Oklahoma wrestling: Sooners back on top, share Big 12 championship
By Chip Rouse
Before Oklahoma football reached national prominence, it was the Oklahoma wrestling program that carried the heavy water in OU athletics.
In fact, it was the Sooner wrestling squad that won the school’s first national championship. OU’s national title in wrestling in 1936 was the first of seven won by Oklahoma, the same number as the Sooners’ national championships in football.
The Sooners have also claimed 24 conference championships in wrestling, but the last one was back in 2002. That 18-year drought ended this past weekend, when Oklahoma tied with in-state Bedlam rival Oklahoma State for the 2021 Big 12 Wrestling Championship.
Following the Big 12 Championship, Sooner head coach Lou Rosselli was named Big 12 Coach of the Year. This is Rosselli’s fifth year at Oklahoma.
Oklahoma, ranked 19th in the country, placed three wrestlers in the finals. Redshirt junior Don Demas was the Sooners lone individual champion, defeating Iowa State’s Ian Parker in the 141-pound weight class. It was Demas’ second conference title. He also won his weight class in 2019.
Demas is OU’s 186th individual conference champion all-time.
Tony Madrigal and Mitch Moore also reached the finals, but lost their matches to finish as runners-up. OU redshirt junior Justin Thomas finished third in the 157-pound class.
For the second season in a row, the six Sooner wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Championships, which will be held March 18-20 in St. Louis.
Oklahoma’s seven national championships ranged from 1936 to 1974 (1936, 1952. 1957, 1960, 1963 and 1974). In addition, OU has produced 67 individual national champions and 276 wrestling All-Americans.
The Sooners also have 24 all-time conference championships to their credit.