Cowboy Trio Moves Into NCAA Quarterfinals

Oklahoma State's Troy Spratley, Daton Fix and Dustin Plott advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships Thursday night as the Cowboys wrapped up the first day of the event in 10th place in the team standings.

Spratley, the sixth-seeded wrestler at 125 pounds, used a comfortable 8-1 decision over Virginia Tech's Cooper Flynn to reach the quarterfinal round, while top-seeded Fix got past No. 16 Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State with a 5-4 decision in the 133-pound bracket and Plott cruised to a 17-3 major decision over No. 19 James Conway of Franklin and Marshall at 184 pounds.

"Good wins from Troy," said coach John Smith. "He definitely looked a lot different tonight than he did this morning. Went out and picked up a takedown, good ride, picked up a late takedown as well. That's what he's going to have to do tomorrow."

Fix is now 19-0 in his final season as a Cowboy, while Plott moved to 29-3 on the year and Spratley improved to 23-6.

Four others joined the trio in the second round of the championship bracket, but Jordan Williams, Teague Travis, Izzak Olejnik and Konner Doucet moved to the consolation bracket with losses at 149, 157, 165 and heavyweight, respectively.

OSU's Tagen Jamison (141 pounds), Brayden Thompson (174 pounds) and Luke Surber (197 pounds) also competed in the first consolation round Thursday night but bowed out of the tournament after dropping decisions.

The action continues Friday morning on the second of three days in Kansas City. Spratley faces No. 3 Drake Ayala of Iowa, Fix faces No. 8 Evan Frost Iowa State and Plott faces Penn State's No. 6 Bernie Truax for a spot in the semifinals.

Williams, Travis, Olejnik and Doucet start the day in the second round of the wrestlebacks.

The 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships continue through March 23 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, with the third session scheduled to begin Friday at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.