Men's Wrestling Completes Competition at NCAA Championships
CLEVELAND - Oregon State wrestler Oscar Wood placed third at 142 pounds and the Beavers' Jason Buce took sixth at 126 pounds Saturday as the NCAA Championships concluded at the Cleveland State Convocation Center. Heading into Saturday night's championship finals, OSU was in ninth place in the team race with 43.5 points and had shot at its fourth top-10 finish in the past five seasons. Oregon State scored 18 bonus points, which are awarded for pins, technical falls and major decisions. OSU had six wrestlers contribute in that area, and those points are the reason the Beavers are as high as they are in the team race. "That was the difference, and it's exciting. The fans love it," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "That's the whole objective of the sport, - to pin somebody. The fans are excited to see somebody go for the ultimate, and they appreciate the creativity, the tenacity and the courage. People come to watch that. As a team, we want to generate that enthusiasm for wrestling."
Iowa leads the team race with 103 points, while Minnesota is second with 98 and Oklahoma State third with 89.5. Wood recorded a pair of first-round pins Saturday, beating eighth-seeded Mike Harp of Missouri in 1:26 and then third-seeded Jason Davids of Minnesota in 2:46 in the third-place final. Buce lost decisions of 9-3 to second-seeded Dwight Hinson of Iowa State and then 11-6 to fifth-seeded Pat McNamara of Michigan State in the fifth-place final. Wood, a junior who finished the season 32-6, and Buce, a senior who finished 30-7, had both entered the tournament seeded ninth after moving up one weight class in mid-January; both earned All-America honors. Wood had been ranked 11th in the country going into the tournament and Buce had been ranked seventh. In addition to the third-place medal, Wood has a chance to leave with the Manuel Gorrian Award for the most pins in the least amount of time (four in 12:52). He would be the fifth Beaver ever to win the award, following 167-pounder Len Kauffman in 1961, heavyweight Jess Lewis in 1968, heavyweight Howard Harris in 1980, and 126-pounder Glenn Nieradka in 1995.
"This can be a great springboard for Oscar for next season," Wells said. "It's especially pleasing considering the field - that was an outstanding weight class." Despite four pins and a technical fall among his seven wins, Wood still left with mixed emotions.
"I'm so happy," said Wood, who had also been an All-American two years ago by placing seventh at 134 pounds. "The bracket was good, God was on my side, and that helped me. I had so much confidence with all the people behind me, all the support I've gotten and my coaches . next year, I hope I go up a little bit. "Personally, I think I wasn't in good enough shape to win it this year and that was a letdown to me and to God. He gave me the ability, and I didn't do what I needed to do. If I don't get in shape and do what I can to win next year, then that's a slap in the face to my wrestling career. Third is good, but I was getting ready to win . that's disappointing, that I let down that way." And it isn't that cushy married life that kept him from getting ready. Wood was married to Lisa Wood in the off-season. "If anything, I'm probably in better shape since I've been married," Wood said. Wood recorded all four of his pins out of the same move - a hard, fast spin out of a headlock. "I don't think they feel threatened," Wood said. "I'm just slightly in their armpit (with one fist) and around their neck, then I explode and they go over. It worked four times this week . my Greco-Roman and freestyle experience are an advantage in that area." Wood gave up a takedown to Davids midway through the first period, escaped 20 seconds later, then promptly scored a takedown of his own and quickly turned it into the pin. "He soaked me good," Wood said of the takedown. "I had my feet to close together - it was a rookie mistake, and he had long arms. The mix of those two got me. "Then I threw him."
In Wood's first match Saturday, he avenged a 10-6 second-round loss to Harp. Wood took Harp down one minute into the match, then turned it into a three-point near fall but was unable to complete the pin and Harp managed to wriggle back onto his stomach. Wood then turned Harp back over, and this time finished him off. "He got off his back, then I did the move and that was the whole match," Wood said. "It feels good now, but I wish I had a shot at that kid again when it counted (in the championship bracket)." Buce spent most of the final day of his collegiate career trying to wrestle with what is thought to be a broken right hand. "In the first period of the first match, I went to snap the guy down, and I felt a pop in my wrist," Buce said. "I didn't think it was anything. Then we went out of bounds, we went back to the middle, and I went to snap him down again, and I knew something was wrong after that." The injury clearly affected Buce's performance. He spent the second match wrestling with the ring and little fingers on his right hand splinted and heavily taped. "It took all my offense away," Buce said. In the fifth-place final against McNamara, Buce had taken an early lead with a takedown but McNamara quickly evened things up with a reversal. By the end of the first period, the Spartan had added a trio of two-point near falls for a commanding 8-2 lead; Buce got within 9-6 in the second period but could draw no closer.
"I think I'm a little better wrestler than he is - not today, though," Buce said. "The first guy, I knew he was pretty good. I couldn't do anything against him. I knew he had me when I felt my wrist." Buce was was up against a four-time All-American when he faced Hinson in the third-place semifinals. It was tied 2-2 entering the third period, but Hinson escaped six seconds into the third period to take a 3-2 lead and a stall warning against Buce made it 4-2. Hinson sandwiched two more takedowns around a Buce escape and then added a point for riding time.
