Oregon State
NCAA Championships
Sakaguchi, Pena Join Meeks as All-Americans, Beaver Wrestlers in Eighth after Day 2 of NCAA's
March 22, 2013 | Wrestling
March 22, 2013
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 157 lb. Junior RJ Pena is elated after defeating Boise State's George Ivanov to become an All-American for the first time in his career. Pena went 4-0 during the second day of the NCAA Championships and joined teammates Scott Sakaguchi (149 lbs.) and Taylor Meeks (197 lbs.) in the All-American category. |
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Beavers claim three All-Americans for the third straight season, Sakaguchi joins elite company with his second straight honor
DES MOINES, Iowa – For the second straight season, the Oregon State wrestling team boasts a trio of All-Americans as Scott Sakaguchi (149 lbs.), RJ Pena (157 lbs.) and Taylor Meeks (197 lbs.) went a combined 7-2 on the second day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships to ensure themselves a top eight finish.
As a team, Oregon State currently sits in a tie for eighth place with Iowa State. Both schools reeled off a total of 41 points, heading into the final day of competition, Saturday.
Meeks was the first Beaver to earn All-American status as he pinned Wyoming's Alfonso Hernandez with just seven seconds remaining in the match, sending him to the semifinals against Kent State's Dustin Kilgore. The 197 lb. sophomore's defeat of Hernandez was an impressive feat as he came back from a 5-2 deficit to take a 6-5 lead and avenge a loss earlier in the season to the Cowboy wrestler.
Meeks' evening match with Kilgore would be a tough test, as the top ranked Kent State wrestler had not lost all year through 42 matches. That didn't stop the OSU underclassman from hanging tough as Meeks kept it close, but was defeated by Kilgore 8-6, sending him to the wrestleback bracket.
Sakaguchi and Pena's All-American crowning came during the night session, hours after Meeks' win. Their pair of victories took place within minutes of each other on mats situated side-by-side. After a loss in the quarterfinals earlier in the day, Sakaguchi came back strong to pull out a last minute take down with less than 20 seconds remaining to upset No. 3 seed Donald Vinson of Binghamton with a 2-1 decision. Sakaguchi, the OSU coaches and the Oregon State faithful who made the trip from Corvallis, all participated in the ensuing celebration.
Pena was able to witness his teammate's second All-American celebration in as many years while his match with Boise State's George Ivanov was under video review. It was only a matter of moments before the 157 pounder would join Sakaguchi in celebration as he earned a one point escape in the closing seconds of his match with Ivanov to come out on top against the Bronco grappler for the second time this season via a 3-2 decision. Pena's victory against Ivanov was his third of the day but not his last. He then defeated Clarion's James Fleming in an 8-0 major decision with 6:21 minutes of riding time to go 4-0 on the day and 5-1 in the tournament.
Both Pena and Sakaguchi are still eligible to finish as high as third place, as is Meeks who will square off against Minnesota's Scott Schiller in yet another rematch tomorrow morning. Meeks defeated Schiller by an 8-2 decision back in December. Pena takes on Northern Iowa's David Bonin, while Sakaguchi does battle with Columbia's Steve Santos during Session V.
While there was reason for OSU fans to celebrate on Friday, there was also cause to say goodbye as the careers of two seniors came to an end. Both Mike Mangrum (141 lbs.) and heavyweight Chad Hanke suffered defeats that eliminated them from the tournament.
Mangrum lost his first match of the day to the Citadel's Undrakhbayar (Ugi) Khishignyam by way of a 3-2 decision in overtime. He then was defeated by Minnesota's Nick Dardanes in the evening session to close out his illustrious OSU career.
Hanke would also drop the final two matches of his Beaver career, losing via a 5-3 decision to Northwestern's Michael McMullan and then by fall (4:22) to the Citadel's Odie Delany.
Together Mangrum and Hanke combined for 248 career wins, with Mangrum fifth all-time at 135 and Hanke with 113 and tied for 16th.
Saturday's coverage of the NCAA Championships will be on ESPNU and ESPN with LIVE OSU match-by-match updates available by following @OSU_Wrestling on Twitter. Session V starts at 8 a.m. Pacific Time.
VIDEO INTERVIEWS:
SCOTT SAKAGUCHI
OREGON STATE RESULTS
**Through Session IV**
141 lbs.
No. 3 Mike Mangrum (2-2)
(3.21) Mike Mangrum def. Nicholas Hucke (Missouri) Dec. (6-4) OT
(3.21) Mike Mangrum def. Trevor Melde (Rutgers) Dec. (4-2)
(3.22) Undrakhbayar Khishignyam (Citadel) def. Mike Mangrum Dec. (3-2) 3OT
(3.22) Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) def. Mike Mangrum Dec. (5-3) 3OT
(3) Mike Mangrum (Oregon State) 39-5
*Eliminated from tournament
149 lbs.
No. 7 Scott Sakaguchi (4-1)
(3.21) Scott Sakaguchi def. Blake Roulo (Buffalo) Dec. (12-5)
(3.21) Scott Sakaguchi def. Ivan Lopouchanski (Purdue) Dec. (4-1)
(3.22) Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) def. Scott Sakaguchi Dec (3-2) 3OT
(3.22) Scott Sakaguchi def. Donald Vinson (Binghamton) Dec (2-1)
(3.22) Scott Sakaguchi def. Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech) Dec. (8-5)
(7) Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) 29-7
(Sat. morning)
(5) Steve Santos (Columbia) (29-2)
157 lbs.
