OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University men's wrestling posted scores of 53-0 and 25-21 to overwhelm two foes on Wednesday at Abe Lemons Arena.
OCU, ranked 16th in the NAIA, started off the action by blanking Wayland Baptist (Texas) 53-0. The Stars followed it up with a 25-21 beating of Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) to move to 4-0 in dual action.
Kidd Gomez, a sophomore from Noble, Okla., was named the wrestler of the night after posting two 16-4 major decisions over his opponents.
“Kidd has been wrestling phenomenal,” OCU coach Archie Randall said. “He has been working really hard with wrestling on his feet and controlling his breathing, and that has been real effective for him lately. He's able to build a nice big lead and tonight that happened both times he went out to wrestle.”
OCU faced off with Wayland Baptist for the second time in a week, with similar results in each meeting. On Nov. 11, OCU overwhelmed Wayland Baptist 48-6 and the Pioneers notched their sole match win at 157. Cameron Ream, a sophomore from Wentzville, Mo., avenged this earlier dual loss to get a 9-2 decision for the Stars and keep the Pioneers scoreless.
OCU recorded extra points in five matches of the six wrestled matches against Wayland Baptist. Sterling Wright, Will Shelton-Delk and Jake Mabry notched pins in the dual. Mabry, a senior from Gig Harbor, Wash., pinned Francisco DeLeon for the second time this season in 2 minutes, 25 seconds.
The Stars posted a 25-21 win over Ouachita Baptist to cap the night's action. OCU recorded three consecutive pins by Kenny Wheeler, Shelton-Delk and Mark Meyer to highlight Stars extra-point scoring and build a much-needed OCU lead.
Meyer, a junior from Midwest City, made short work of his match and earned the quick fall over Tyler Graham just 12 seconds into the action. After Meyer's pin the Tigers nabbed three decisions, two of which were majors, to cut into the Stars lead and put the outcome of the dual in jeopardy.
After forfeit at 197, the score was 22-21 in favor of OCU heading into the final heavyweight match between Mabry and Tyler Poe.
“We had to void a match at the end of the dual and I went and asked Jake if he wanted to wrestle at 197 or heavyweight,” Randall said. “Mabry told me 'it doesn't matter, Coach. I'm winning the match', and I believed him.
“You can tell Jake is a senior, he's matured a lot and is becoming a go-to guy for us. He's in that stage in his career that we can count on him. So he went out and wrestled heavyweight because I thought that was our best opportunity and he not only won his match, but he won the dual for us.”
Mabry scored three takedowns and only gave up two escape points to take the 7-2 individual win and secure the Stars team victory.
“We were a little bit inconsistent and sometimes when you come off a big tournament, you don't necessarily perform very well,” Randall said. “You've got to be consistent if you want to win, but it's good for us that it's early in the dual season.”
OCU next faces off in the Oklahoma Open against competitors from Oklahoma and North Carolina State. The duals will begin at 9 a.m. at the McCasland Fieldhouse in Norman, Okla., on Nov. 27.
OKLAHOMA CITY 53
WAYLAND BAPTIST 0
125: Kidd Gomez, OCU, maj. dec. Richard Leal, 16-4
133: Sterling Wright, OCU, pinned Shane Wilkinson, 5:45
141: Kenny Wheeler, OCU, maj. dec., Cesar Alvarez, 17-9
149: Will Shelton-Delk, OCU, pinned Paz Acosta, 5:45
157: Cameron Ream, OCU dec. Marc Backus, 9-2
165: Mark Meyer, OCU, by forfeit
174: Heath Boyd OCU, by forfeit
184: Andrew Pontikes, OCU, by forfeit
197: James Brigance, OCU, by forfeit
285: Jake Mabry, OCU, pinned Francisco DeLeon, 2:25
OKLAHOMA CITY 25
OUACHITA BAPTIST 21
125: Kidd Gomez, OCU, maj. dec. Seth Hutchison, 16-4
133: Brantley Pyle, OBU, maj. dec. Sterling Wright, 9-1
141: Kenny Wheeler, OCU, pinned John Grove, 1:33
149: Will Shelton-Delk, OCU, pinned Dallas Gracey, 2:25
157: Mark Meyer, OCU pinned Tyler Graham, 0:12
165: Jake Simpson, OBU, maj. dec. Heath Boyd, 10-0
174: Aaron Butler, OBU, maj. dec. Andrew Pontikes, 10-2
184: CJ Hays, OBU, dec. James Brigance, 3-2
197: Gabe Musser, OBU, by forfeit
285: Jake Mabry, OCU, dec. Taylor Poe, 7-2
OUACHITA BAPTIST 39
WAYLAND BAPTIST 13
125: Seth Hutchison, OBU, dec. Richard Leal, 7-1
133: Brantley Pyle, OBU, pinned Shane Wilkinson, 1:10
141: Cesar Alvarez, WBU, maj. dec. John Grove, 12-1
149: Dallas Gracey, OBU, pinned Paz Acosta, 1:50
157: Marc Backus, WBU, pinned Tyler Graham, 4:23
165: Jake Simpson, OBU, by forfeit
174: Aaron Butler, OBU, by forfeit
184: CJ Hays, OBU, by forfeit
197: Gabe Musser, OBU, by forfeit
285: Francisco DeLeon, WBU, dec. Tyler Poe, 6-2
