Oregon State
Pacific-10 Championships (host UC-Davis)
Cooley Wins Title, OSU Wrestlers Take Third At Pac-10s
February 28, 2000 | Wrestling
Feb. 28, 2000
DAVIS, Calif. - - Jason Cooley won the heavyweight title as Oregon State took third place at the Pacific-10 Wrestling Championships on Sunday evening in Davis, Calif.
Oregon State had six wrestlers finish fourth or higher in their respective weight classes to qualify for the NCAA tournament Mar. 16-18 in St. Louis, Mo. In addition to Cooley's championship, Shane Cunanan (141), Eric Jorgensen (157), and Nathan Coy (174) finshed second. Ben Richards took third at 133 pounds, and Nathan Navarro finished fourth at 125 pounds.
Oregon State beat out Cal St. Bakersfield by one-half of a point to capture third place. OSU finished fourth at last year's Pac-10s. Boise State won the team title, with three wrestlers claiming individual titles. BSU's 125-pounder K.C. Rock dominated his class by pinning all four of his opponents to win the championship. Rock was voted most outstanding wrestler in the tournament by the coaches.
"We had a good performance," said OSU head coach Joe Wells. "For some of our young guys, it's their first time here, and they performed."
Cooley, a sophomore who entered the tournament ranked 12th nationally, won his championship bout against BSU's Bart Johnson 3-2 after pinning UC-Davis' Brandon Arsenault in the quarters and beating Oregon's Eric Webb 4-2 in the semifinals. Cooley is riding a hot-streak going into the NCAAs, having won 13 of his last 14 matches. He carries a 24-6 record on the season with two pins.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for Oregon State was 141-pound freshman Cunanan. He entered the weekend with a 12-13 record and ranked fourth in the Pac-10. Cunanan went to work in the quarterfinals, pinning UC-Davis' Josh Sternberg in five minutes, 56 seconds. After upsetting No. 14 David Douglass from Arizona State 8-5, Cunanan dropped a tough decision in the finals to No. 19 Jonathan Archuleta of Cal St. Bakersfield.
In the 157-pound championship match, Jorgensen lost to No. 6 Larry Quisel of Boise State. Jorgensen, a junior who was ranked fourth nationally in last week's poll, has never beaten Quisel. Jorgensen lost to Quisel - ranked seventh at the time - 5-4 in a dual meet earlier this year. At one point during the year, Jorgensen had won 24 matches in a row, and he will go into the NCAAs at 28-4.
Coy, ranked fourth in the Pac-10 coming into the weekend, won handily over UC-Davis' Martin Cook 10-1in the quarters and then won a tight semifinal contest over CS-Bakersfield's Andy Varner by a score of 8-7. Coy lost 10-9 in a gutwrenching championship bout against Jason Webster of Cal St.-Fullerton.
Navarro - ranked 19th nationally coming into the tournament - lost a 14-11 decision to CS-Fullerton's T.J. Hill in the third-place match Sunday night. Navarro beat Hill 12-7in the quarterfinals, then was sent to the consolation brackets when he was pinned in 2:40 by eventual champion K.C. Rock of Boise State.
Ben Richards took third in the 133-pound division for the second straight year by defeating Alberto Garza of Cal-Poly 6-5 on Sunday night.
TEAM RESULTS
1. Boise State, 133.5, 2. Arizona State, 125.5, 3. Oregon State, 102, 4. Cal St. Bakersfield, 101.5, Oregon, 72.5, 6. Cal St.-Fullerton, 64.5, 7. Stanford, 40, 8. Portland State, 38.5, 9. Cal Poly, 28.5, 10. UC- Davis 24.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (tournament seedings in parentheses)
125 - (2) Nathan Navarro, OSU, dec. over T.J. Hill, Cal St.-Fullerton, 12-7, pinned by (4) K.C. Rock, Boise St., 6:36 in semifinals, consolation: dec. over Jaime Garza, Cal-Poly, 5-2, lost to T.J. Hill, CS-Fullerton, 14-11, finished 4th.
133 - (4) Ben Richards, OSU, maj. dec. John Fasana, PSU, 11-1, lost to (1) Zach Zimmerer, Stanford, 7-3 in semifinal, consolation: tech. fall over Arturo Anaya, Arizona State, 6:16 (15-0), dec. over (3) Alberto Garza, Cal-Poly, 6-5, finished 3rd.
141 - (4) Shane Cunanan, OSU, pinned Josh Sternberg, UC-Davis, in 5:56, defeated (1) David Douglass, Arizona St., 8-5 in Semifinals, lost to (2) Jonathan Archuleta, CS-Bakersfield, 4-2, finished 2nd.
149 - Andy Frey, OSU, lost to Tony Overstake, Oregon, 14-8, consolation: pinned by Larry Vasquez, CS-Bakersfield, 4:38.
157 - (2) Eric Jorgensen, OSU, pinned Ron Holyoak, Portland St., in 2:35, decisioned (3) Warren McPherson, Stanford, 6-1 in semis, lost to (1) Larry Quisel, Boise St., 3-1, finished 2nd.
165 - Jake Huffman, OSU, lost to Mike Pierce, PSU, 2-1, consolation: lost to Clay Hackerman, Stanford, 6-4.
174 - (4) Nathan Coy, OSU, maj. dec. Martin Cook, UC-Davis, 10-1, decisioned (1) Andy Varner, CS-Bakersfield, 8-7 in semis, lost to (2) Jason Webster, CS-Fullerton, 10-9, finished 2nd.
184 - Clint Wilson, OSU, lost to (2) Lionel Halsey, CS-Bakersfield, 5-4, consolation: dec. David Cobb, UC-Davis, 4-0, lost to (3) Cash Edwards, Boise St., 4-2.
197 - Jason Lovell, OSU, lost to Robert Odell, CS-Bakersfield, 6-3, consolation: dec. over Jake Leair, Oregon, 3-1, pinned by Andy Hunter, Stanford, in 2:37, finished 6th.
HWT - (1) Jason Cooley, OSU, pinned Brandon Arsenault, UC-Davis, in 2:06, dec. Eric (4) Webb, Oregon, 4-2 in semis, dec. (2) Bart Johnson, Boise St., 3-2, Champion.
