Jorgensen, Coy In Quarterfinals
"I thought it could have been better, but any time you get a win at this level, in this competition, it's great," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "So six guys of the seven we brought are still wrestling, and now what we need to do is keep them wrestling all day Friday and have them wrestling on Saturday.
"Now, every match is so important as far as gaining that valuable experience against top-level competition. It boils down to doing the basics, and all those things that galvanize all that work."
In Friday morning's quarterfinals, the fourth-seeded Jorgensen will meet 12th-seeded Shane Roller of Oklahoma State and the eighth-seeded Coy will meet top-seeded Josh Koscheck of Edinboro. Beavers in the second round of wrestlebacks are 125-pounder Nathan Navarro, 133-pounder Ben Richards, 141-pounder Shane Cunanan and 11th-seeded heavyweight Jason Cooley. The only OSU wrestler eliminated on the first day was 165-pounder Jed Pennell, and he recorded team bonus points for a pin before bowing out.
Jorgensen, a senior, reached the quarterfinals with a 13-1 major decision over Max Odom of Harvard and a 7-1 win over Shaun Shapert of Edinboro. Jorgensen defeated his quarterfinal opponent, Roller, 10-9 in overtime in a Feb. 2 dual meet at Oklahoma State.
"Eric had two good matches, against two tough kids, and he wrestled well," Wells said. "He dominated, he set the tone and he dictated what happened out there. Now he's got a big match Friday morning."
Coy, a junior, beat Cassidy Shults of Bloomsburg 8-4 and ninth-seeded Perry Parks of Iowa State 10-9. Coy wrestled Koscheck in the Las Vegas Classic on Dec. 2 and was pinned in 2:30.
"Nathan wrestled really well," Wells said. "He was in complete control. He gave up some points at the end of the second match, he was a little preoccupied."
Richards and Cunanan also won their first-round matches, then went against highly-seeded opponents in the second round. Richards beat Rad Martinez of Clarion 9-4, then lost to third-seeded Todd Beckerman of Nebraska 18-6. Cunanan edged Coyte Cooper of Indiana 1-1 in double-overtime and then dropped a technical fall to second-seeded Michael Lightner of Oklahoma in 2:44 by a 17-2 score.
Cooley found himself in the wrestleback bracket after being pinned in 3:14 by Mark Knauer of Iowa State in the first round. Cooley received a bye in the wrestleback first round Thursday night.
Navarro pulled off an upset for the Beavers in the preliminary round of the wrestlebacks, knocking fourth-seeded Jason Powell of Nebraska out of the tournament with an 11-5 decision, Navarro then beat Jose Leon of Boston University 10-5. Navarro had been beaten 6-5 by Eric Dunmire of Northern Iowa in the preliminary round of the championship bracket.
"I was really pleased to Nathan come back and beat the no. 4 seed in the wrestlebacks," Wells said. "You don't expect to meet the No. 4 seed in the wrestlebacks, but Nathan picked it up and beat him. He dominated, he wrestled his match and he wrestled to win. I think that's what the key is - he's going out and getting after people, and when he does that, Nathan is going to be very difficult to beat."
Pennell was bumped from the preliminary round of the championship bracket with a 6-4 loss to Pat O'Donnell of Harvard. He rebounded to pin Burt Pierson of Cal-Davis - who had beaten Pennell in the Pacific-10 semifinals - in 6:41, then lost to third-seeded Steve Blackford of Arizona State 12-2. Pennell had upset Blackford, then ranked fourth in the country, 7-6 in overtime in a Jan. 26 dual meet in Corvallis.
NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
TOP TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY ONE - 1. Minnesota, 41.5, 2. (tie) Iowa and Oklahoma State, 36.5, 4. Oklahoma, 28, 5. Iowa State, 26.5, 6. Illinois, 25, 7. (tie) Michigan and Nebraska, 19, 9. Arizona State, 18, 10. Edinboro, 17.5, 11. Wisconsin, 17, 12. Ohio State, 14, 13. Oregon State, 13.5, 14. (tie) Fresno State, Indiana and Pittsburgh, 13, 17. (tie) Boise State, Northern Iowa and Virginia Tech, 12, 20. (tie) Lock Haven and Michigan State, 11.5.
OREGON STATE RESULTS (Seeding in parentheses)
125, NATHAN NAVARRO - Dec. by Eric Dunmire, Northern Iowa, 6-5 in preliminary round, dec. over (4) Jason Powell, Nebraska, 11-5 in wrestleback preliminary round, dec. over Jose Leon, Boston U., 10-5 in wrestleback first round. Will wrestle Brent Thompson, Kent State, in wrestleback second round.
133, BEN RICHARDS - Dec. over Rad Martinez, Clarion, 9-4 in first round, major dec. by (3) Todd Beckerman, Nebraska, 18-6 in second round. Will wrestle Joe Alexander, Virginia, in wrestleback second round.
141, SHANE CUNANAN - Dec. over Coyte Cooper, Indiana, 1-1 (2 OT) in first round, tech. fall by (2) Michael Lightner, Oklahoma, 17-2 (2:44) in second round. Will wrestle Pat Diaz, James Madison, in wrestleback second round.
157, (4) ERIC JORGENSEN - Major dec. over Max Odom, Harvard, 13-1 in first round, dec. over Shaun Shapert, Edinboro, 7-1 in second round. Will wrestle (12) Shane Roller, Oklahoma State, in quarterfinals.
165, JED PENNELL - Dec. by Pat O'Donnell, Harvard, 6-4 in preliminary round, pinned Burt Pierson, Cal-Davis, 6:41 in wrestleback first round, dec. by (3) Steve Blackford, Arizona State, 12-2 in wrestleback second round. Eliminated from tournament.
174, (8) NATHAN COY - Dec. over Cassidy Shults, Bloomsburg, 8-4 in first round, dec. over (9) Perry Parks, Iowa State, 10-9 in second round. Will wrestle (1) Josh Koscheck, Edinboro, in quarterfinals.
HWT, (11) JASON COOLEY - Pinned by Mark Knauer, Iowa State, 3:14 in first round. Will wrestle Dawid Rechul, Harvard, in wrestleback second round.
