TULSA, Okla. (March 7, 2020) – Wyoming heavyweight Brian Andrews advanced to the championship match at the Big 12 Championships Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., and will wrestle for the conference title Sunday night.
Andrews was able to qualify for the finals behind the strength of a trio of victories Saturday at the BOK Center. Andrews' semifinal match against No. 1 seed Tate Orndorff of Utah Valley Saturday night was an absolute war, with Andrews coming out on top with the 7-3 upset in the second Sudden Victory period. Andrews was able to get an escape and a pair of takedowns in overtime to best Orndorff.
Andrews began the day with a solid win against Oklahoma State's Austin Harris, defeating Harris 8-2 in the opening round. Andrews was able to advance to the semifinals in the final match of session one, with his first win in overtime on the day, besting No. 4 seed Carter Isley of Northern Iowa, 3-1 with a takedown in the first Sudden Victory period.
Andrews, who automatically qualified for the NCAA Tournament with his performance Saturday, will face No. 2 seeded Gannon Gremmel of Iowa State Sunday for the conference crown. Championship bouts begin at 5 p.m., MT and can be seen on Fox Sports.
"I think I wrestled pretty well today, I had a couple of overtime matches and those are always fun," said Andrews.
"I came out on top each time and that's a good thing and now I'm onto the finals. I just have to keep scoring to win tomorrow and 'score next' like coach always says. I'm looking forward to it, I have to just keep wrestling hard."
Montorie Bridges (133), Stephen Buchanan (197) and Tate Samuelson (184) all advanced in thrilling fashion late in session one to reach the semifinals in their weight classes. Buchanan was the first of the three to punch his ticket with a 9-5 win over Oklahoma State's Dakota Geer. Buchanan was able to get a late escape and then a takedown to take an 8-5 lead before tacking on the riding time bonus point.
Shortly after Buchanan's win, Samuelson was able to hold off second-seeded Anthony Montalvo of OSU, not allowing a takedown late in the third period as he was able to hang on for a thrilling 3-2 victory. Bridges was the first to qualify for the semis for the Pokes as he downed UNI's Jack Skudlarczyk, 7-4.
Bridges was also the first Cowboy to win Saturday, as he opened with a preliminary round win over Fresno State's Lawrence Saenz, 5-3. In the semifinals, Bridges lost a heartbreaker to North Dakota State's Cam Sykora, 7-6. Bridges' comeback effort from being down 5-1 after two periods came up just short.
In the semifinals, Samuelson lost a low-scoring, grind-it-out match against third-seeded Zach Carlson of South Dakota State, 3-2. Samuelson will continue his tournament Sunday with the consolation semifinals.
Next up was Buchanan in the semis as he faced No. 1 seed and undefeated Noah Adams of West Virginia. Adams was able to out-pace Buchanan and get the 7-4 win, sending Buchanan to the consolation semis. Buchanan and Samuelson's tournaments began in the quarterfinals after receiving preliminary round byes.
Bridges and Buchanan will receive an automatic bid to the NCAAs later this month with their trips to the semifinals. The two can finish no-worse than sixth place and the NCAA allocations gave the Big 12 eight bids at 133 and six at 197 pounds last week.
Hayden Hastings (174), Dewey Krueger (157) and Cole Moody (165) are all still alive as well on the consolation side of the bracket after all earning multiple wins Saturday. In all, seven Cowboys will be wrestling Sunday: Bridges, Krueger, Moody, Hastings, Samuelson, Buchanan and Andrews.
Hastings began his day with a 13-0 major decision over WVU's Scott Joll, avenging an earlier loss to Joll this season. After a hard-fought 3-2 loss to ISU's Sam Colbray, Hastings picked up a pair of consolation bracket wins in session two. He got a tech fall over UNC's Billy Higgins, 18-3 and closed his evening with a 5-3 win over NDSU's Luke Weber
Moody opened with a 9-1 major over Oklahoma Elijah Joseph before losing in the quarters to SDSU's Tanner Cook 12-10. Moody had a late flurry in the third, but came up just seconds short of sending the bout into overtime. In session two, Moody got a 7-1 win over WVU's Nick Kiussis and then beat eighth-seeded Austin Yant of UNI, 6-3.
