Freshman Oliver Pierce, redshirt junior Zach Merrill, redshirt freshman Ross Larson and freshman Shayne Tucker all finished first in their respective weight classes.
Pierce, who wrestled unattached, won three straight matches to claim the 149-pound title. En route to the title bout, the freshman from Allen, Texas, started with a bye and then had a 16-0 technical fall over Victor Thomas of Wayland Baptist before defeating teammate Dryden Dennis, 2-0. In the finals, Pierce faced Chris Rubacaba of New Mexico Highlands and took the championship by decision, 2-0.
In the 285-pound championship, Merrill defeated Markese Christian of Wayland Baptist to take the title by a 3:43 fall. Earlier in the event Merrill won by two falls and a major decision. The tournament was Merrill’s first competition as a Sooner after transferring from California Baptist University.
Competing in the Freshman/Sophomore 157 pound bracket, Tucker took the title over Newman’s Colton Duhr by decision, 7-4. The Sacramento, Calif., native defeated Ben Becker of Northeast Oklahoma by major decision, 14-2, Alex Destra by technical fall, 16-1 and Shorter University’s TJ Duncan by major decision, 15-5 to reach the final bout.
With a 1:08 fall, Larson defeated Northeastern Oklahoma’s Evan McGee to take the 285-pound title in the Freshman/Sophomore division. All four of Larson’s victories on the day were by fall.
In the freshman/sophomore 125, Sean Williams of Tulare, Calif., finished second after falling to Erick Rangel of New Mexico Highlands by decision, 8-4. To reach the finals, Williams claimed four matches by decision.
A total of four Sooners finished third in their respective weight classes.
Sophomore Matt Reed finished third in the 174-pound bracket after defeating Easton Hargrave of New Mexico Highlands by decision, 11-8.
Freshman Danny Chaid place third in the Freshman/Sophomore 184 pound event In the third-place match, Chaid topped Caleb Cotter of Northeastern Oklahoma by decision, 5-0.
The Dennis brothers both claimed third-place finishes with Dalton doing so in the 141-pound class while Dryden placed at 149 pounds. Dalton Dennis won the third-place match as he topped Davey Dolan of OSU by fall in 4:15. Dryden Dennis defeated Victor Thomas of Wayland Baptist by major decision, 11-1.
Also competing in the OCU Open were Josh Durham (141) and Brad Johnson (197). Jon Wayne Townsend (141), Cade Wheelwright (141), Peter Huang (157), Alec Iacovelli (165) and Stone Drulman (184) all participated in the OCU Freshman/Sophomore Division.
The Sooners return to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, as they welcome Oklahoma City University to McCasland Field House for their home opener.
Open Championship Finals Results:
125: Cline (Oklahoma State, unattached) dec. Woodburn (Oklahoma State, unattached), 5-2
133: Heil (Oklahoma State, unattached) fall Lemon (Oklahoma State, unattached), 2:33
141: Collica (Oklahoma State, unattached) fall Hart (Wayland Baptist), 2:54
149: Pierce (Oklahoma, unattached) dec. Rubacaba (New Mexico Highlands), 2-0
157: Koo (Oklahoma State, unattached) dec. Torres (Oklahoma State, unattached), 5-2
165: Skates (Oklahoma City) dec. Mehan (Oklahoma State, unattached), 3-2
174: Ryan (University of Central Oklahoma) dec. Alvarez (Wayland Baptist), 4-2
184: Boyd (Oklahoma State, unattached) fall Chappell (Oklahoma State, unattached), 1:58
197: Manu (Missouri Valley) fall Rockhill (New Mexico Highlands), 0:59
285: Merrill (Oklahoma) fall Christian (Wayland Baaptist), 3:43
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