun Devils.
One of those belonged to Kendric Maple. Still ranked No. 1 at 141 pounds, yet coming off his first loss of the season two days earlier In OU’s dual victory over Iowa State, Maple topped Nathan Hoffer 16-6.
There were two real upsets, one pulled by each team, with ASU’s Kevin Radford edging OU’s 20th-ranked Erich Schmidtke 4-3 in the 184-pound bout, and Sooner heavyweight Kyle Colling topping ninth-ranked Levi Cooper 4-3.
Colling’s victory was no small thing.
“We are improving all the time,” Cody said. “Kyle Colling just knocked off the guy that beat the No.1-ranked guy on the country … He was ready to go today. He went out there and fought today.”
OU’s Matt Lester scored the dual’s only fall, putting ASU 157-pounder Hans Rassmussen’s shoulders to the mat in 1:24.
The Sooners are back on the mat alongside OU’s 10th-ranked women’s gymnastics team at 7 p.m. Friday for the annual “Beauty and the Beast” promotion. The Sooner grapplers meet Virginia Tech, and the Sooner women take on No. 18 North Carolina State.
