Cowboys were spotted in Cedar Falls tonight as Northern Iowa wrestling hosted Oklahoma State in a Big 12 conference dual. The dual featured two top rated teams with UNI ranked 15th in the country and Oklahoma State carrying a #10 ranking. Wrestling royalty was also in attendance as former Iowa head coach and Olympian Dan Gable watched on.
Wrestling got underway with the 125 pounders putting on a show as UNI’s Kyle Golhofer scored a 14-5 major decision victory over Zach Blankenship to make it 4-0 Panthers. At 133 pounds it was a matchup of ranked wrestlers as 11th ranked Kyle Biscoglia fell in a 8-1 decision to top rated Daton Fix. At 141 pounds Oklahoma State picked up a major decision from #27 Carter Young as he defeated UNI’s Cael Happel 15-7. At 149 12th rated Panther Colin Realbuto who faced off against OSU’s #23 Victor Vionovich. Realbuto fell behind 3-1 in the 2nd period, before battling back with an escape and takedown to take a 4-3 lead in the third period. Realbuto was gave up an escape, but held a 1:30 riding time advantage to seal the win 5-4, tying the score at 7-7. At 157 pound LaPorte City native #25 Derek Holschlag squared off against Oklahoma State’s #10 Kaden Gfeller. It was a battle between two highly experienced redshirt seniors. They wrestled to a 3-3 tie after the opening three minutes. It was tied 7-7 and Holschlag came away with a huge upset win in overtime to give the Panther Train a 10-7 lead heading to the break.
Out of the break at 165 pounds former WSR Go-Hawk Austin Yant fell by pin in 6:24 to OSU’s Wyatt Sheets to make the score 13-10 Oklahoma State. At 174 pounds a late switch by Head Coach Doug Schwab sent Lance Runyon to the mat to face the Cowboy’s Dustin Plott, who was rated #6 and is a returning All-American. Plott won a 7-3 decision to extend the OSU lead to 16-10. The Panther Train picked up a major decision from their top rated 184 pounder, Parker Keckeisen. He defeated #10 ranked Travis Wittlake 20-6. At 197 Schwab decided the time was right for West Delaware alumn and former state champion Wyatt Voelker to make his dual meet debut. He faced #19 ranked Luke Surber. Voelker scored an escape with about a minute to go in the third period to tie the score 1-1, but fell due to riding time, 2-1. Oklahoma State took a 19-14 lead into the heavyweight match, with #11 Tyrell Gordon needing a fall over #21 Konner Doucet for the Panthers to take the team victory. In the third period Gordon scored a reversal at the edge of the mat on a throw that nearly netted him that chance. Doucet fell to his back, but was able to scramble quick enough to prevent himself from getting pinned. Despite Gordon’s best efforts he wasn’t able to score the pinned, but did notch a 3-2 victory. Oklahoma State took the night 19-17.
