Sooners upset No. 9 O-State

Christopher Shelton

NORMAN — Oklahoma State’s quest to reclaim the Bedlam crown went awry Sunday on the Norman mat.

Each team claimed five matches, but with an extra six points from an injury forfeit at 133 pounds, Oklahoma won 18-15 for the second year in a row — a first since 1993.

No. 15 Tyler Shinn injured what appeared to be his collarbone in the first period of his match against OU’s David Armstrong. After grimacing through a couple of injury timeouts, the junior gave up the match, boosting the 20th-ranked Sooners (4-0) to an early 9-0 lead.

“If you’re going to wrestle, you’ve got to stay focused,” OSU coach John Smith said. “It’s going to hurt. ... I think he’s a tough kid. I don’t think he’d lay down by any means, so obviously it’s something pretty serious.

“If it’s a broken collarbone or if he did something like that, it’s going to be tough to compete.”

Smith said the details of Shinn’s injury are unknown at that point.

Back in February, the Sooners defeated OSU — by the same score they did so Sunday — to break a 19-dual streak for the Cowboys. Not only did OU keep O-State from reclaiming the Bedlam bragging rights, but also started a streak of their own.

“It is what it is,” Smith said. “Our season isn’t based on duals, but we take pride in winning duals. It never has been based on duals. They’re a means to get to another level of competition, but we can’t have too many more of these.

“This is no good for anyone, especially when you have a better team — that didn’t show up today, obviously.”

The No. 9 Cowboys (5-2) claimed two unexpected victories at 141 and 197 pounds. At 141, unranked redshirt freshman Jamal Parks toppled No. 12 Zack Bailey, 10-7, to break OSU’s two-match losing streak.

Parks attacked with ferocity, gaining four takedowns and riding time advantage over Bailey’s four escapes and single takedown.

At 197, 15th-ranked Cowboy Clayton Foster upset the Sooners’ star wrestler, No. 8 Eric Lapotsky, by a 12-9 advantage. From a 9-4 deficit, Lapotsky struck with a takedown and three-point nearfall to close the gap with 30 seconds left in the match.

At the seven-second mark, Foster spun a reversal, and his riding time put him up 12-9. However, the efforts at those weights weren’t enough to offset OU’s early advantage.

“With this team, you can’t afford to give up six points at ’33,” Smith said. “Ultimately, from that point forward, we picked up two upsets really — ’41 and ’97 — but we can’t afford to give up six. That’s where we’re at.

“I didn’t care for the way we competed (Sunday), very disgusting in how we lost, the way we lost. It looked like we were dragging at key moments, especially in the third period. Just unacceptable.”

Just how unacceptable was the Cowboys’ performance? Enough so that Smith promised that no one will see the same lineup that wrestled Sunday for the rest of this season. He’s seen some things he doesn’t like becoming consistent and wants to give some other wrestlers opportunities.

The Sooners still trail, 26-124-9, in the Bedlam series. Sooners coach Jack Spates improved his Bedlam record to 3-29-2 in 16 seasons at OU.

“We’re certainly not proud of our Bedlam record, but we are proud of two wins in a row over a great program like that, and I’m proud of our guys,” Spates said. “Bedlam is a funny meet. It’s a very emotional experience, and it does things to people that sometimes you sit back as a coach and you’re just shaking your head.

“I know John would echo that sentiment. But the bottom line is that you got to win tough, and that’s what these guys did.”

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