Beavers head to Las Vegas
December 02, 2015 | Wrestling
Corvallis, Ore. – The Oregon State wrestling team will be challenged again this weekend when it competes at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas.
Many of the top programs in the country are scheduled to participate in the annual event, one of the better tournaments in the country. The Beavers placed 10th in last year's event.
The 23rd-ranked Beavers (2-3) were idle over the Thanksgiving weekend and have not competed since falling to Rutgers and Utah Valley State back on Nov. 21. Assistant coach Troy Steiner said the Beavers have practiced well in the interim and now just have to parlay those improved workouts into a good weekend of competition.
“It's confidence,” he said. “We will see good competition this weekend. We've looked good in the room and now we have to take that into the tournament.
“We just have to keep getting better. This tournament will challenge us and push us to improve.”
Two Beavers are seeded in their respective weight class: Sophomore 125-pounder Ronnie Bresser (6) and senior 165-pounder Seth Thomas (7).
The Beavers have already faced four ranked opponents in their five duals: Nebraska (5); Rutgers (10); West Virginia (24) and Northern Iowa (25). Their other dual opponent, Utah Valley, received votes in this week's USA Today/American Wrestling Coaches Association poll and is on the cusp of breaking into the Top 25.
Undefeated sophomore heavyweight Amarveer Dhesi (10-0), ranked No. 5 nationally by InterMat and The Open Mat, will not accompany the team to Las Vegas. He instead will attend the Canadian Wrestling Team Trials in Sherwood Park, Alberta, and OSU will compete without a heavyweight representative.
A native of Surrey, British Columbia, Dhesi is vying for a spot on the 2016 Canadian Olympic team that will compete in Rio de Janeiro. If he succeeds, he will become OSU's ninth Olympic wrestler, joining Robin Reed (USA, 1920, 1924), Chet Newton (USA, 1924), Ron Finley (USA, 1964), Jess Lewis (USA, 1968), USA, Henk Shenk (1968, 1972), Les Gutches (USA, 1996), Oscar Wood (USA, 2004) and Heinrich Barnes (South Africa, 2008).
OSU resumes dual-meet action on Dec. 18 when it hosts Clackamas Community College in a 7 p.m. matchup at Gill Coliseum. The Cougars are one of the premier junior college programs on the West Coast.
For more information on the Oregon State wrestling team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/OSU_Wrestling or by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateWrestling.
