Latham, Meeks Advance to Quarterfinals
Fove of OSU’s seven competitors are still in contention for a trophy after the first two sessions. The Beavers have 7.5 team points and are tied with North Carolina for 21st place.
The tourney resumes on Friday with the championship quarterfinals and semifinals, and two more rounds of consolation competition. The first two sessions drew a combined total of 36,797 fans.
The fifth seed bidding for his second All-America citation, Meeks advanced to the quarterfinals with a 9-0 major decision over Thomas Sleigh of Bucknell and a dominating 8-2 win over Nolan Boyd (12) of Oklahoma State. He will face Victor Avery (13) of Edinboro in the quarterfinals.
Latham scored the upset of the day as he shocked fourth-seeded John Eblen of Missouri 6-4 in the opening round. The Pac-12 champion, Latham had a takedown in every period.
Latham then advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-3 win over Dominic Kastl of Cal Poly in a rematch of their Pac-12 championship bout. Latham takes a six-match winning streak into his quarterfinal showdown with Kyle Crutchmer (12) of Oklahoma State.
Freshman Ronnie Bresser (125) and redshirt freshman Cody Crawford (197) also won their opening-round matches, but then lost in the round of 16 and dropped into the consolation bracket. They can still finish as high as third.
Bresser (10) edged Nick Herrmann of Virginia 6-5 in the opening round but then fell 9-1 to Eddie Klimara (7) of Oklahoma State. He will face Wyoming’s Tyler Cox (8) in the consolations on Friday morning. Cox defeated Bresser 9-3 in Laramie on Feb. 13.
The unseeded Crawford upset Timothy McCall (12) of Wisconsin 3-2 in overtime. He then lost 10-1 to Scott Schiller (5) of Minnesota; he’ll face Alex Polizzi (11) of Northwestern in the consolations on Friday morning.
Senior Alex Elder rebounded from an opening-round 9-3 loss to Brian Murphy (11) of Michigan with an 11-8 triumph over Iowa’s Mike Kelly to stay in contention for third place. Elder will face Louis Mascola of Maryland in the second round of consolations on Friday morning.
Redshirt freshman Jack Hathaway (133) lost 3-1 to Kevin Norstrem of Virginia Tech in the consolations and was eliminated. He fell 12-2 to Zane Richards (5) of Illinois in the first round.
Junior Seth Thomas (165) was eliminated with two losses. He was pinned by Ethan Ramos (15) of North Carolina in the first round, his second loss to the Tar Heel this season. Thomas then was pinned by Michael Moreno (2) of Iowa State in the consolations.
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.
Friday’s results:
RONNIE BRESSER (125): Dec. Nick Herrmann (Virginia), 6-5; lost 9-1 to (7) Eddie Klimara (Okla. St.).
JACK HATHAWAY: Lost 12-2 to (5) Zane Richards (Illinois); lost 3-1 to Kevin Norstrem (Va. Tech); eliminated.
ALEX ELDER (157): Lost 9-3 to (11) Brian Murphy (Michigan); dec. Mike Kelly (Iowa), 11-8
SETH THOMAS (165): Pinned by (15) Ethan Ramos (North Carolina), 6:47; pinned by (2) Michael Moreno (Iowa State), 2:34; eliminated.
JOE LATHAM (174): Dec. (4) John Eblen (Missouri), 6-4; dec. Dominic Kastl (Cal Poly), 4-3.
TAYLOR MEEKS (184): Major dec. Thomas Sleigh (Bucknell) 9-0; dec. (12) Nolan Boyd (Okla. State), 8-2.
CODY CRAWFORD (197): Dec. (12) Timothy McCall (Wisconsin), 3-2 (2 OT); lost 10-1 to (5) Scott Schiller (Minnesota).
