OSU wrestlers in fourth place
February 28, 1999
STANFORD, Calif. - Oregon State is in fourth place after the first day of the Pacific-10 Conference Wrestling Championships and the Beavers have a pair of finalists in 149-pounder Oscar Wood and heavyweight Mat Orndorff. Four more OSU wrestlers are still in the wrestleback bracket at the meet, as 125-pounder Nathan Navarro, 133-pounder Ben Richards, 157-pounder Eric Jorgensen and 174-pounder Clint Wilson all have chances to finish as high as third in the meet.
Wood, the No. 1 seed,will meet No. 2 seed Quinn Foster of Arizona State for the title. Orndorff, seeded No. 2, will meet top seed Stephen Neal of Cal State-Bakersfield in the finals for the third straight year; Neal is ranked No. 1 in the country and is the defending national champion.
The Pacific-10 Championships conclude Sunday at Stanfords Burnham Pavilion. The top four finishers in each weight class, plus three wild-card entrants, advance to the NCAA Championships.
Arizona State leads the team race with 86.5 points, followed by Cal State-Bakersfield at 78, Boise State at 65.5 and OSU at 59.
"We missed some great opportunities this evening," said OSU head coach Joe Wells after Navarro, Richards and Jorgensen all reached the semifinals but lost to lower-seeded wrestlers. "We got both our seniors in the finals, but some young guys just didnt finish it off we didnt wrestle solid and we made some young mistakes."
The Beavers would likely have another wrestler in the hunt for an NCAA berth but 197-pounder Shane Zajac had to forfeit his second-round wrestleback match due to a neck injury. Zajac suffered the injury in an 18-7 win over ASUs Erik Gladish but was able to complete the match; the doctor who examined him after the match recommended he not compete in the next round, Wells said.
Wood, ranked third nationally, advanced with a pair of pins. He beat Mauricio Mora of Cal State-Fullerton in 1:10, then finished off Portland States Derek Smith in 45 seconds. That gave Wood 50 pins in his OSU career, tying him for fifth place on the schools all-time list with Jess Lewis (heavyweight, 1968-70).
"Im feeling pretty good, but Im not wrestling that good," Wood said. "Ive got two falls, but as far as the wrestling prior to the falls, Im not too pleased."
Wood and Foster last met in a dual meet at Gill Coliseum earlier this month, with Wood pinning Foster in a wild bout in the first period.
"I want to get more position, get better position and wear him out," Wood said. "I dont really care who I wrestle in the final - youve got to beat them all. Hes a good guy to wrestle to work on staying in good position. Hes quick, athletic and strong his only weakness is that he fades at the end."
Orndorff advanced to the finals by beating Randy Leydecker of ASU 7-2 and Gan McGee of Cal Poly 9-0.
"I wrestled horribly this morning," Orndorff said. "I was embarrassed. I couldnt get any offense going. I was a little nervous for tonight, but I wrestled pretty well - a lot better than this morning."
Orndorff now has to come up with a way to attack one of the nations best wrestlers in Neal.
"Ive just got to try to have things my way," said Orndorff, who figures that a cautious approach isnt necessarily the best thing. "Ive got to put myself on the line. I dont want it to be a four-point match and still lose - I want the upset."
PACIFIC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS - OREGON STATE RESULTS FROM DAY ONE
TEAM SCORES: Arizona State 86.5, Cal State-Bakersfield 78, Boise State 65.5, Oregon State 59, Oregon 53, Stanford 50.5, Cal State-Fullerton 49.5, Cal Poly 45.5, Portland State 30.5, Cal-Davis 23.5.
NATHAN NAVARRO, 125 (NO. 3 SEED) - dec. Tim Lee, UDC, 4-0 in quarterfinals; dec. by Rudy Ruiz, SU, 6-3 in semifinalos.
BEN RICHARDS, 133 (NO. 2 SEED) - major dec. Aquila Knopf, PSU, 15-2 in quarterfinals; dec. by (3) Zach Zimmerer, SU, 12-7 in semifinals.
PAUL BARRON, 141 - major dec. by Josh Stenberg, UCD, 15-3 in preliminary round; major dec. by David Watson, UO, 18-8 in consolation first round.
OSCAR WOOD, 149 (NO. 1 SEED) - pinned Mauricio Mora, CSUF, 1:10; pinned Derek Smith, PSU, 0:45.
ERIC JORGENSEN, 157 (NO. 3 SEED) - major dec. Ben Nakamura,CSUF, 13-2 in preliminary round; dec. Glenn Pero, ASU, 7-0 in quarterfinals; dec. by Beau Weiner, SU, 5-4 in semifinals.
NATHAN COY, 165 - dec. by (2) Sean Morgan, UO, 5-4 in quarterfinals; pinned Bret Friend, UDC, 1:25 in consolation first round; dec. by R.J. Gillespie, PSU, 16-11 in consolation second round.
CLINT WILSON, 174 - dec. by (3) Kyle Konizos, BSU, 6-4 (OT) in quarterfinals; dec. Jeremy Wilson, PSU, 8-2 in consolation second round.
ISAAC WEBER, 184 - major dec. by (2) Lionel Halsey, CSB, 9-0 in preliminary round; major dec. by Dax McMillan, BSU, 10-1 in second round.
SHANE ZAJAC, 197 - dec. by (2) Chael Sonnen, UO, 6-5 in quarterfinals; major dec. Erik Gladish, ASU, 18-7 in consolation first round; withdrew due to injury.
MAT ORNDORFF, HWT (NO. 2 SEED) - dec. Randy Leydecker, ASU, 7-2; major dec. Gan McGee, CPU, 9-0.
