Dhesi takes 5th at NCAAs
March 19, 2016 | Wrestling
New York City – Oregon State redshirt sophomore heavyweight Amarveer Dhesi pinned Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State on Saturday in the fifth-place match at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Seventh-seeded entering the championships, Dhesi (32-5) scored an early takedown, got Marsden on his back and finished him off in 1:29 for his second pin of the tournament and his 12th fall of the season.
Dhesi completed his second NCAA appearance with a 5-2 record, with two pins and a major decision. He was 2-2 in 2014 as a true freshman, and then redshirted in 2015 following an offseason knee injury.
"It was good," Dhesi said of taking fifth place. "It was not what I was looking for at the tournament but the fall was good," and he was happy to end his season on a high note.
Saturday's win was a big comeback for Dhesi, as he was pinned by Michigan's Adam Coon in 47 seconds in the third-place semifinals. His two losses both were to higher seeds.
"He threw me, he blocked my knee, it got caught, and before I knew I was on my back," Dhesi said of the loss to Coon.
Dhesi became OSU's first All-American since 2013 on Friday when he advanced to the medal round by defeating Michael Kroells of Minnesota. He is OSU's first All-American heavyweight since Clayton Jack in 2012.
"He came out today ready to wrestle," associate head coach Troy Steiner said of Dhesi. "He got caught in the first match, but came out strong and bounced back, That's always a good thing to see."
The Beavers were in 21st place with 22 points heading into Saturday night's championship bouts. Only one team behind them had any active wrestlers, however, so they cannot finish lower than 22nd.
The 22 points nearly doubled last year's output, when they placed 30th with 11.5 points. All six Beavers to compete this year won at least one match.
"We just have to keep building and moving forward," Steiner said. "Obviously we are not where we want to be, and we don't have enough wrestlers competing today," in the medal rounds. "We have a long ways to go.
"It's tough out here tough to win these matches. Amar did a good job mentally of coming through some tough situations and bouncing back. That's a good thing and now we have to continue with the rest of the guys."
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's NCAA results:
RONNIE BRESSER (125): Dec. by Dalton Macri (Cornell), 6-5, 2 TB; dec. Eddie Klimara (Oklahoma State), 2-1, TB; pinned Sean Russell, Edinboro, 4:41; dec. Tim Lambert (Nebraska), 5-4; dec. by Connor Schram (Stanford), 3-1; eliminated, did not place.
JOEY PALMER (133): Dec. by Zane Richards (Illinois), 5-4; dec. Austin Eicher (NIU), 6-0; maj. dec. Cameron Kelly, Ohio, 11-2; dec. by Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin), 5-4; eliminated, did not place.
JOEY DELGADO (149): Dec. by Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State), 11-8; dec. Alex Kocer (SDSU), 9-7; dec. by Geo Martinez (Boise State), 5-4; eliminated. Did not place.
SETH THOMAS (165): Maj. dec. by Chad Welch (Purdue), 13-4; dec. Dakota Juarez (EMU), 8-5; maj. dec. by Anthony Perrotti (Rutgers), 15-6; eliminated, did not place.
COREY GRIEGO (184): Maj. dec. by Willie Miklus (Missouri), 15-6; dec. Victor Avery (Edinboro), 11-5; dec. by Domenic Abounader (Michigan), 3-1, SV; eliminated, did not place.
AMARVEER DHESI (hwt.): Pinned Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 1:17; maj. dec. Collin Jensen (Nebraska), 12-4; maj. dec. by Kyle Snyder (Ohio State), 16-5; dec. Tanner Hall (Arizona State), 3-2; dec. Michael Kroells (Minnesota), 8-5; pinned by Adam Coon (Michigan), 0:47; pinned Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State), 1:29; fifth place.
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