Preview: @UNCBearswrestle hosts No. 3 Oklahoma State on Monday

Monday, December 18

Greeley, CO

7 pm

University of Northern Colorado

Oklahoma State

12/15/2017 3:04:00 PM | Wrestling

First Big 12 dual pits UNC against the Cowboys

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo.- Northern Colorado wrestling opens its home dual season against No. 3 Oklahoma State on Monday night. The Bears will look to pull the upset in the first conference match of the season and earn their first win.

UNC (0-1) dropped its first dual of the season to Northwestern 20-24 last Sunday at Legacy High School. Despite losing, UNC performed well with five wrestlers winning their individual matches. The difference for the Bears in the dual was bonus points, as the Wildcats recorded two pins, a tech fall, and a major decision in the middle matches to put the dual out of reach for UNC.

In the dual against Northwestern, Keilan Torres [165] picked up his team-leading fourth pin of the season against Michael Sepkle. Sethan Bogulski [174] had a dominate match against Braxton Cody, winning by tech fall, 21-6.

Jacob Seely continued his winning ways against Northwestern with a comeback, 4-3 decision win over Zachary Chakonis. On the season, Seely has two championships and an eighth place finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational several weeks ago. Seely is currently ranked 19th by Intermat.com, with wins over several ranked opponents so far this season.

The young line up for UNC has been improving each week and looks to make statement with a strong performance against a top ranked opponent.

Projected Lineup
Northern Colorado [0-1. 0-0]
125 – Michael Johnson (8-6)
133 – Rico Montoya (8-3)
141 – Benjamin Polkowske (6-5) or Owen Lamb (4-4)
149 – Jimmy Fate (13-4)
157 – Tyler Kinn (7-4) or Macoy Flanagan (6-3)
165 – Keilan Torres (5-3)
174 – Sethan Bogulski (5-6)
184 – Dylan Gabel (8-4) or Jamarcus Grant (5-4)
197 – #19 Jacob Seely (12-3) or Tanner Davis (0-3)
285 – Robert Winters Jr. (7-7) or Brian Barnes (4-2)

Scouting Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are off to another good start this season with a 3-0 record and 1-0 against Big 12 opponents. OSU started its dual schedule with a 25-9 win over No. 22 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. A week later, OSU dominated No. 6 Minnesota 30-3 at home. The Cowboys continued their domination with a 40-3 win over Big 12 foe North Dakota State.

OSU currently has ranked wrestlers in eight of the 10 weight classes, with 157 lb and 184 lb being the exceptions. UNC will face top ranked Dean Heil at 141 lb., fourth-ranked Nick Piccininni at 125 lb, and third-ranked Kaid Brock at 133 lb. At the 197, the Cowboys get back fourth-ranked Preston Weigel from injury, who will match up with No. 19 Seely.

The last dual between Northern Colorado and Oklahoma State occurred in December of 2013, with the Cowboys blanking the Bears 48-0.

Projected Lineup
Oklahoma State [3-0, 1-0]
125: No. 3 Nick Piccininni (8-1)
133: No. 3 Kaid Brock (12-1)
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (13-0)
149: No. 10 Geo Martinez (12-3)
157: Jonce Blaylock (9-3)
165: No. 6 Chandler Rogers (9-1)
174: No. 10 Jacobe Smith (9-3)
184: Keegan Moore (9-2)
197: No. 4 Preston Weigel (0-0)
HWT: No. 8 Derek White (9-1)

Following the Bears
Northern Colorado hosts No. 3 Oklahoma State at Bank of Colorado Arena on Monday, Dec. 18^th at 7 p.m. (MT). Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for youth and can be purchased on-line (Fees may apply). The match can be streamed live on the free PlutoTV app and on WatchBigSky.com. You can listen to the match live at uncbear.com. Follow along with live updates and results on Twitter with @UNCBearswrestle.

Season tickets are now on sale for Northern Colorado's 2017-18 wrestling season! The schedule this season features eight exciting home matches including national powers Oklahoma State, Duke and West Virginia. Tickets are just $50 for adults and $25 for youth and are available on-line or by calling the UNC Athletics Ticket Office M-F 10-5 at 970-351-4849.