"Even in that last match, Jason was aggressive and got after it," Wells said. "I'm so happy and proud that he was able to perform as well as he did under the circumstances." "I think I set my goals to low," said Buce, who entered the NCAA Championships with his sights set on attaining All-America status. "Once you reach that, you're happy just to be there. I think I probably could have beaten anyone from fourth to eighth." Seven of the Beavers' eight NCAA competitors won at least one match, including all six Beavers who can return next season. OSU's three freshmen at the meet - 118-pounder Ben Richards, 150-pounder Eric Jorgensen and 190-pounder Shane Zajac - all picked up victories. "They represented themselves well," Wells said. "All three of them were capable of placing here, and that's encouraging. We're fired up about that. The key for us is to build upon this."
Current Top Five and Pacific-10 Team Scores at NCAA Championships
1. Iowa 103; 2. Minnesota 98; 3. Oklahoma State 89.5; 4. Penn State 70.5; 5. Central Michigan 53; 9. Oregon State 43.5; 14. Cal State-Bakersfield 37; 17. Arizona State 35; 21 (tie). Oregon 28; 28. Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo 13.5; 30 (tie). Cal State-Fullerton 12; 43 (tie). Boise State 5; 56 (tie). Stanford 3; 62 (tie). Cal-Davis 2.
Final Oregon State Results at NCAA Championships
BEN RICHARDS, 118 POUNDS - dec. by No. 2 Stephen Abas, Fresno State, 11-4 in first round; pin over Chris Mansueto, George Mason, 3:48 in wrestleback first round; dec. by Brandon Paulson, Minnesota, 10-8 (OT) in wrestleback second round. JASON BUCE, 126 POUNDS (No. 9 seed) - major dec. over Jason Betz, Penn State, 18-9 in first round; dec. over No. 8 Joe Warren, Michigan, 7-5 in second round; dec. by No. 1 Eric Jetton, Wisconsin, 6-0 in quarterfinals; dec. over No. 11 Shawn Ford, Arizona State, 9-4 in wrestleback quarterfinals; dec. over Joey Coughran, Cal State-Fullerton, 4-1 in wrestleback semifinals; dec. by No. 2 Dwight Hinson, Iowa State, 9-3 in third-place semifinals; dec. by No. 5 Pat McNamara, Michigan State, 11-6 in fifth-place final. OSCAR WOOD, 142 POUNDS (No. 9 seed) - pin over Chris Elliott, Slippery Rock, 4:23 in first round; dec. by No. 8 Michael Harp, Missouri, 10-6 in second round; tech. fall over Pieree Pryor, North Carolina State, 21-5 (7:00) in wrestleback second round; dec. over Tracy Brown, Arizona State, 7-4 in wrestleback third round; dec. over No. 6 Adam Tirapelle, Illinois, 12-6 in wrestleback quarterfinals; pin over No. 7 Tom Tomeo, Clarion, 4:17 in wrestleback semifinals; pin over No. 8 Mike Harp, Missouri, 1:26 in third-place semifinals; pin over No. 3 Jason Davids, Minnesota, 2:46 in third-place final. ERIC JORGENSEN, 150 POUNDS - dec. by No. 1 Eric Siebert, Illinois, 5-3 in preliminary round; dec. over Kevin Stanley, Indiana, 11-6 in wrestleback preliminary; major dec. over John Fogarty, Cornell, 12-2 in wrestleback first round; dec. by Mark Strickland, Old Dominion, 5-3 in wrestleback second round. ISAAC WOOD, 158 POUNDS - dec. over Vince DeAugustine, Buffalo, 4-1 in preliminary round; major dec. by No. 1 Hardell Moore, Oklahoma State, 14-2 in first round; dec. by Alex Leykikh, Virginia, 6-3 in wrestleback first round. SANDERS FREED, 177 POUNDS - dec. by Dave Murray, Lock Haven, 4-2 (OT) in first round; dec. by Doug Lee, Oregon, 5-1 in wrestleback first round. SHANE ZAJAC, 190 POUNDS - dec. by No. 4 Ryan Tobin, Nebraska, 6-1 in first round; pin over Jonathan DyReyes, Cal State-Fullerton, 1:05 in wrestleback first round; dec. by Nick Muzashvili, Michigan State, 8-6 in wrestleback second round. MAT ORNDORFF, HEAVYWEIGHT (No. 10 seed) - bye in first round; dec. by No. 7 Karl Roesler, Illinois, 5-1 in second round; tech. fall over Tim Courtad, Miami (Ohio) in wrestleback second round, 16-1 (5:12); major dec. over Ricky Krieger, Lock Haven, 13-0 in wrestleback third round; dec. by No. 4 Shelton Benjamin, Minnesota, 9-8 in wrestleback quarterfinals.
