Beavers mean business at NCAAs
March 14, 2016 | Wrestling
Corvallis, Ore. – The Oregon State wrestling team is hopeful an appearance on America's biggest stage will lead to an improved performance at this year's NCAA Championships.
Six student/athletes will represent the 22nd-ranked Beavers at this year's tournament, which begins at 9 a.m. Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The championships run through Saturday.
The Beavers finished 30th in 2015, with 11.5 points. Their most recent top-10 finish was in 2013, when they placed eighth with 48.5 points and had three All-Americans, Taylor Meeks (197), Scott Sakaguci (149) and RJ Pena (157).
Coach Jim Zalesky hopes to return to the top 10, and have some of his charges earn All-American honors.
“The last couple year we've wrestled not very smart at that level, and haven't done the little things, like riding guys,” he said. “We have to do the little things right.
“As a coach, it's more getting them mentally prepared to go out and wrestle. Open up, wrestle you best, be offensive, and dictate the pace of the match.
“The thing is, you can't have a bad day, a bad Thursday or a bad Friday. because then you're sitting on the bench on Saturday. You have to wrestle.”
Redshirt freshman Corey Griego (184), sophomore Ronnie Bresser (125), redshirt sophomore Amarveer Dhesi, redshirt juniors Joey Palmer (133) and Joey Delgado (149) and senior Seth Thomas (165) will compete for OSU. All except Griego have NCAA experience; Palmer, Dhesi and Delgado went in 2014 and Thomas and Bresser went in 2015.
“They are all capable of winning some matches,” Zalesky said. “It doesn't matter what the draws are, you just take it one match at a time. They all have looked good at times and it's a good chance to prove yourself.
“Any time you get to NCAAs, everything starts over. There is nothing else that matters except taking one match at a time, don't look ahead, and perform the best you can.”
Dhesi (27-3), the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the recent Pacific-12 Conference championships, is seeded No. 7. He will face unseeded Jeramy Sweany (22-14) of Cornell in the opening round.
Bresser (28-7), the 125-pound runner-up at Pac-12s, is seeded 11th. He will meet unseeded Dalton Macri of Cornell (16-7) in the opening round.
“The only advantage to being seeded is, your first round match probably is not supposed to be against a real tough opponent,” Zalesky said. “I you [are unseeded] you could meet the No. 1 guy right away. You have what's considered an easier path, but you never know.”
Palmer (24-10) faces No. 3-seeded Zane Richards of Illinois (23-1). Delgado (149, 23-12) meets 11th-seeded Anthony Collica of Oklahoma State (25-7).
Thomas (21-9) faces No. 8-seeded Chad Welch of Purdue (30-7) in a rematch of their Dec. 4 bout at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, where Welch prevailed 11-2. Griego (23-10) meets 14th-seeded Willie Miklus of Missouri (18-5).
The tournament will be televised by ESPNU and ESPN3.
Thursday's sessions begin at 9 a.m. (pigtails; first round) and at 4 p.m. (second round; wrestlebacks). Friday's sessions start at 8 a.m. (quarterfinals; wrestlebacks) and at 5 p.m. (semifinals; wrestlebacks).
Saturday's sessions start at 8 a.m. (wrestleback semifinals; third-, fifth-, seventh-place matches) and at 5 p.m. (championship matches).
Following is a brief look at this year's NCAA qualifiers:
RONNIE BRESSER (125): Sophomore who was 28-7 overall … seeded 11th … runner-up at the Pac-12 tournament … has five pins, three technical falls and three majors and is 11-0 in bonus-point matches … scored 49 team points … ranked No. 7 in final InterMat and The Open Mat polls … went 2-2 at 2015 NCAA tournament.
JOEY PALMER (133): Redshirt junior who was 24-10 overall … runner-up at the Pac-12 tournament … unseeded … has three pins, nine majors and one tech fall and is 13-2 in bonus-point matches … scored 47 team points … not ranked in final InterMat poll; No. 20 in final The Open Mat poll after being ranked as high as 16th during the season … went 0-2 at 2014 NCAA tournament.
JOEY DELGADO (149): Redshirt junior who went 23-12 overall … took third place at the Pac-12 tournament … unseeded … has four pins, seven majors and a technical fall … is 12-6 in bonus-point matches … scored 34 team points … not ranked in either InterMat or The Open Mat polls during the season … went 0-2 at 141 pounds at 2014 NCAA tournament.
SETH THOMAS (165): Senior who went 21-9 overall … took third place at the Pac-12 tournament … unseeded … had seven pins, three majors and two technical falls and was 12-1 in bonus-point matches … scored 48 team points … … not ranked in either InterMat or The Open Mat polls during the season after being ranked as high as 12th in early season … went 0-2 at 2015 NCAA tournament.
COREY GRIEGO (184): Redshirt freshman who went 23-10 overall … runner-up at the Pac-12 tournament … unseeded … had six majors, four pins and four technical falls and was 14-1 in bonus-point matches … scored 50 team points … not ranked in either InterMat or The Open Mat polls during the season … first NCAA appearance.
AMARVEER DHESI (heavyweight): Redshirt sophomore who was 27-3 overall … Pac-12 champion, Most Outstanding Wrestler of the championships … seeded No. 7 … won first 14 matches of the season, lost three straight, and now has won 13 in a row … has 10 pins, seven majors and two technical falls and is 19-0 in bonus-point matches … scored 69 team points … ranked No. 7 in final InterMat poll and No. 8 in final The Open Mat poll … went 2-2 at 2014 NCAA tournament.
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.
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