Oklahoma State Wins Big 12 Title

Lincoln, Neb. -- Behind four individual champions, Oklahoma State built a sizable lead during the afternoon and cruised to its third Big 12 title in four years, winning the 2000 Big 12 Championships Sunday evening in front of crowd of 2,127 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

The sixth-ranked Cowboys finished with 84 points, easily topping runner-up and third-ranked Iowa State's total of 68. ISU needed an 8-6 victory from heavyweight Trent Hynek to move past fourth-ranked Oklahoma, which finished with 65 points. No. 11 Nebraska finished fourth (49.5), while Missouri placed fifth with 14.5 points.

Oklahoma State took most of the suspense away early, building a 60-37 lead at the end of the semifinal matches. The Cowboys, who earned Big 12 titles in 1997 and 1998, won seven of 10 semifinal matches and qualified a league best 10 wrestlers for this month's NCAA Championships in St. Louis. Oklahoma qualified nine wrestlers, while ISU and Nebraska qualified eight and six wrestlers, respectively. Missouri qualified three wrestlers including wildcard selections Jeff Urban (149) and Jeremy Spates (141).

Oklahoma State's Jeff Ragan pulled the evening's first upset, defeating Oklahoma's Quantres Bates, 12-6, to capture the 125-pound weight class. Bates, ranked third nationally, jumped to a 4-2 lead in the first period, but Ragan (27-9) used a takedown and a near fall with 48 seconds remaining in the second period to build a 12-6 lead and held on for the victory. Both of Bates' (24-2) losses have come to Ragan as they have spilt four matches this season.

At 133 pounds, Iowa State's Cody Sanderson picked up his third career Big 12 title, pinning Nebraska's Todd Beckerman at the 3:26 mark. The pin was the 10th of the season for Sanderson, who improved to 29-2 on the season after winning the 118-pound title in 1997 and 1998. Beckerman (26-8) upset seventh-ranked Charles Walker 4-2 in the semifinals, but was no match for Sanderson, who built a 9-1 lead after the first period, and was named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.

Oklahoma's Michael Lightner won his third straight conference title, defeating Oklahoma State's Jamill Kelly, 4-1, at 141 pounds. Lightner, 28-3 on the season, had the only takedown of the match in the first period and used a 1:14 riding time advantage in picking up his first conference title.

At 149 pounds, Oklahoma State's Reggie Wright picked up his second straight conference title, defeating Nebraska's Joe Henson 4-2. Trailing 2-1 entering the third period, Henson (24-12) tied the match at two with an escape seven seconds into the period, but Wright regained the lead with a takedown with 13 seconds remaining for the victory.

In the evening's only default, Nebraska sophomore Bryan Snyder picked up his second straight conference title at 157 pound. Snyder, 36-1 on the season, has now won 19 straight matches after defeating Oklahoma State's Shane Roller, 13-6 in the semifinals.

At 165 pounds, OSU's Ty Wilcox pulled the biggest upset of the evening, defeating No. 1 ranked Joe Heskett of Iowa State, 3-2. The match was destined for overtime until Heskett was called for an illegal hold with no time remaining, giving Wilcox (29-6) his first conference title, avenging a 6-3 loss in last year's Big 12 Championship match. Heskett drops to 26-2 on the season.

Oklahoma Byron Tucker moved to 29-0 with a decisive 13-3 victory over Missouri's John Kopnisky at 174 pounds. Tucker controlled the match from the onset, building a 7-1 advantage after the first period and cruised to the win and his first conference title. Kopnisky (30-7) was the only Missouri wrestler to advance to tonight's final, defeating NU's Ati Conner 6-4 in the semifinals.

At 184 pounds, top-ranked Cael Sanderson improved to 35-0 on the season with a 8-4 win over Oklahoma State's Daniel Cormier. Sanderson, who is unbeaten in 74 career collegiate matches, was tied at four in the second period, but used a reversal with 49 seconds remaining in the period to take a 6-4 lead and held Cormier, who dropped to 24-3 on the season, scoreless in the third period.

The featured bout of the evening took place at 197 pounds, as Nebraska's Brad Vering and Oklahoma State's Mark Munoz batted to a 1-1 draw at the end of overtime before Munoz picked up the 3-1 win over the top-ranked Vering in sudden death overtime. Munoz, ranked second nationally, won the toss in sudden death and elected the down position, forcing Vering (33-3) to ride him for the 30 seconds. Munoz, who has defeated Vering in all three meetings this season, used a reversal with two second remaining to improve to 31-3 on the season.

Hynek became ISU's third champion of the evening, improving to 21-0 with an 8-6 victory over Oklahoma State's Dave Anderton (23-11) in the final match of the evening at heavyweight. Hynek, ranked second nationally, led 7-4 in the third period before Anderton used a takedown with 31 seconds remaining to close within 7-6, but could get no closer.

In all, 36 wresters, the top three qualifiers in each weight class and six wildcards, qualified for the NCAA Championships March 16-18 in St. Louis, Mo.