No. 24 Oklahoma closed its 2021-22 season on Friday night at the NCAA Championships in Detroit.
Nine OU wrestlers competed, but none mustered a berth in Saturday’s matches. The Sooners failed to have a representative achieve All-American status. Redshirt senior Jake Woodley earned All-American honors at last season’s national tournament.
Woodley and fellow redshirt senior Joey Prata fell just short of advancing to the final day of the event and gaining All-American status, losing in the final consolation match. As a team, Oklahoma sat in 29th place nationally with 11 team points at the time its last remaining wrestlers were eliminated.
In the 125-pound class, Prata added 1.5 points to the Sooners’ team score. After falling in his opening match on Thursday, Prata bounced back with three consecutive wins before being eliminated by Northwestern’s Michael DeAugustino in a 2-0 decision.
133-pound senior Tony Madrigal was eliminated following losses in his first two matches. Madrigal was defeated by Northwestern’s Chris Cannon and Illinois’ Lucas Byrd 3-1.
Redshirt junior Jacob Butler went 1-2 in the 141-pound class at the national championship, adding another 1.5 points to OU’s overall score. Butler’s lone win was a 9-0 major decision victory over Virginia’s Dylan Cedeno in the preliminary round.
In the 149-pound class, redshirt freshman Willie McDougald added 3.5 more points, notching a 2-2 record. McDougald was eliminated by Bedlam rival Kaden Gfeller 2-1 in the third consolation round.
Redshirt senior Justin Thomas defeated Pittsburgh’s Elijah Cleary 6-5 in the first round of the tournament. However he lost his next two matches, eliminating the veteran in the second consolation round of the 157-pound class after he scored one team point.
Redshirt senior Anthony Mantanona added another point to the Sooners’ total with a 2-2 record in the 174-pound class. Mantanona was knocked out of the championship in the third consolation round via a 5-1 loss to Ohio State’s Ethan Smith.
184-pound redshirt senior Keegan Moore recorded a 2-2 performance that gave OU another point. Moore was downed 11-6 in the third consolation round by Max Lyon of Purdue, removing him from contention.
In the 197-pound class, Woodley picked up another two points for the Sooners behind a 2-2 record. Woodley won his first two matches, but was unable to muster another win, falling 5-4 to Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida in the fourth consolation round.
Heavyweight Josh Heindselman scored half a point in his 1-2 effort in Detroit. In his third match against Oklahoma State’s Luke Surber, the Sooners’ redshirt sophomore fell 8-2, ending his season.
Oklahoma wraps up the season with an 8-6 record while the Sooners went 3-5 in conference play.
