2008 Woodie Awards
Nebraska pounds Oklahoma in home finale
Dave Houfek
Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: Sports
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As Sunday's dual unfolded, heroes on both teams arose from the mat.
NU's Mike Rowe put the dual out of the Sooners' reach when he defeated OU's Zack Bailey 7-4 with one match remaining. The 141-pound sophomore recorded a near fall in the second period, then a takedown with only one minute remaining in the match.
"He's a scrappy, tough kid," Nebraska Coach Mark Manning said. "He showed a lot of toughness out there today. We need him coming down to the end run here.
"He's a great spark for our team."
A tight match followed Rowe's win, as Jordan Burroughs and OU's Will Rowe finished out the dual. Burroughs' takedown of Rowe with four seconds to go ended the Husker's home schedule and marked Burroughs' 24th win of the season against five losses overall.
The biggest upset of the dual came when Oklahoma unranked freshman Joey Fio defeated No. 4 Paul Donahoe, 6-5, at 125-pounds. Donahoe escaped from Fio with 10 seconds left in the match but could not score the takedown as time expired.
"Rankings don't mean a lot; it matters how you perform," Manning said. "I think Paul found that out today."
Donahoe wasn't the only Husker tested by what Manning called a determined Sooner lineup. Both Vince Jones and Chris Oliver lost control of their matches early, giving Oklahoma its other two wins.
"I don't think we wrestled that great today," Manning said. "We got it done but by no means did we wrestle real sharp."
Nebraska 197-pounder Craig Brester seemed to get the ball rolling as the teams were tied 6-6. He recorded a 6-1 decision over No. 5 Joel Flaggert to help NU take a 9-6 lead - an advantage OU was never able to overcome.
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