Krueger defeated UVU's Jed Loveless to begin the tournament, 2-1 and after an 11-5 loss to top-seeded David Carr of Iowa State, Krueger pinned Air Force's Trey Brisker in the first period to begin his journey on the consolation side. After a loss to Jacob Wright of Fresno, Krueger will be wrestling for seventh place tomorrow.
Big 12 Championships Individual Results – Day One
March 7, 2020 | BOK Center | Tulsa, Okla.
Jake Svihel – 125 pounds
Preliminary: No. 6 Daniel Vega (SDSU) MD Svihel (WYO) 8-0
Consolation: Joey Thomas (WVU) dec. Svihel (WYO) 8-6
No. 2 Montorie Bridges – 133 pounds
Preliminary: No. 2 Bridges dec. Lawrence Saenz (FSU) 5-3
Quarterfinals: No. 2 Bridges dec. No. 7 Jack Skudlarczyk (UNI) 7-4
Semifinals: No. 3 Cam Sykora (NDSU) dec. No. 2 Bridges (WYO) 7-6
Trevor Jeffries – 141 pounds
Preliminary: No. 3 Michael Blockhus (UNI) dec. Jeffries (WYO) 10-5
Consolation: No. 8 Lenny Petersen (AF) dec. Jeffries (WYO) 12-8
No. 8 Jaron Jensen – 149 pounds
Preliminary: Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) Fall No. 8 Jensen (WYO) 3:52
Consolation: No. 6 Greg Gaxiola (FSU) dec. No. 8 Jensen (WYO) 3-2
No. 8 Dewey Krueger – 157 pounds
Preliminary: No. 8 Krueger (WYO) dec. Jed Loveless (UVU) 2-1
Quarterfinals: No. 1 David Carr (ISU) dec. No. 8 Krueger (WYO) 11-5
Consolation: No. 8 Krueger (WYO) Fall Trey Brisker (AF) 2:43
Consolation 2: No. 5 Jacob Wright (FSU) Fall No. 8 Krueger (WYO) 7:26
No. 5 Cole Moody – 165 pounds
Preliminary: No. 5 Moody (WYO) MD Elijah Joseph (OU) 9-1
Quarterfinals: No. 4 Tanner Cook (SDSU) dec. No. 5 Moody (WYO) 12-10
Consolation: No. 5 Moody dec. Nick Kiussis (WVU) 7-1
Consolation 2: No. 5 Moody dec. No. 8 Austin Yant (UNI) 6-3
No. 6 Hayden Hastings – 174 pounds
Preliminary: No. 6 Hastings (WYO) MD Scott Joll (WVU) 13-0
Quarterfinals: No. 3 Sam Colbray (ISU) dec. No. 6 Hastings (WYO) 3-2
Consolation: No. 6 Hastings (WYO) TF Billy Higgins (UNC) 18-3
Consolation 2: No. 6 Hastings (WYO) dec. Luke Weber (NDSU) 5-3
No. 7 Tate Samuelson – 184 pounds
Quarterfinals: No. 7 Samuelson (WYO) dec. No. 2 Anthony Montalvo (OSU) 3-2
Semifinals: No. 3 Zach Carlson (SDSU) dec. No. 7 Samuelson (WYO) 3-2
No. 4 Stephen Buchanan – 197 pounds
Quarterfinals: No. 4 Buchanan dec. No. 5 Dakota Geer (OSU) 9-5
Semifinals: No. 1 Noah Adams (WVU) dec. No. 4 Buchanan (WYO) 7-4
No. 5 Brian Andrews – Heavyweight
Preliminary: No. 5 Andrews (WYO) dec. Austin Harris (OSU) 8-2
Quarterfinals: No. 5 Andrews (WYO) dec. No. 4 Carter Isley (UNI) 3-1, SV-1
Semifinals: No. 5 Andrews (WYO) dec. No. 1 Tate Orndorff (UVU) 7-3, SV-2
-WYO-
