In the Cowboys' seventh win over a ranked opponent this season, Jacobe Smith pulled off an upset over No. 6 Drew Foster via decision, 8-4. Smith notched a takedown late in the second period to take a 4-2 lead and never trailed again. Two more takedowns in the third period solidified the upset for Smith.
"Jacobe saw a little bit of a size difference there," coach John Smith said. "I'll probably consider that one of his best matches that I've seen him wrestle. Northern Iowa has a good kid there who I'm sure we'll see again in the future competing for All-America honors."
With the win, Smith moved to 11-0 in dual competition, wrestling at both 174 and 184 pounds this season. It also marked the Cowboy's third-straight win over a ranked opponent.
"I'm listening to what my coaches have been training me all week to do, and that's to wrestle a strategic match," Jacobe Smith said. "I'm not out there just wasting all my energy on big moves and gassing out. It's good to see our game plan out there working."
Also picking up a tight win over a ranked opponent was Kaden Gfeller. The Cowboy notched his fourth win of the season over a top-20 opponent, beating No. 10 Max Thomsen in sudden victory, 9-7. Gfeller scored a takedown at the buzzer in regulation to force overtime and notched another takedown just 15 seconds in to get the win.
"Gfeller had a good score at the end of the period and then a good score in overtime to win the match," Smith said. "We're asking a lot from him, as he's wrestling at 149 pounds. He has a pretty good tendency of giving us a lot to look forward to."
Nick Piccininni got the Cowboys off to a great start notching a 16-1 technical fall over Jay Schwarm. The win moved Piccininni to 23-0 on the season and was his 19th bonus point win. The only other Cowboy to notch extra points was Daton Fix, who won a 17-7 major decision over Jack Skudlarcyzk.
Kaid Brock dropped a close match to No. 6 Josh Alber at 141 pounds via decision, 4-3. Alber scored a takedown in the final seconds of the match to come away with the first of three Panther wins on the evening. Andrew Shomers lost a 2-0 decision to No. 12 Bryce Steiert at 165 pounds, and at 174 pounds, Joe Smith suffered his first dual loss of the season to No. 8 Taylor Lujan, 5-4. The three losses for the Pokes tonight were decided by a combined four points.
"It was a tough match, obviously," Smith said. "I felt like it was going to be like that. Give Northern Iowa credit… good, hard wrestling and they came in here ready to fight. In some of our matches we took the battle back to them and clawed it out. Some of them didn't quite get there."
Wyatt Sheets defeated Paden Moore via 4-2 decision to pick up his first career win inside of GIA. Also taking decisions for the Cowboys were Dakota Geer and Derek White.
The Cowboys round out the weekend at home on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. against the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh.
Results:
125: No. 4 Nick Piccininni (OSU) TF Jay Schwarm (UNI) 16-1
133:No. 2 Daton Fix (OSU) MD Jack Skudlarczyk (UNI) 17-7
141: No. 6 Josh Alber (UNI) dec. No. 15 Kaid Brock (OSU) 4-3
149: No. 5 Kaden Gfeller (OSU) dec. No. 10 Max Thomsen (UNI) SV 9-7
157: Wyatt Sheets (OSU) dec. Paden Moore (UNI) 4-2
165: No. 12 Bryce Steiert (UNI) dec. Andrew Shomers (OSU) 2-0
174: No. 8 Taylor Lujan (UNI) dec. No. 5 Joe Smith (OSU) 5-4
184: No. 11 Jacobe Smith (OSU) dec. No. 6 Drew Foster (UNI) 8-4
197:No. 10 Dakota Geer (OSU) dec. Tyrell Gordon (UNI) 4-2
285: No. 2 Derek White (OSU) dec. Carter Isley (UNI) 10-4
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