Falcon Wrestling Impacts the Record Book with Impressive Big 12 Showing

TULSA, OK – Wyatt Hendrickson led the Falcons to a program best eighth-place team finish with his second-straight heavyweight Big 12 title, Sunday evening at the BOK Center. Seven Falcons earned podium finishes, marking a program record for AF Big 12 placers.

QUICK HITS
-Air Force tallied a program best 64.5 team points for an eighth place finish; 57.5 of which were collected in the first day, surpassing total tournament efforts from all previous seasons.
-Seven Falcons made their way to the Big 12 podium, the most by any AF team to date—more than doubling the place-winners of any previous single season.
-Wyatt Hendrickson outscored the Big 12's top heavyweights, 36-6, in three matches. Hendrickson posted a major decision over No. 13 AJ Nevills (SDSU), a technical fall over No. 20 Konner Doucet (OK St.) and a convincing decision over No. 8 Sam Schuyler (ISU) in the finals.
-Tucker Owens earned an automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament, the first time a freshman 125-pounder has accomplished the feat since 2013.
-Sam Wolf battled to a sixth-place finish and his first official NCAA Tournament berth. Last season, Wolf was an alternate for the 174 division.

FINAL SCORE
Big 12 results

WHEN THE DUST SETTLED
Wyatt Hendrickson made good on high expectations, rolling through three of the Big 12's top heavyweights to win his second-straight Big 12 title. Hendrickson outscored the three nationally ranked wrestlers, 36-6, in those three matches. Hendrickson continued to build his case for the NCAA's Most Dominant Wrestler award with a pair of bonus point wins (major decision, technical fall) en route to the title. The native of Newton, Kansas, will head to the national tournament with a 26-1 record—23 of those wins coming with bonus points.

Tucker Owens was stellar in his debut Big 12 appearance earning his first NCAA qualification; the first by a freshman 125-pounder since Josh Martinez in 2013. Owens holds a 24-12 record heading into the national tournament—the second-most wins on the team behind Hendrickson.

Sam Wolf had an unfortunate semifinals match where lost to the eventual 2023 174-pound Big 12 Champion, Dustin Plot (OK St.). In the wake of his stellar first day and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth, Wolf opted to medical forfeit into sixth place. Wolf enters the tournament with an impressive 13-2 overall record.

Cody Phippen joined the elite ranks of three-time Big 12 placers at the Academy, a feat accomplished only by Alex Mossing ('19) and Wyatt Hendrickson. Phippen, now 18-6 on the season with five ranked wins this season, will await the news of a potential NCAA at-large bid, next week.

Noah Blake earned his first Big 12 podium finish with an impressive two-day run. Blake was just seconds shy of a takedown to automatically qualify for the NCAA Tournament in the third-place match. Blake gritted his way to sixth place at the conference tournament and a 21-15 record overall. Blake has a glimmer of hope for an at-large NCAA bid following his conference tournament performance.

Dylan Martinez battled to an eighth-place finish for his second Big 12 podium. Martinez is 19-11 and will also await the news of a potential NCAA at-large bid with wins over NCAA qualified opponents. Calvin Sund was instrumental in AF's team success, positioning himself to an eighth-place podium. Sund has 18 wins to finalize the campaign.

WHAT'S TO COME
Owens, Wolf, and Hendrickson are automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Tournament. Cody Phippen, Dylan Martinez and Noah Blake await at-large announcements early next week. The NCAA Tournament will be hosted in familiar turf as the Falcons return to Tulsa's BOK Center to battle for All-America status and more. Action is slated to begin on Thursday, March 16.

