Cleveland–Winning at National Duals is never easy, just ask Oklahoma wrestling coach Jack Spates.

“Sometimes it’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat,” Spates said. “This time it was the relief of victory.”

No. 13 Oklahoma needed a win from heavyweight No. 4 Leonce Crump in the final match of their dual meet with No. 17 CMU Saturday. Crump came through with a 2-1 victory over CMU junior Bill Stouffer and the Sooners held on for a 19-13 victory.

The loss eliminated CMU from the tournament. Hofstra beat the Chippewas 18-16 early Saturday knocking them to the consolation bracket. It was there that they defeated Michigan State 20-15.
Spates knew his team would be in for a dog fight after the first three matches.

Oklahoma 125-pounder No. 8 Sam Hazewinkel defeated CMU sophomore Kyle Stoffer 12-5 to open the dual meet.

Senior Jordan Webster tied the match at 3 with an overtime victory over Mimi Miller at 133 pounds.

That set the stage for a battle of All-Americans between defending 141 pound National Champion Teyon Ware of and CMU’s No. 3 senior Jason Mester. Ware was able to score a late takedown to win the match 7-5.

“I felt we needed to win two of the first three bouts, and I was concerned after we lost at 133 pounds,” Spates said. “But Teyon came through and it was a slugfest after that.”

Oklahoma then won four of the final seven matches to seal the meet.

“I thought we were really competitive against Oklahoma,” said CMU coach Tom Borrelli. “At 141, we could have very easily won that match, at heavyweight we could have very easily won that match, and that’s the difference in the dual meet.”

Senior Joe Yager was pinned by Hofstra’s No. 3 Chris Skretkowicz at 197 pounds, putting Stouffer in a tough situation. CMU trailed 18-12 heading into his match and needed a pin to force a tie. Stouffer won 10-2 for a major decision and four points.

Earning victories for CMU against Hofstra were, sophomore Kyle Stoffer, who defeated No. 3 Tom Noto 3-2; Webster, Mester, and freshman Adam Cunningham.

Cunningham went 1-2 on the day but was impressive in his first full day at 149 pounds.

“We were real happy with Adam,” Borrelli said. “He wrestled great against Hofstra and pretty good against Michigan State. He’s not quite ready to wrestle three matches in a day and I think that caught up to him against Oklahoma.”

“We are disappointed with not beating Hofstra,” Borrelli said. “We felt like we were very capable of beating them. But I was happy with the way the guys came back against Michigan State.”

Yager made up for his early mistake by defeating MSU’s Jeff Clemens 6-2. The win gave CMU an insurmountable 20-9 lead and allowed Stouffer to take the match off.

“I haven’t been pinned in a long time,” Yager said. “I was ready to go (against MSU); I needed to redeem myself from before.”

Other winners for CMU against the Spartans were, Stoffer, Webster, who was the only Chippewa to go undefeated, Mester, junior David Bolyard, and senior Kevin Carr who was making his first appearance since mid November.

“I have got some improving to do and getting back into shape,” Carr said. “I took some lumps today, but National Duals are going to be tough. I just tried to come out and wrestle tough, but my lungs did not agree.”

CMU returns to action Friday Jan. 30 when they open their MAC season with a home dual against Northern Illinois.

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