Sooners pin season-opening loss on Central Michigan; 3 Sooners win titles at Michigan State Open

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — The Oklahoma wrestling team opened the Roger Kish era with a 29-11 win over Central Michigan on Thursday night.

The Sooners (1-0) won their first three matches to take an 11-0 lead in the dual, an advantage they would hold on to until the final whistle. Five of OU’s seven wins on the evening came with bonus points. The night was highlighted by Stephen Buchanan’s highly anticipated OU debut, which saw the No. 2 Wyoming transfer pick up a win via 21-3 tech fall (7:00) in the 197-pound bout.

In the first match of the contest, sophomore Conrad Hendriksen set the tone with a thrilling, 9-5 comeback decision win over Central Michigan’s Sean Spidle. The Tennessee-Chattanooga transfer trailed in the final minute of the third period before taking control and racking up seven nearfall points.

At 133 pounds, redshirt senior Jace Koelzer was the next starter to make his Sooner debut. The No. 24-ranked Northern Colorado transfer secured two quick takedowns and capped a dominant performance with a 17-2 tech fall (6:03) victory over CMU’s Vince Perez.

No. 10 Mosha Schwartz picked up his first win of the season via 9-5 decision. Schwartz is in his second season starting for the Sooners at 141 pounds after bumping up a weight class for 2022.

In the 149-pound bout, No. 15 Willie McDougald faced off against the highest ranked Chippewa in No. 13 Corbyn Munson. Tied in the final seconds, Munson earned a three-point takedown to pull out a 4-2 decision to put Central Michigan on the board and make the score 11-3.

CMU cut into the deficit again as the 157-pound match-up went in favor of No. 15 Johnny Lovett. Lovett defeated OU’s John Wiley by way of a 17-6 major decision after recording five takedowns. The win brought the Chippewas back to life, making it an 11-7 contest.

Redshirt senior Cael Carlson got the Sooners back on track, picking up bonus points in an 11-3 major decision win over CMU’s Tracy Hubbard in the 165-pound bout.

The second and final ranked matchup between both sides came at 174 pounds, where CMU’s No. 18 Alex Cramer defeated No. 13 Tate Picklo via a 16-5 major decision. CMU pulled within four points again at 15-11, but the Sooners went on to dominate the final three bouts.

The night ended with Giuseppe Hoose defeating CMU’s Cody Brenner by a 13-2 major decision at 184 pounds, followed by back-to-back Buchanan and Josh Heindselman tech falls in their respective weight classes over CMU’s Cameron Wood and Bryan Caves.

On Saturday at the Michigan State Open in East Lansing, Mich., Tate Picklo, Buchanan and Heindsleman each claimed titles and OU wrestling had four other finalists.

It was a strong showing for the No. 21 Sooners. OU finished the day with a 4925 record against a field that included four other top-25 teams.

Picklo avenged an early season loss in the 174 pound championship bout by defeating Central Michigan’s Alex Cramer (7-2 Dec.).

Buchanan continued his dominant start to the season by picking up two tech falls in the 197 pound bracket before shutting out No. 22 Evan Bates of Northwestern in the championship bout via 9-0 major decision. The Wyoming transfer and No. 3 overall 197-pounder is outscoring opponents 66-5 to start the year.

Heindselman captured the final title for the Sooners at the heavyweight level after two consecutive runner-up finishes at the MSU open in previous seasons. The redshirt senior stood atop the 285 pound podium after picking up two tech falls and defeating Bryan Caves of Central Michigan in the first place match. An opening round takedown proved to be enough for the Piedmont native as he held on for a 4-2 decision.

Four Sooners won their way through the consolation brackets to earn top three spots in their respective title bouts: sophomore Conrad Hendriksen, and redshirt seniors Jace Koelzer,Cael Carlson and Giuseppe Hoose.

Hendriksen won his first three matches in the 125 pound freshman/sophomore division before losing a closelycontested final to Kaden Chinavare of Central Michigan 4-3. The Tennessee-Chattanooga transfer outscored opponents 36-2 leading up to the final.

Koelzer won four of five bouts, highlighted by a thrilling sudden victory-1 over Michael Kaminski of Northern Illinois in the third-place match at 133 pounds (SV-1 7-4).

Hoose earned a third place finish at 184 pounds after a close 4-3 decision over Matt Zuber of Northern Illinois.

Gabe Vidlak and Kaden Smith also competed in the 133-pound bracket, both finishing 2-2 and not placing.

At 149 pounds, Willie McDougald claimed a fifth place finish over Cam Picklo via medical forfeit. The 157 pound, fifth-place bout also ended in a forfeit which saw Jared Hill getting the win over John Wiley.

Carlson won four matches, all by decision en route to a third place finish in the 165 pound bracket. Mannix Morgan was the other Sooner to compete at 165, picking up his lone win over Graham Calhoun of Wisconsin via 10-9 decision.

Gerrit Nijenhuis did not compete in the fifth place match of the 174 pound bracket after medically forfeiting. Carson Berryhill went 2-2 as the other Sooner at 184 pounds and did not place.

The Sooners hit the road once again this week when they travel to Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday.