Beavers Set to Open New Year with Joe Wells Classic

CORVALLIS – The Oregon State wrestling team returns to Gill Coliseum for the annual Joe Wells Classic featuring the Beavers and the No. 6-ranked Michigan Wolverines. The dual is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

The Fourth Annual Joe Wells Classic is named after longtime Beavers head coach and Wolverines assistant coach Joe Wells. Wells coached at the University of Michigan from 1979-92, and served as Oregon State's head coach from 1992 until retiring in 2006. Wells passed away on April 16, 2015 after a battle with cancer.

Tickets
You can purchase for Thursday's dual, and every home event, online at BeaverTickets.com or in person at the box office before the match.

Media
Live stats will be provided through TrackWrestling and a link to each meet are available on OSUBeavers.com. You can also follow the wrestling action on Twitter.com/BeaverWrestling for updates as each meet progresses. The dual will air on the Pac12Networks beginning at 7 p.m. PT.

Probable Lineup – Oregon State (1-2) vs. #6 Michigan (3-0)
125: No. 3 Ronnie Bresser (11-1, 3-0)
133: Kegan Calkins (5-8, 1-2)
OR Devan Turner (13-6, 0-0)
141: Grant Willits (9-4, 3-0)
149: Zach Evans (5-4, 0-3)
OR Josh Reyes (7-2, 0-0)
157: No. 21 Hunter Willits (15-5, 2-1)
165: Aaron Olmos (6-7, 1-2)
174: Colt Doyle (7-6, 1-2)
184: Myles Terry (7-7, 0-3)
197: Bob Coleman (11-7, 1-2)
285: No. 1 Amar Dhesi (0-0)

Beavers in the Ranks
The Beavers enter this week ranked as highly as No. 11 in the tournament rankings by TrackWrestling, which are based on how many advancement and placement points a team would get at NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Heavyweight Amar Dhesi debuted at No. 1 in both the TrackWrestling and FloWrestling rankings last week. Three individuals have been ranked all season long for the Beavers, and their current highest rankings follow: No. 3 125-pounder Ronnie Bresser, No. 20 157-pounder Hunter Willits, and No. 22 197-pounder Corey Griego.

Last Time Out
Oregon State dropped a nonconference dual on the road to the Bison of North Dakota State. The Beavers lost to the No. 20-ranked Bison by a score of 13-31. Bresser picked up a win over No. 8 Brent Fleetwood by fall in the second period.

Scouting the Opposition
Michigan enters Thursday with a 3-0 dual meet record under first year head coach Sean Bormet. The Wolverines return seven starters from last year including four All-Americans. UM boats eight nationally ranked wrestlers, including two top-five wrestlers in No. 2 Stevan Micic (133) and No. 3 Myles Amine (174).

Dual Dominance
G. Willits and Bresser both find themselves unbeaten in dual meets this season. Both wrestlers have dominated their competition in the three meets with bonus point wins in each match. Dhesi retuns to the lineup for his first match of the 2018-19 season; he finished last year undefeated in dual meets.

Up Next
The Beavers hit the road for a pair of nonconference duals next week at Northern Colorado (Jan. 11) and No. 18 Wyoming (Jan. 13).

Follow Us on Social
For more information on the Oregon State wrestling team, visit OSUBeavers.com or follow the team's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/BeaverWrestling, on Facebook at Facebook.com/BeaverWrestling, or on Instagram at Instagram.com/BeaverWrestling.

OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).

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Players Mentioned

Ronnie Bresser

Kegan Calkins

Bob Coleman

Amar Dhesi

Colt Doyle

Zach Evans

Aaron Olmos

Josh Reyes

Myles Terry

Devan Turner

Grant Willits

Hunter Willits