Oregon State
Portland St
Beavers Begin With A Win
November 28, 1999 | Wrestling
Nov. 28, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State got a pin from heavyweight Jason Cooley as the Beavers beat Portland State 34-6 Sunday afternoon at Gill Coliseum in the first dual meet of the wrestling season for both teams. OSU also picked up major decisions from 174-pounder Nathan Coy, 125-pounder Nathan Navarro, 141-pounder Shane Cunanan and 157-pounder Eric Jorgensen.
"I was pleased - we had some good fights," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "Portland State really fought hard, and it was a good meet for the home crowd in the first match."
OSU now gets set for one of its biggest tournaments of the year, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Classic, which will be held Friday and Saturday. The event attracts most of the nation's top college teams.
One Oregon State victory on Sunday that could affect the Pacific-10 Conference rankings came at 184 pounds, where OSU sophomore Isaac Weber continued his strong start by beating PSU's Jeremy Wilson in overtime. Wilson went into the meet ranked fourth in the conference at that weight, while Weber was coming off a fourth-place finish at the St. Louis Open.
"I felt really good at St. Louis," Weber said. "I don't think I wrestled too well today. I've got to expect more from myself. It's a good start, but I know I've got a lot of work to get where I want to be."
Weber recorded a takedown 57 seconds into the extra period to push his record to 5-2 this season.
"He (Wilson) shot in on me," Weber said of the decisive takedown. "I tried to get around behind him, and it worked out."
Weber had a 3-1 lead in the third period, but Wilson escaped with 45 seconds left to pull within 3-2 and then Weber was given a second stall warning with 15 seconds remaining. That meant a point for Wilson, and the match was tied.
"I wasn't shooting much," Weber said. "There's no reason for that. I need to pick up my offense and use my shots. They just weren't working for me today - I need to pull the trigger on them, and I've got to work on that."
Cooley improved to 4-1 this season by pinning PSU's Joe Slaughter in 2:23 of the heavyweight match. OSU's two wrestlers in the preseason Amateur Wrestling News rankings both won, as No. 12 Jorgensen took a 16-4 win over Eric Arbogast to improve to 6-1 at 157 and No. 14 Navarro earned a 12-2 win over Zach Enoch to move to 3-2 at 125.
Wells was also pleased with Coy's 10-2 win over R.J. Gillespie at 174 pounds, since Gillespie had defeated Coy last season.
"Nathan went straight to his plan and stuck to it," Wells said. "He worked hard, and he could get a Pac-10 seed based on that win."
Cunanan earned the first dual meet victory of his career, as the freshman beat T.J. Horner 14-6 at 141 pounds. Cunanan was in OSU's lineup a year ago but an early-season injury sidelined him.
OREGON STATE 34, PORTLAND STATE 6
(Current Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)
165 - Mike Pierce, PSU, dec. Jake Huffman, OSU, 4-2. 174 - Nathan Coy, OSU, major dec. R.J. Gillespie, PSU, 10-2. 184 - Isaac Weber, OSU, dec. Jeremy Wilson, PSU, 5-3 (OT). 197 - Shane Zajac, OSU, by forfeit. HWT - Jason Cooley, OSU, pinned Joe Slaughter, PSU, 2:23. 125 - (14) Nathan Navarro, OSU, major dec. Zach Enoch, PSU, 12-2. 133 -Ben Richards, OSU, dec. John Fasana, PSU, 12-6. 141 - Shane Cunanan, OSU, major dec. J.T. Horner, PSU, 14-6. 149 - Brad Galletes, PSU, dec. Andy Frey, OSU, 4-0. 157 - (12) Eric Jorgensen, OSU, major dec. Eric Arbogast, PSU, 16-4.
