Lewallen went 5-0 on the day, including a pair of major decisions, to bring home the 141-pound title. The redshirt freshman, who sat out last season due to injury, capped off the event by knocking off seventh-ranked and last year's NCAA runner-up Bryce Meredith of Wyoming in a 7-3 decision.
"It's a good stepping stone," Lewallen said. "I've been out since my senior year of high school due to injuries. Being able to recover from them and having the Lord with me, there's nothing better. I give all the glory to God, and I'm thankful to be here. Competing hard, there's no other way to compete for me. I've got to compete hard or I could be injured again. I hated sitting out."
Senior Jordan Rogers was the second Cowboy to earn top honors at his weight, sweeping through the 174-pound bracket to earn the title. Rogers started hot, picking up two falls and a major decision in his first three matches. After winning his semifinal contest by injury default, he matched up with Austin Dewey of Boise State in the finals, gutting out a 6-4 victory.
"When you come out to a tournament like this, there really isn't anything to lose," Rogers said. "That was kind of my mindset throughout the tournament, that there was nothing to lose. I felt like I was doing well. There were moments when I felt like I was holding back points, but you've just got to keep building off that. Hopefully, you get to the end of the season and can wrestle carefree all match long, so that was my goal for the tournament this weekend."
Derek White brought home the title at 197 pounds, remaining steady throughout the day to win his second event as a Cowboy. White notched a pair of major decisions on his way to a 4-0 day, wrapping it up with a 7-3 decision over Cal Poly's J.T. Goodwin. The win moves White to 12-2 overall this season.
Both of OSU's entries at 125 pounds placed on Sunday, with juniors Eli Hale and Zac Gentzler taking second and fourth, respectively. Hale was on fire for much of the day, starting 4-0 with a technical fall and major decision to advance to the 125-pound finals. Hale came up short however, dropping a major to Oregon State's Ronnie Bresser. Gentzler went 3-2 on the day, advancing to the semifinals before falling to Bresser as well in an 8-2 decision. In the third-place match, he would be topped by Michigan State's Logan Griffin.
Two Cowboys placed at 133 pounds as well, with redshirt sophomore Mike Magaldo taking third and redshirt freshman Lincoln Olson coming in fifth. Magaldo won four matches Sunday, only falling to Stanford's Connor Schram in the semifinals. Olson had a strong showing as well, bouncing back from a loss to Austin Eicher in the quarterfinals to move through the consolation bracket and defeat Utah Valley's Durbin Lloren in the fifth-place match.
Junior Davey Dolan took third at 157 pounds behind a strong 6-1 day that included an impressive five bonus point victories. Dolan advanced to the semifinals, coming up short to Wyoming's Archie Colgan, but he bounced back with a pair of wins in consolation to seal his third-place medal.
Redshirt sophomore Tanner Allen took fifth place in the heavyweight bracket. Allen started out strong, going 3-0 to start the tournament to advance to the semifinals, but after a couple of consecutive losses he rebounded to take down Utah Valley's Jordan Karst in the fifth-place match.
Hestin Lamons advanced to the semifinals as well at 165, and finished sixth overall. Competing unattached at 149 pounds, Geordan Martinez bounced back from a loss in the round of 16 to take fifth.
The Cowboys will enjoy a brief holiday break before heading back out on the road to the Southern Scuffle Jan. 1-2 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now