The Red/White Classic was first-year coach Mark Cody’s last look at his team on the mat before the season started. But more than that, the event was a last chance for OU’s wrestlers to wrestle for a starting position.

It was a wrestle-off to see whom would represent the No. 13 wrestling program in the country, according to Amateur Wrestling News. The top two wrestlers in each weight class on Oklahoma’s squad were pitted against each other one week before its 2011-12 season begins.

20 wrestlers stepped foot on the mat, but only 10 saw their hands raised by the ref at the match’s end. The event was so competitive that it ended in an 18-18 tie.

Junior Erich Schmidtke was among the 10 Thursday night at Howard McCasland Field House. He defeated freshman Sean Datte and 165-pounder by technical fall with a score of 24-9 in 184-pound class.

Schmidtke has already set his sights on the upcoming season, and he said likes Oklahoma’s schedule.

“I’m pretty excited for it,” he said. “I think it will get us ready [and] peak us at the right time, you know, for nationals at the end of the year. Everything is kind of preparing us for that one moment.”

Junior Keldrick Hall finished freshman and 174-pounder Andrew Spangler by pin fall with 40 seconds left in the second period to earn the win in the 197-pound class. Hall has started the last two seasons at 197 pounds for the Sooners.

Sophomore Kendric Maple had the event’s first major decision of the night with a 13-2 clinical defeat of junior Scott Chene in 141-pound weight class. In the final period of the match, Maple earned eight of his 13 points.

Maple brought Chene to the mat four times in six minutes. He qualified for the 2009-10 NCAA tournament, but was redshirted for the 2010-11 season.

Cody believes Oklahoma is in a good position to win matches. Despite suiting up just one senior this season, Cody will have seven wrestler whom are used to starting, six of which have NCAA tournament experience.

“It’s gonna be a good year for us,” Cody said. “We’re ready to get out there and scrap. We’re ready to fight.”

2011 All-American Jarrod Patterson finished last season with a 29-9 record last season. The Cushing native earned a 4-1 result over freshman Cody Brewer in the 125-pound match.

Patterson is looking to win more matches in his sophomore season and repeat his All-American performance.

“Obviously, I want to have a better season than last year,” Patterson said. “I had a couple of losses I shouldn’t have had. I’m hoping to start off the season with a bang. I want to have a good start and keep it going throughout the season.”

Patterson is one of many holdovers for from the 2010-11 season, which was coached by former OU coach Jack Spates in his final year. Cody will look to fill the void and put a championship wrestling team on the mat this season.

“I felt they wrestled a little tentatively,” Cody said. “I think there were a lot of opportunities to attack that maybe we didn’t take advantage of, but overall I think most if not all of them coming off the mat at that point had realized that they are in very good shape. They could have probably put some more points up on the board.”

Cody and Oklahoma will begin their regular season schedule Thursday against Oklahoma City University, and the Sooners will begin conference wrestling at 7p.m. Nov. 18 at McCasland Field House against Missouri.

The Sooners’ schedule is tough on paper. In addition to its Big 12 conference schedule, the Sooners will welcome Arizona State, Va. Tech and Lehigh to Norman.

“I think we’ve put together one of the toughest schedules in the country,” Cody said. “They don’t rank schedules in our sport, but if they did, I think they’d find that ours is one of the toughest. We want to continue to do that every year.

Junior Bubby Graham will be among the Sooners whom will compete in the Sooners robust schedule. He transferred to Oklahoma from American and will wrestle in the 165-pound weight class for the Sooners.

Graham cruised to a 5-1 victory in the event against sophomore Kyle Detmer. The only point he gave up came during the first period.

“I want to achieve our goals as a team and be national champs,” Graham said. “We’ve got the talent in the room to do it, and I just think, if we put in the work, we can do it. And myself, I want to be a national champ.”