Beavers head to Michigan
January 06, 2016 | Wrestling
“Progress,” coach Jim Zalesky said in describing what he's looking for this week when the Beavers (3-3) return to the Midwest for duals with No. 13 Michigan and No. 16 Central Michigan.
OSU faces the Wolverines at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Joe Wells Classic. The dual will honor the longtime Michigan assistant coach/OSU head coach, who died earlier this year. It concludes the road trip on Saturday with an 11 a.m. dual against Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant.
Both teams pose major challenges. Michigan (4-1) placed seventh at the Cliff Keen Last Vegas Invite, where OSU (minus heavyweight Amarveer Dhesi) finished 24th. The Wolverines placed 28th at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga this past weekend, but did not send their starters and had just four eligible scorers.
Freshmen Austin Assad (125) and Logan Massa (165) competed unattached and placed sixth and second, respectively, in their weight classes.
Thursday's highlight matches will be at 125, where OSU's Ronnie Bresser (No. 6 InterMat) meets Conor Youtsey (19), and at heavyweight, where Dhesi (10) meets Adam Coon (4), the 2015 NCAA runner-up.
Other Wolverines ranked by InterMat are 133-pounder Rossi Bruno (16); 149-pounder Alex Pantaleo (8); 174-pounder Davonte Mahomes (19); 184-pounder Domenic Abounader (10) and 197-pounder Max Huntley (6).
“Michigan was a top-5 ranked team at the start of the season,” Zalesky said.
Central Michigan (4-0) was eighth at the Southern Scuffle. Justin Oliver (149) took third place; Brent Fleetwood (125) finished fourth, Zach Horan (141) was sixth, and Luke Smith (157) and Mike Ottinger (174) finished seventh.
Smith is ranked No. 9 by InterMat; Ottinger is No. 12 and 149-pounder Colin Heffernan is No. 10.
The Beavers were in position for a top-10 finish at the Dec. 29-30 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at Northwestern after the first day, but they faltered on Day 2 and finished 12th instead.
Bresser placed second and redshirt freshman Kegan Calkins, competing unattached, took sixth at 125 pounds and were OSU's only placers. Five others lost matches that would have advanced them to placing positions.
“We had six guys in the round to place, and Kegan was the only guy who won,” Zalesky said. “That was a tough round, that's where you score your points.
“It was kind of disappointing. We saw some guys wrestle well, and saw some guys either not wrestle well as they can, or have a tough match.”
Zalesky said OSU's biggest problem has been a lack of consistency.
“We have to wrestle better as a team,” he explained. “I keep harping on it but we have to have consistency as a team, every time we step out on the mat, and it's not there yet.
“We just have to find a way to win the tough matches. Right now we're not, we're going the other way. We have to find a way to win those matches.”
OSU's next home dual is Jan. 16 against Wyoming, a noon match that will be televised by Pac-12 Networks. The Cowboys handed the Beavers their only dual-meet loss in 2015, a 21-17 decision in Laramie.
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.
OSU vs. Michigan
125: Ronnie Bresser vs. Conor Youtsey
133: Joey Palmer vs. Rossi Bruno
141: Jack Hathaway vs. George Fisher/Zac Hall
149: Joey Delgado vs. Alec Pantaleo
157: Abraham Rodriguez vs. Brian Murphy
165: Seth Thomas vs. Garrett Sutton
174: Ali Alshujery/Tyler Chay vs. Davonte Mahomes
184: Corey Griego vs. Domenic Abounader
197: Cody Crawford vs. Max Huntley
Hwt.: Amarveer Dhesi vs. Adam Coon
OSU vs. Central Michigan
125: Ronnie Bresser vs. Brent Fleetwood
133: Joey Palmer vs. Corey Keener/Carter Ballinger
141: Jack Hathaway vs. Zach Horan
149: Joey Delgado vs. Colin Heffernan/Justin Oliver
157: Abraham Rodriguez vs. Luke Smith
165: Seth Thomas vs. Jordan Atienza
174: Ali Alshujery/Tyler Chay vs. Mike Ottinger/CJ Brucki
184: Corey Griego vs. Jordan Ellingwood/Austin Severn
197: Cody Crawford vs. Jackson Lewis
Hwt.: Amarveer Dhesi vs. Newton Smerchek/Adam Robinson