AIR FORCE RESULTS
125: Tucker Owens – 6^th place, NCAA qualifier
Joey Prata (Oklahoma) won by decision over Tucker Owens (Air Force) (Dec 5-4)
Tucker Owens (Air Force) won by medical forfeit over Killian Cardinale (W. Virginia) (M. For.)
Tucker Owens (Air Force) on by major decision over Kase Mauger (Utah Valley) (MD 12-4)
Cons. Semi - Joey Prata (Oklahoma) won by decision over Tucker Owens (Air Force) (Dec 3-1)
5th Place Match - Jore Volk (Wyoming) won by decision over Tucker Owens (Air Force) (Dec 6-2)

133: Cody Phippen – 7^th place, three-time Big 12 placer
Cody Phippen (Air Force) won by major decision over Wyatt Henson (Oklahoma) (MD 10-2)
Connor Brown (Missouri) won in sudden victory - 1 over Cody Phippen (Air Force) (SV-1 6-4)
Cody Phippen (Air Force) won by tech fall over Kobe Nelms (Utah Valley) (TF-1.5 5:38 (15-0))
McGwire Midkiff (N. Dakota State) won by decision over Cody Phippen (Air Force) (Dec 3-2)
7th Place Match - Cody Phippen (Air Force) won by fall over Garrett Ricks (Wyoming) (Fall 3:47)

149: Dylan Martinez – 8^th place, two-time Big 12 placer
Job Greenwood (Wyoming) won by decision over Garrett Kuchan (Air Force) (Dec 8-4)
Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) won by decision over Dylan Martinez (Air Force) (Dec 4-1)
Dylan Martinez (Air Force) won by decision over Chris Sandoval (N. Colorado) (Dec 3-2)
Dylan Martinez (Air Force) won by decision over Sam Hillegas (W. Virginia) (Dec 6-4)

165: Seamus Casey
Tanner Cook (S. Dakota State) won by fall over Seamus Casey (Air Force) (Fall 3:42)
Seamus Casey (Air Force) won by decision over Frank Almaguer (Cal Baptist) (Dec 6-0)
Austin Yant (N. Iowa) won by major decision over Seamus Casey (Air Force) (MD 10-0)
Seamus Casey (Air Force) won by medical forfeit over Cameron Haddock (Utah Valley) (M. For.)
Wyatt Sheets (OK State) won by tech fall over Seamus Casey (Air Force) (TF-1.5 7:00 (17-1))

174: Sam Wolf – 6^th place, NCAA qualifier
Sam Wolf (Air Force) won by major decision over Louis Rojas (Cal Baptist) (MD 14-4)
Sam Wolf (Air Force) won by decision over Cade DeVos (S. Dakota State) (Dec 3-2)
Dustin Plott (OK State) won by fall over Sam Wolf (Air Force) (Fall 2:17)
5th Place Match - Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) won by injury default over Sam Wolf (Air Force) (Inj. 0:00)

184: Noah Blake – 6^th place
Noah Blake (Air Force) won in sudden victory - 1 over Cade King (S. Dakota State) (SV-1 3-1)
Marcus Coleman (Iowa St.) won by tech fall over Noah Blake (Air Force) (TF-1.5 7:00 (20-5))
Noah Blake (Air Force) won by major decision over Franklin Cruz (N. Colorado) (MD 12-3)
Noah Blake (Air Force) won by decision over Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) (Dec 8-5)
Cons. Semi - Colton Hawks (Missouri) won by decision Noah Blake (Air Force) 19-14 (Dec 4-3)
5th Place Match - Deanthony Parker Jr (NDSU) won by decision over Noah Blake (Air Force) (Dec 5-3)

197: Calvin Sund – 8^th place
Xavier Vasquez (N. Colorado) won by decision over Calvin Sund (Air Force) (Dec 2-0)
Calvin Sund (Air Force) won by decision over Carson Berryhill (Oklahoma) (Dec 3-2)
Owen Pentz (N. Dakota State) won by fall over Calvin Sund (Air Force) (Fall 1:23)
7th Place Match - Austin Cooley (W. Virginia) won by decision over Calvin Sund (Air Force) (Dec 8-2)

285: Wyatt Hendrickson – 1^st place, two-time Big 12 Champion, three-time NCAA Qualifier
Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) won by major decision over Konner Doucet (OK State) (MD 12-3)
Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) won by tech fall over AJ Nevills (S. Dakota State) (TF-1.5 5:35 (16-1))
1st Place Match - Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) won by decision over Sam Sc

Falcon Wrestling Impacts the Record Book with Impressive Big 12 Showing

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Players Mentioned

Noah Blake

Seamus Casey

Wyatt Hendrickson

Garrett Kuchan

Dylan Martinez

Tucker Owens

Cody Phippen

Calvin Sund

Sam Wolf

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