Sooners Take Care of Business against NIU – University of Oklahoma – Soonersports.com
DEKALB, Ill. – Wins in nine of the ten bouts helps Oklahoma wrestling to a comfortable 34-3 win over Northern Illinois on Sunday in the NIU Convocation Center. The Sooners (6-3, 2-2 Big 12) controlled the contest against the Huskies from the get-go and earned bonus points from five different wrestlers to take the easy win on the road.
“I thought we did a nice job today,” said head coach Lou Rosselli after the match. “It was a good team win. Anthony [Mantanona] got a top-20 win. Willie [McDougald] wrestled hard and is fun to watch. I liked his passion today. We need to keep improving and wrestling a little faster pace, but overall it was a good team win.”
Major decisions from Tony Madrigal, Willie McDougald, Justin Thomas and Jake Woodley helped OU take care of business in their final out-of-state road match of the season with four home duals and a trip to Stillwater left on the schedule. It is the third time this season that Rosselli’s squad have held their opponents to only one weight class win in dual action.
To start off the day, No. 32 Joey Prata (9-5) bounced back from his tight loss on Thursday with a 4-0 decision win to put the first points on the board for the Sooners. He turned a late first period single leg shot from the Huskie’s Lucian Brink into a takedown of his own and then maintained top position from wire to wire in the second for his ninth win on the year.
No. 14 Tony Madrigal (8-3) scored six points in the final period to make it two bonus point wins on the week with a 12-4 major decision in his bout. It was something of a homecoming for the redshirt senior who grew up in Oak Park, Ill., only an hour from NIU’s campus.
Redshirt freshman Willie McDougald (7-3) earned a 15-2 major decision for his second career win in dual action in as many attempts, finishing off a stellar week for him. He was the aggressor throughout, grabbing takedowns in every period and repeatedly cutting his opponent in an effort to get his first dual tech fall for the Crimson and Cream, coming up just three points short.
No. 16 Justin Thomas (13-4) and No. 32 Anthony Mantanona (11-4) both extended their impressive active win streaks. A takedown five seconds into the bout and four unanswered points from Thomas in the third helped him claim a 12-4 major decision victory to make it six in a row. Mantanona then faced the only ranked Husky that would wrestle on Sunday in No. 20 Mason Kauffman. A second period four-point near fall proved to be decisive for the California kid in an action packed contest that finished with a 6-4 decision in favor of Mantanona, giving him a five match win streak.
At 165, Troy Mantanona (5-5) used a tricky reversal and over two minutes of riding time to take a 6-4 decision. No. 26 Darrien Roberts (12-6) never got the chance to wrestle with the Huskies electing to forfeit the bout at 184 pounds.
In the 197-pound match, No. 12 Jake Woodley (15-5) worked throughout his match to earn his fifth major decision of the year by a score of 14-4, nearly snagging a pin as time expired in the second period. A defensive battle in the final match of the day saw No. 29 Josh Heindselman (9-7) come away with a 2-0 decision after riding tough all the way through the second and escaping in the third.
The Sooners will spend the next two weekends at home with four matches coming up in McCasland Field House. Duals with No. 10 Iowa State and Northern Iowa on Friday, Jan. 28 and Sunday, Jan. 30 are on the docket next week.
For updates, follow @OU_Wrestling on Twitter and Instagram, or like Oklahoma Wrestling on Facebook.
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