Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State, Seeks Third NCAA National Championship
Last night, Alex Dieringer didn’t leave anything to chance in his final semi-final match of his collegiate career. For the fourth time in his career he battled another wrestler on this stage. The two-time NCAA National champion wrestled Mizzou’s Daniel Lewis. Dieringer, Of Oklahoma State, entered the tournament was the No. 2-seed. His opponent, Lewis started the NCAA Championships as the No. 4-seed.
The now four-time Cowboy all-American wasted little time before taking Lewis to the ground. Dieringer pushed the pace through the entire match as he kept attacking Lewis, on his way to a major decision. In the previous time they battled on the mat, Dieringer defeated Lewis in a tight 4-3 decision. During that match, Lewis was able to ride Dieringer for two plus minutes, which has not occurred often in the career of the senior, Dieringer.
This year, the Port Washington, Wisconsin native earned a major decision over Lewis by scoring more than eight points than his opponent. Dieringer won 14-4 over the Mizzou wrestler. In the finals he will be battling Ohio native and Wisconsin Badger, Isaac Jordan.
“I wrestled him one time in free style,” Dieringer said, during his semi-final post-match press conference. “my first junior world team trials I wrestled him, second round, I beat him handily. But it’s been four years, so we’ve both been training and he’s a good wrestler, and I’m just going to go out there and do what I do.”
Dieringer became a four-time all-American when he reached the semi-finals on Friday, and seeks his third NCAA Championship. His freshman year, the Cowboy placed third in the nation. His sophomore year at 157 he captured his first title. Last season at 165, he brought home his second crown.
Dieringer so far this tournament has two falls, a decision and major decision. His two falls combined for a total of 5:49, the decision was a win by a score of 11-5 and the major came in the semi-finals via a score of 14-4.
Jordan, Dieringer’s opponent in the finals this evening, has two major decisions (10-1; 9-1), and two decisions (3-1; 5-4). These two have not wrestled each other yet during their colligate careers. Last year, Dieringer defeated Jordan’s cousin, Bo Jordan, of Ohio State in the Semi-finals. This year, Isaac defeated his own cousin Bo in the semi-finals.
Catch the finals tonight at 8 p.m. EST. on ESPN, taking place at Madison Square Garden, the world’s most famous arena. The order chosen for the finals places Dieringer’s match as the sixth bout of the evening. They are starting with the 125-pound weight class and ending with 285-pounds.
