KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Johnny Thompson easily won his first two matches Thursday, helping Oklahoma State take an early lead in its bid for a 31st NCAA wrestling championship.

Seven wrestlers reached Friday's quarterfinal round for the Cowboys, who were the only team to qualify 10 wrestlers for the meet. Two more were still in the consolation bracket after Thursday's matches.

"I wouldn't say it's our tournament to lose. I'd say it's ours to win,'' coach John Smith said. "I've said all along that we've got to earn this.''

	Championship video Watch Saturday night's championship matches in their entirety, exclusively on ESPN Insider. Watch the video ESPN Insider Subscribe now

Minnesota, the two-time defending national champion, placed five of its eight wrestlers in the quarterfinals, with the other three still in consolation contention. The Gophers were fourth in the team standings.

Lehigh was 9½ points behind Oklahoma State, with Oklahoma in third, one point behind Lehigh. Illinois and Iowa were tied for fifth behind Minnesota after Thursday's matches.

Thompson, the defending national champion at 133 pounds, beat Wisconsin's Tom Clum 8-0 in the first round and pinned Cal State-Bakersfield's Matt Sanchez in the second.

"I feel like I'm right where I want to be,'' Thompson said. "I feel like I'm peaking at the right time.''

Minnesota wasn't giving up on its dream of a third straight title, though.

"We could be way down in the first couple of days. It's the next couple of days that matter,'' said Jared Lawrence, the defending champion at 149 pounds. "Those are the days that are hard, when your body is worn down and people start falling down. That's when Minnesota wrestling usually comes up on top.''

Defending 157-pound champion Luke Becker also reached the quarterfinals for the Gophers.

One defending champion didn't fare as well, however: Greg Jones of West Virginia was upset 2-1 in a tiebreaker by Hofstra's Ralph Everett in the first round of the 174-pound division.

"My whole strategy coming in was just not doing anything dumb,'' said Everett, who advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-3 decision over VMI's Matt Erwin. "That's how I lost a lot of matches this year, trying stuff that wasn't natural for me. I just tried not to give up any easy points.''

Only a difficult decision by an opposing coach saved another top seed from an early exit to the consolation bracket.

Iowa heavyweight Steve Mocco was leading Iowa State's Scott Coleman 2-0 in their second-round match when Mocco forced Coleman's arm behind his back and was called for an illegal hold.

Coleman, his shoulder wrenched, was awarded a penalty point and could have won by default had he declared himself unable to continue. Instead, Cyclones coach Bobby Douglas had Coleman restart the match in the down position, then default to Mocco.

Coleman, though visibly disappointed, said he agreed with the decision and didn't think Mocco was guilty of dirty tactics.

"We couldn't have accepted a default win,'' he said. "That wouldn't have been good sportsmanship on either side. (Douglas) knows a lot more than I do about wrestling, so why should I argue with him?''