Oklahoma wrestling: Sooners beat West Virginia

On Friday night, OU coach Mark Cody lit into his team after the ninth-ranked Sooners were upset. On Sunday, his team responded with a 25-14 win over West Virginia at McCasland Field House.

 
By Trent Shadid | Published: January 20, 2013    Comment on this article Leave a comment

— Oklahoma wrestling coach Mark Cody knows that this season is a rebuilding one for his program. The Sooners' two duals this weekend were a good example of how up and down that process can be.

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On Friday night, Cody lit into his team after the ninth-ranked Sooners were upset. On Sunday, his team responded with a 25-14 win over West Virginia at McCasland Field House.

“We let them have it pretty good after the last dual,” Cody said of Friday's 18-15 loss to Northern Iowa. “Today's results showed that at certain times, certain guys are buying in and improving.”

For Cody, the need for improvement with his team starts with getting them to focus on staying aggressive throughout an entire match, even with a lead.

“We want them to keep attacking,” Cody said. “Several of our guys get to a point where we're winning and then we just shut down, we've got to stay on the attack.”

The young Sooners have a perfect example of the aggressive style Cody is looking for in 157-pound senior Bubby Graham. Wrestling in his final home dual at Oklahoma, the fourth-ranked Graham scored six takedowns in route to a 14-3 major decision victory over the Mountaineers' Dominic Prezzia.

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