The OU wrestling squad may have enjoyed winter break more than other groups of students – they dominated opponents in the Lonestar Duals and placed in the Virginia Duals, furthering the team’s chances of climbing in rankings.

The No. 11 ranked OU grapplers (12-1-1) beat four universities by an average score of 39-4 at the Lonestar Duals on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

The opposition never scored in the double digits, as OU beat Northwestern (40-3), Harvard (44-6), Brown (36-4), and Nebraska-Kearney (34-4).

The 12th win of the season marks the 15th straight year of 10-plus dual wins under OU head coach Jack Spates, and it came easily this weekend as OU trailed only once – a 0-3 deficit to start the Harvard dual.

Ten non-starters saw action for OU, going 10-2 on the day.

OU also defeated Penn State, 22-15, to earn third place at the Virginia Duals January 9 in Hampton, Va.

The win over PSU was the second top-10 win for OU in the duals and the fourth of the season.

“Overall, it was a good weekend for the Sooners,” Spates said. “We had an exceptional first day and then dropped a heartbreaker in the semifinals today, where we failed to seal the deal against Lehigh. Our team was greatly disappointed, and we had an opportunity to bounce back against a great Penn State team this evening, which we did. I think it shows the character of our guys by not hanging our heads and ending with a great win.”

The only negative the team witnessed at the Virginia Duals was a brutal comeback from No. 11 Lehigh, where OU led 16-0 after four bouts, only to see the Hawk rally six straight bouts to win 18-16.

OU started the Virginia Duals by assaulting Bucknell, 28-7, and defeating No. 18 Virginia 21-13, where the team won the first six bouts in dominance.

“I’m really proud of our team today,” Spates said. “We won a lot of close, tough matches, and I thought our guys really showed up to compete. We had some heartbreakers, but guys battled through and came up with some big wins.”

There was also some home action over the break. OU won the final five matches against No. 17 Cal Poly to roll 27-13 on January 3 at the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman.

“Cal Poly is a good team and we knew that coming in,” Spates said. “We knew we had to come to wrestle. One big positive for us is the third period belonged to us. If you look at the third periods in all of our matches, we did most of the scoring. That is a compliment to our training.”

The OU grapplers will next face No. 2 Iowa State, which comes to Norman on January 22. The Sooners will attempt to snap a seven-match losing streak.