TULSA — The Cowboys entered Friday morning with seven wrestlers in the NCAA tournament and left the morning round with only two.
The first match of the day was a bright spot as Daton Fix used riding time to beat Illinois’ Lucas Byrd 3-2 to move to the semifinals and become an All-American for the fourth time. Fix becomes the 15th four-time All-American in program history, and he can still return next season if he wants to go for five.
The rest of the morning round was pretty rough. The other quarterfinalist Dustin Plott was pinned in the first period by Cornell’s Chris Foca, and Kaden Gfeller and Wyatt Sheets both dropped consolation matches ending their NCAA tournaments and college wrestling careers.