No. 10 RJ Pena (5-1)
(3.21) Josh Demas (Ohio State) def. RJ Pena Dec. (7-6)
(3.21) RJ Pena def. Luke Smith (Central Michigan) Pin (2:29)
(3.22) RJ Pena def. Zac Cibula (Rider) Dec. (10-4)
(3.22) RJ Pena def. Scott Winston (Rutgers) Dec. (8-1)
(3.22) RJ Pena def. George Ivanov (Boise State) Dec. (3-2)
(3.22) RJ Pena def. James Fleming (Clarion) Maj. Dec. (8-0)
(10) RJ Pena (Oregon State) 35-7
(Sat. morning)
David Bonin (Northern Illinois) 29-8
174 lbs.
Cody Weishoff (0-2)
No. 1 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) def. Cody Weishoff Dec. (5-4)
Stephen West (Columbia) def. Cody Weishoff Dec. (4-2)
Cody Weishoff (Oregon State) 16-11
*Eliminated from tournament
184 lbs.
Ty Vinson (1-1)
(3.21) No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) def. Ty Vinson Maj. Dec. (12-0)
(3.21) Ty Vinson def. John Rizqallah (Michigan State) Dec. (5-0)
(3.22) Daniel Rinaldi (Rutgers) def. Ty Vinson Dec. (3-2)
Ty Vinson (Oregon State) 17-12
*Eliminated from the tournament
197 lbs.
No. 5 Taylor Meeks (3-1)
(3.21) Taylor Meeks def. Maxwell Huntley (Michigan) Pin (1:49)
(3.21) Taylor Meeks def. Jackson Hein (Wisconsin) Dec. (4-3)
(3.22) Taylor Meeks def. Alfonso Hernandez (Wyoming) Pin (4:54)
(3.22) Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) def. Taylor Meeks Dec. (8-6)
(5) Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) 35-6
(Sat. morning)
(10) Scott Schiller (Minnesota) 27-5
HWT
No. 4 Chad Hanke (2-2)
(3.21) Chad Hanke def. Kevin Innis (Boston) Pin (0:41)
(3.21) Chad Hanke def. Ernest James (Edinboro) Dec. (4-0)
(3.22) Michael McMullan (Northwestern) def. Chad Hanke Dec. (5-3)
(3.22) Odie Delaney (Citadel) def. Chad Hanke Pin (4:22)
(4) Chad Hanke (Oregon State) 35-5
*Eliminated from tournament
POST MEET QUOTES
149 lb. Junior Scott Sakaguchi
On becoming an All-American for the second straight season…
“It's big for me. Last year I feel like maybe some people thought it was a fluke so I put a lot of pressure on myself this year where I wanted to win it. I wanted to refocus, get through it and prove that I still should be one of the top guys.”
On how aware he was about how much time was on the clock before he scored his last takedown…
“I didn't know. I was just trying to hustle and score as quickly as I could.”
157 lb. Junior RJ Pena
On defeating Boise State's George Ivanov to become an All-American for the first time…
“I lost to him in the Pac-12 finals and we've had a pretty long history of wrestling each other, going back and forth but this is what really matters, the national tournament. I'd trade All-American status for a Pac-12 Championship any day.”
On wrestling four matches in one day…
“I think the biggest aspect is the mental side of it. I lost my very first match, so I had the longest way back to become an All-American. I wrestled a lot of tough matches and didn't let my first loss affect me. I just had to keep moving forward and try to keep positive. Our coaches did a great job of preaching that to me.”
On whether or not he was able to see Scott Sakaguchi's match during his…
“Actually yes, when I was wrestling that match we had a break because there was a dispute over a call, and I look over and see Scott celebrating, so it was really exciting and kind of gave me a little bit more motivation to win that match.”
Head Coach Jim Zalesky
On his team's performance at the NCAA Championships thus far…
“You lose some heartbreakers and you win some heartbreakers and we did both today. We lost a couple of heartbreakers this morning with (Mike) Mangrum and then tonight, two seniors, Mangrum and (Chad) Hanke couldn't come back for their All-American status, but they had great careers at Oregon State. Then you have (RJ) Pena and (Scott) Sakaguchi win big matches tonight so that was very good. Meeks just got beat in the semis but battled the number one guy (Dustin Kilgore) who was undefeated.”
On Scott Sakaguchi and RJ Pena becoming All-Americans within minutes of each other…
“It was great. That is what this round is about, you are up, you're down. (Mike) Mangrum lost, you're down, those guys win and you're up and then your down, so it's ups and downs and you just have to keep yourself up as long as you can.”
POST MEET NOTES
--Scott Sakaguchi becomes an All-American for the second straight year, he is just the 25th wrestler in OSU history to earn multiple All-American seasons.
--Sakaguchi improves to 11-5 during his career at the NCAA Championships.
--RJ Pena becomes an All-American for the first time in his career.
--Pena defeated Boise State's George Ivanov to secure his All-American status, marking the fourth time the two have met this season and the 10th time during their careers.
--RJ Pena went to 6-3 all-time during the NCAA Championships during his career, with a 2-2 record in 2012 and a 4-1 mark in 2013.
--Taylor Meeks' pin of Alfonso Hernandez made him 1-1 against Hernandez this year, marking the second time this tournament he faced off against an opponent he wrestled earlier this season.
--Two of Meeks' three victories during NCAA's came off falls.
--For the second straight year, the Beavers sent at least one wrestler to the semifinals, last season heavyweight Clayton Jack made it all the way to the second to last night.
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