The title marks the 50th conference championship and the 16th Big 12 championship for Cowboy wrestling, as well as the seventh-consecutive year that the Cowboys have won a Big 12 wrestling championship. It also marks the 300th conference team title for Oklahoma State athletics across all sports.
The Cowboys have already broken the Big 12 record for team points with 140.5, surpassing their previous mark of 118.5 points set in 2013.
In total, the Cowboys finished the first day of the event with a 19-1 record that included 12 bonus-point wins with five falls, six major decisions and one technical fall.
"For the most part, I feel like most of them were on spot today," coach John Smith said. "With each round now, it gets a lot tougher. Tomorrow's round, we will have nine in the finals, and obviously whoever has made it to the finals is a pretty good athlete. We just have to make sure that we embrace it and we understand that it takes tough people to win tough matches, and it's about to get real tough."
Saturday's second session began with No. 2-seed Eddie Klimara winning with a 6-2 decision over Utah Valley's Chasen Tolbert. He tallied two takedowns in the first period and added another in second to reach Sunday's final round.
Top-seeded Dean Heil continued his winning ways next with a 4-1 win over No. 4 Mitch Bengston in the 141-pound semifinal. Heil secured a takedown in the first period and battled to end of the bout to secure his place in the finals.
No. 1 seed Anthony Collica continued his tear with another fall at 149 pounds, marking his sixth win by fall in his last seven matches and his second pin of the day. He jumped on fourth-seeded Timmy Box early and often and pushed his lead to 16-9 before he locked up a cradle secured the fall in 6:10.
In the 157-pound match, Joe Smith also picked up his second bonus-point win of the event with a 13-2 major decision over No. 6 Eleazer DeLuca. Smith used a pair of first period takedowns to set the tone for the bout and stayed consistent to secure the win and improve his record to 29-3 on the year.
The 165-pound bout went as expected, with Alex Dieringer winning with bonus points. Facing fourth-seeded Connor Flynn of West Virginia, Dieringer stormed out to a 10-1 lead in the opening period. He added a quick takedown and more nearfall points to end the match with a 17-1 technical fall midway through the second period. It was Dieringer's 76th consecutive victory.
Chandler Rogers punched his ticket to the 174-pound final in one of the most exciting matches of the day. After building a 6-4 lead in the first two periods, Rogers found himself tied with South Dakota State's David Kocer, 8-8, with 30 seconds remaining. As the clock wound down and the match almost certainly appeared headed to overtime, Rogers pushed Kocer to the edge of the mat and leapt over the top of Kocer's shoulders as he spun and secured two points with a highlight-reel move as the final buzzer sounded.
At 184 pounds, Nolan Boyd picked up his second major decision of the day with a 10-1 win over No. 3 Jacob Scheffel of West Virginia.
Preston Weigel and Austin Marsden followed suit, each picking up a 6-2 decision at 197 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, to reach the finals.
Weigel's wins were some of the most important, as he secured a spot at the NCAA Championships after starting the year on the OSU bench.
"One thing he knows is he earned his spot," Smith said. "Back in December, it was looking pretty ugly for him. I'm really proud of him, the effort to fight back and help this team."
Those nine Cowboys in the finals will try for their individual titles at 1 p.m. Sunday. Dieringer will be going for his fourth Big 12 title, while Collica, Klimara and Marsden will try for their third; Heil and Boyd try for their second; and Smith, Rogers and Weigel try for their first.
Gary Wayne Harding will get things going for the Cowboys Sunday, as he competes in the 133-pound consolation semifinals at 9 a.m.
Team Standings After Session 2:
1. Oklahoma State - 140.5
2. Iowa State - 72
3. Oklahoma - 70.5
4. South Dakota State - 68.5
5. Wyoming - 51
6. West Virginia - 49
7. North Dakota State - 45.5
8. Utah Valley - 33.5
9. Air Force - 24.5
9. Northern Colorado - 24.5
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