John Smith on Oklahoma State loss to Iowa: 'Wasn't expecting that'

It was a little surprising for Oklahoma State head coach John Smith when he witnessed a dual loss to Iowa.

The No. 2 ranked team in the country, per InterMat, fell to the No. 3 Hawkeyes 22-9 in front of a sold out home crowd. It was the first loss of the season for the Cowboys and it occurred in the final dual before the Big 12 Tournament.

Simply put, Smith was taken aback after seeing his squad drop seven of 10 bouts.

“Wasn’t expecting that, that’s for damn sure,” Smith said post match. “I don’t know, just not enough for sure. I mean, just not enough. We gotta have way more way more intensity, shot ratio wasn’t there. They were taking shots and we weren’t. So that I mean, I saw some routine things from a couple that kind of led up to maybe a poor performance. individually. Not a whole lot at 125. 

“I mean, somebody’s got to take the shot in overtime, who’s gonna win the match? You know? Not enough with Tagen (Jamison), but yeah, I got to be careful right now. You know, I mean, we just need to grow up a little bit, learn some lessons from it, and go kick ass in the Big 12 and we’ll get back on track.”

Iowa’s Drake Ayala beat OKST’s Troy Spratley at 125 in sudden victory. With the 125 pound match locked at 1-1, Ayala managed to get the takedown, plus four nearfall points and set the tone with an 8-1 decision in overtime.

The Cowboys’ three-time NCAA finalist Daton Fix evened things up with a 7-2 decision, but it was all Iowa at 131. Real Woods won 4-1 over Jamison and as Smith referenced, they needed more from their lightweight.

Jordan Williams defeated former Cowboy wrestler Victor Voinovich at 149, 7-3, but the Hawkeyes would win three in a row and run away with the dual.

Iowa defeats OKST wrestling: Results 

125 – Drake Ayala (Iowa) dec Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) 8-1 SV
133 – Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) dec Brody Teske (Iowa) 7-2
141 – Real Woods (Iowa) dec Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) 4-1
149 – Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State) dec Victor Voinovich (Iowa) 7-3
157 – Jared Franek (Iowa) dec Teague Travis (Oklahoma State) 10-4
165 – Michael Caliendo (Iowa) dec Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State) 7-2
174 – Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) maj Brayden Thompson (Oklahoma State) 12-3
184 – Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) dec Gabe Arnold (Iowa) 5-1
197 – Zach Glazier (Iowa) dec Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) 4-1
285 – Ben Kueter (Iowa) dec Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) 5-1

OKST gets back to the mat in the Big 12 Championships, the start of the individual postseason, on March 9th. That same day, Iowa will compete in the Big Ten Tournament.