OSU seeks 5th straight title
February 25, 2016 | Wrestling
Coach Jim Zalesky believes the Beavers are one of four teams in the running for the crown, which they captured for the sixth time in this century by outscoring runner-up Arizona State in Corvallis last February.
“There are four teams that can win it: Us, Stanford, Arizona State and Bakersfield,” Zalesky said. “They all have a shot. It just depends on who goes down there and wrestles as a team.
“Whichever team goes down there and performs is going to win. That's just the way it is. We have to go down and wrestle well.”
The tournament begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with the quarterfinals, semifinals and consolation quarterfinals. Session II starts at 3:30 p.m. and features the semifinals, consolation finals and the championship finals.
The championship matches will be televised by the Pac-12 Network, starting at 6 p.m. Live results will be available at pac-12.com/wrestlingchampionships.
The Beavers (11-6, 3-2 Pac-12) enter the championships on a hot streak, having won three duals in a row and 6 of their last 7.
“We've been wrestling well lately but we've had some matches when we haven't shown up as a team,” Zalesky said. “You can't have just five guys show up. You have to have your whole team show up and you have to score points.
“There are some weights where we have struggled all year where we have to step up, like 141, 149 and 197. They've all won Pac-12s before, either last year of the year before. Those guys have to step up and win, or find a way to score as many points as they can.”
The Beavers had five champions in 2015, when they ran away with the meet in the opening session by advancing eight competitors to the championship match. Senior 174-pound champion Joe Latham was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet.
OSU's returning champions are sophomore Ronnie Bresser (125) and redshirt sophomores Jack Hathaway (133) and Cody Crawford (197). Redshirt sophomore Abraham Rodriguez (157) and senior Seth Thomas (165) took second.
The Beavers upset No. 7 Oklahoma and then routed Air Force and Boise State by a combined 94-21 in their final three regular-season matches.
“I think we are wrestling pretty well,” Thomas said after their most recent victory, a 36-9 thrashing of Boise State on Feb. 21. “We just have to keep trucking along.
“Obviously we're trying to defend our title and I'm trying to get my first Pac-12 title. That would be pretty awesome. I don't know anything other than being a Pac-12 champion, so hopefully we can keep it that way.”
Seedings and pairings will be released Friday. In the Feb. 16 coaches rankings, redshirt sophomores Rodriguez (157) and Amarveer Dhesi (heavyweight) were ranked No. 1; Bresser (125), redshirt junior Joey Palmer (133), Thomas (165) and redshirt freshman Corey Griego (184) were ranked No. 2; redshirt sophomore Hathaway (141) and redshirt junior Joey Delgado (149) were ranked No. 4, and redshirt sophomores Tyler Chay (174) and Crawford (197) were ranked No. 5.
“We've out ourselves in some situations where we are in the same side of the bracket as the No. 1 seed,” Zalesky said. “So we'll have to knock those guys off to get into the finals.”
The NCAA released the automatic bids per conference on Thursday. The Pac-12 will receive three bids at 141, 149, 165 and heavyweight; two bids at 125, 174 and 184, and one bid at 133, 157 and 197.
Also, five at-large selections from around the country will be added at 125, 133, 149, 165, 184 and heavyweight, and four at 141, 157, 174 and 197 so each weight class at NCAAs will have 33 entrants.
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.
