Dhesi named top Pac-12's best
February 28, 2016 | Wrestling
Tempe, Ariz. – Oregon State heavyweight Amarveer Dhesi was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Pacific-12 Conference Championships on Saturday night.
A redshirt sophomore from Surrey, British Columbia, Dhesi had two pins and a major decision en route to the Pac-12 heavyweight title. He pinned Boise State's Gabe Gonzalez in 2:22 in the quarterfinals, pinned Cal Poly's Spencer Empey in 2:16 in the semifinals, and then crushed Stanford's Nathan Butler by major decision, 19-5, in the title match to clinch OSU's fifth consecutive Pac-12 team title.
“Team-wise, this was obviously great, our fifth win in Pac-12's. That is awesome for us as a team,” Dhesi said. “Individually, this is just a steppingstone. I wasn't looking to record the most falls or get the MVP. The big thing is NCAAs, where I will just do my best.”
He would have concluded the tournament with a technical fall but Butler, the 2015 heavyweight champion, escaped with about two seconds left to cut the margin of victory to 14 points, one short of the 15-points necessary for a tech fall.
“I am happy with it,” Dhesi said. “I should have got the tech fall, but it is fine. I like the way I wrestled and I need to take that to nationals.”
He is the second Beaver in a row to win Wrestler of the Meet honors. Joe Latham won the award in 2015 after winning the 174-pound conference championship in Corvallis.
Dhesi was one of five Beavers to qualify for the NCAA Championships, set for March 17-19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
“I will train hard this next week and then do some tapering and studying on the guys,” Dhesi said in describing how he will prepare for his second trip to nationals. “Just go out there and do what I do best.”
Dhesi also advanced to NCAAs in 2014 as a true freshman after taking second at the Pac-12 tournament. He redshirted in 2015 after suffering an offseason knee injury.
OSU coach Jim Zalesky described Dhesi as a great example for his teammates.
“We need more of those guys wrestling like he did,” Zalesky said. “He went out looking to dominate and he did. It was fun to watch him … he was wrestling like a little guy.”
Dhesi was OSU's lone individual champion. Ronnie Bresser (125), Joey Palmer (133) and Corey Griego (184) lost their championship matches. Joey Delgado (149), Abraham Rodriguez (157), Seth Thomas (165) and Cody Crawford (197) placed third.
Dhesi, Bresser, Delgado, Thomas and Griego earned automatic NCAA berths. Palmer, Rodriguez and Crawford could earn at-large berths when they are announced on March 9, as all three are ranked in the top 33 nationally in the NCAA's Wrestling Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
The Beavers have now won five straight Pac-12 championships overall and seven in Zalesky's 10-year tenure as head coach.
“It is not easy winning five straight,” Zalesky said. “This one was really a dogfight. We needed every win and point we could earn. I think we scored some bonus points that helped us get the win.
“The teams are getting better, Arizona State and Stanford have gotten better. It is not easy, so you can't take them for granted. Every time it's the Pac-12 tournament, you know you are going to have to wrestle to win and I think we did.”
Zalesky said OSU may change its mode of preparation for the NCAAs.
“[NCAAs are] what it is all about, that is what you train for. We have got to do some things differently,” he said. “Sometime the pressure of the tournament means guys don't wrestle like they are capable, which I think a couple of our guys did.
“Now it is time to get emotionally ready to wrestle at the premier event for wrestling.”
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.
