Weatherspoon Captures Second Big 12 Title

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Lelund Weatherspoon was crowned Big 12 Champion for the second time of his career at the 2016 Big 12 Championship. He took the title with an 8-5 victory over Chandler Rogers of Oklahoma State. As a team, No. 17 Iowa State (10-6, 2-2 Big 12) finished in third-place with 87 team points.

Following the Big 12 Championship, five Cyclones are now qualified for the NCAA Championship. Kyle Larson, Earl Hall, Tanner Weatherman, Lelund Weatherspoon and Patrick Downey are all New York City-bound.

Fourth Session – Finals
Lelund Weatherspoon claimed his second Big 12 title with an 8-5 decision over Oklahoma State's Chandler Rogers. The two provided the fans at the Sprint Center with an exciting match, trading upper-body attacks. Weatherspoon scored first to take an early 2-0 lead. Chandler would escape and answer with a takedown of his own to claim a 3-2 lead. From there, it was all Weatherspoon.

The Jackson, Michigan native, scored on three more takedowns, with one coming in the waning seconds of the third period that brought the Cyclone faithful at the Sprint Center to their feet. Weatherspoon joins 55 other Iowa State grapplers in earning two or more conference titles.

In the 133-pound finals, it was a rematch from last year's Big 12 Championship. Earl Hall faced Oklahoma's Cody Brewer. Off the whistle, Hall took Brewer to the mat to take an early 2-0 lead. After a Brewer escape, Hall shot his patented cement-mixer pinning combination. The move didn't stick and Hall wound up on his back, giving up a takedown and a four-point near-fall.

After that six-point swing, Hall was never able to recover. He went on to record two more takedowns, but came up short against the Sooner. It was Brewer with the 12-7 decision over Hall for the Big 12 title.

Tanner Weatherman faced Oklahoma State's Alex Dieringer in the 165-pound finals. The senior kept it within striking distance, scoring on two escapes, but it was the Dieringer that came out on top of a 4-2 decision.

Third Session – Medal Rounds
After falling to Josh Rodriguez in the consolation semifinals by 9-3 decision, Kyle Larson wrestled Utah Valley's Chasen Tolbert in the 125-pound fifth-place match. Larson would come out on top in this match. While leading 8-0, the West Des Moines, Iowa native, brought Tolbert to the mat for a takedown. Tolbert was then forced in injury-default out of the tournament.

Logan Breitenbach was also in the fifth-place match. Elezar Deluca from Northern Colorado knocked him off by 8-3 decision in the 157-pound consolation semifinals. In the fifth-place match, he faced Wyoming's Andrew Colgan in a rematch from the quarterfinals. The Cowboy came out on top again, pinning Breitenbach in 1:51.

In the consolation semifinals, Dane Pestano locked up his sixth sudden-victory win of the year with at 3-1 decision over Brady Ayers of South Dakota State. Pestano was pitted against Jacob Scheffel in the consolation finals. Scheffel took the match over Pestano by 4-0 decision.

Patrick Downey punched his ticket to the NCAA Championship with a 4-1 decision over Utah Valley's Derek Thomas in the consolation semifinals. Downey then faced Northern Colorado's Trent Noon for third-place. Three periods was not enough to decide this match. Quickly in the sudden-victory period, Downey took Noon down to secure two points and a 3-1 decision.

Joe Scanlan finsished in sixth-place at the Big 12 Championship after suffering losses to Utah Valley's Dustin Denison (3-2 decision – tie breaker one) and Ben Tynan of North Dakota State (fall, 5:00.)

Day Two Match-by-Match
125: Josh Rodriguez (NDSU) dec. Kyle Larson (ISU), 9-3.
Kyle Larson (ISU) Inj. def. Chasen Tolbert (UVU).
133: Cody Brewer (OU) dec. Earl Hall (ISU), 12-7.
157: Elezar DeLuca (UNC) dec. Logan Breitenbach (ISU), 8-3.
Archie Colgan fall. Logan Breitenbach (ISU), 1:51.
165: Alex Dieringer (OSU) dec. Tanner Weatherman (ISU), 4-2.
174: Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU) dec. Chandler Rogers (OSU), 8-5.
184: Dane Pestano (ISU) dec. Brady Ayers (SDSU), 3-1 (SV-1.)
Jacob Scheffel (WVU) dec. Dane Pestano (ISU), 4-0.
197: Patrick Downey (ISU) dec. Derek Thomas (UVU), 4-1.
Patrick Downey (ISU) dec. Trent Noon (UNC), 3-1 (SV-1.)
285: Dustin Denison (UVU) dec. Joe Scanlan (ISU), 3-2 (TB-1.)
Ben Tyran (NDSU) fall. Joe Scanlan (ISU), 5:00.

Final Team Standings
1. Oklahoma State – 161 pts.
2. Oklahoma – 100 pts
3. Iowa State – 87 pts.
4. South Dakota State – 77 pts
5. Wyoming – 71.5 pts.
6. West Virginia – 65.5 pts.
7. North Dakota State – 62.5 pts.
8. Utah Valley – 60.5 pts.
9. Air Force – 39.5 pts.
10. Northern Colorado – 30.5 pts.

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Players Mentioned

Logan Breitenbach

Earl Hall

Kyle Larson

Dane Pestano

Joe Scanlan

Tanner Weatherman

Lelund Weatherspoon

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics