Oregon State
Pacific-10 Championships
Ellis, Larson Place Second In Pac-10
February 28, 2005 | Wrestling
Feb. 28, 2005
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Oregon State 165-pounder Matt Ellis and 174-pounder Jeremy Larson were beaten in the championship finals at the Pacific-10 Wrestling Championships Friday night at Mott Gymnasium. Ellis lost a 6-5 decision to Joey Bracamonte of Oregon and Larson lost a 4-2 decision to Leonel Sanchez of Cal State-Fullerton.
The Beavers finished in sixth place in the team standings. Arizona State won the championship with 106 points, followed by Boise State with 93. Ellis, Larson and OSU 157-pounder Tony Hook earned automatic berths to the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 17-19 in St. Louis, Mo.
OSU heavyweight Ty Watterson could be selected as a wild card entry for the national meet; the Pac-10 coaches were still deciding the conference's wild card entrants on Monday night.
The top three finishers at each weight class, plus 10 wild-card entries selected by the conference's coaches, will go to the NCAA meet.
Hook placed third while 133-pounder Tim Norman, 184-pounder Dan Pitsch and Watterson all placed fourth in the Pac-10 meet. OSU 125-pounder Eric Stevenson placed sixth.
Ellis, the defending Pac-10 champ at 165, was ranked No. 16 in the nation this week by Amateur Wrestling News and Bracamonte, the No. 1 seed, was ranked No. 15. Ellis scored a takedown as time expired to tie the score, but Bracamonte had earned a point for riding time and that gave him the victory.
Bracamonte took Ellis down twice in the first period for a 4-2 lead. Ellis escaped to start the second period and make it 4-3, then Bracamonte escaped to start the third for his 5-3 advantage.
Larson had been seeded fourth entering the tournament while Sanchez was the No. 2 seed, but Larson had defeated No. 1 seed Ronnie Silva of California-Davis in the semifinals.
After a scoreless first period, Larson escaped to start the second period. Sanchez came back to score a pair of takedowns in the third period, sandwiched around a Larson escape, to earn the championship. Hook, who was seeded third, took a 16-5 major decision over Cal State-Bakersfield's Brian Busby in the third-place final.
Norman, seeded third, was beaten 3-2 by Jeff Bristol of California-Davis in the third-place final; Pitsch, seeded fifth, was beaten 10-4 by Brandon Bear of California-Davis in the third-place final; and Watterson, seeded second, was beaten 6-5 by Eric Smith of Boise State in the third-place final.
In matches to determine a "true fourth" finish - contested if the wrestlers who placed fourth and fifth had not wrestled during the tournament - Norman was pinned by Roberto Vargas of Cal State-Bakersfield in 0:56 and Pitsch was pinned by Ryan Halsey of Cal Poly in 0:29. Results of those matches are taken into consideration when coaches determine the NCAA wild-card entrants.
Stevenson, who was not seeded, was beaten 9-3 by Nathan Peterson of Stanford in the fifth-place final.
PACIFIC-10 WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
TEAM SCORES: 1. Arizona State 106; 2. Boise State 93; 3. Oregon 88; 4. California-Davis 82; 5. Cal Poly 81; 6. Oregon State 74; 7. Cal State-Bakersfield 67; 8. Cal State-Fullerton 52.5; 9. Stanford 48.5; 10. Portland State 26.
OREGON STATE RESULTS
(Current Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)
125, Eric Stevenson, SIXTH PLACE: Dec. over Joey Lucas, UO, 2-1 in preliminary round; dec. by No. 1 seed (4) Vic Moreno, CPU, 12-2 in quarterfinals; pinned Kip Watson, PSU, 4:04 in wrestleback preliminary round; dec. over No. 5 seed Jesse Miramontes, CSUF, 9-7 (OT) in wrestleback quarterfinals; major dec. by No. 2 seed (6) Eric Hochstrasser, BSU, 16-4 in wrestleback semifinals; dec. by No. 6 seed Nathan Peterson, Stanford, 9-3 in fifth-place final.
133, NO. 5 SEED Bobby Pfennigs: Pinned by Chad Mendes, CPU, 1:42 in preliminary round; dec. by No. 6 seed Martin Mitchell, UO, 5-3 in wrestleback preliminary round.
141, NO. 3 SEED Tim Norman, FOURTH PLACE: Dec. over Jacob Scoles, BSU, 6-2 in preliminary round; dec. over No. 6 seed Chris Hayworth, SU, 4-1 in quarterfinals; dec. by No. 2 seed Steve Esparza, CPU, 3-2 in semifinals; dec. over No. 5 seed Skyler Woods, UO, 5-3 in wrestleback semifinals; dec. by Jeff Bristol, UCD, 3-2 in third-place final; pinned by No. 4 seed Roberto Vargas, CSUB, 0:56 in true fourth-place final.
149, Orlando Perez: Dec. by Eddie Dahlen, PSU, 8-5 in preliminary round; dec. by Jeff Silva, CSUF, 3-2 in wrestleback preliminary round.
157, NO. 3 SEED Tony Hook, THIRD PLACE: Dec. over No. 6 seed Lex Case, Boise State, 7-2 in quarterfinals; dec. by No. 2 seed (14) Brian Stith, Arizona State, 4-2 in semifinals; dec. over No. 5 seed Morgan Atkinson, CSUF, 13-9 in wrestleback semifinals; major dec. over No. 4 seed Brian Busby, CSUB, 16-5 in third-place final.
165, NO. 2 SEED (16) Matt Ellis, SECOND PLACE: Dec. over (18) Russell Brunson, BSU, 7-3 in quarterfinals; dec. over No. 6 seed Pat Pitsch, ASU, 3-1 in semifinals; dec. by No. 1 seed (15) Joey Bracamonte, UO, 6-5 in championship final.
174, NO. 4 SEED Jeremy Larson, SECOND PLACE: Dec. over No. 5 seed Chet McBee, UO, 3-1 (OT) in quarterfinals; dec. over No. 1 seed Ronnie Silva, UCD, 11-7 in semifinals; dec. by No. 2 seed Lionel Sanchez, CSUF, 4-2 in championship final.
184, NO. 5 SEED Dan Pitsch, FOURTH PLACE: Major dec. over No. 4 seed Brandon Bear, UCD, 11-3 in quarterfinals; dec. by No. 1 seed (11) Shane Webster, UO, 8-3 in semifinals; dec. over No. 6 seed Ryan Hagen, SU, 9-2 in wrestleback semifinals; dec. by No. 4 seed Brandon Bear, UCD, 10-4 in third-place final; pinned by No. 3 seed (12) Ryan Halsey, CPU, 0:29 in true fourth-place final.
197, NO. 6 SEED Travis Gardner: Dec. over Bryan Travers, CSB, 10-6 in preliminary round; dec. by No. 3 seed Ralph Garcia, CPU, 5-4 in quarterfinals; pinned by Reed Shelger, UCD, 3:16 in wrestleback quarterfinals.
HWT, NO. 2 SEED (13) Ty Watterson, FOURTH PLACE: Dec. by Allen Kennett, PSU, 9-8 in quarterfinals; dec. over Shawn Ritzenthaler, SU, 12-5 in wrestleback preliminary round; dec. over No. 6 seed Arturo Basulto, CPU, 8-1 in wrestleback quarterfinals; dec. over No. 5 seed Cody Parker, UO, 6-1 in wrestleback semifinals; dec. by No. 3 seed Eric Smith, BSU, 6-5 in third-place final.
