Oregon State Captures Pac-10 Wrestling Championships

Former Sprague star Keegan Davis captured fifth place with an 8-2 win over six-seeded Daniel Alejandro of CSUB.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The Oregon State University wrestling team captured the Pac-10 Championship for the first time since 1994, edging the host Cal State-Bakersfield Roadrunners at the Icardo Center Sunday.

The Beavers finished the tournament with a team score of 110 points, while the Roadrunners had 105 and UC Davis 96.5.

“This is a big step for this program,” first-year head coach Jim Zalesky said. “We train all year for this time of the season. We talk about being champions and today we accomplished a big goal. I’m very proud of this team and I look forward to what is ahead for Beaver wrestling.”

The Beavers won individual titles at 174 pounds and heavyweight.

Jeremy Larson, ranked No. 17, defeated top-seeded Ken Cook of UC Davis 8-4 in the title match at 174.

Larson’s win evened his head-to-head competition vs. Cook for the season at two wins each.

“We knew this was going to be a very competitive match judging from the past meetings,” Zalesky said. “Jeremy knew what to watch for and to be ready for his opportunities. This was a very entertaining match.”

No. 5 ranked and top-seeded Ty Watterson nearly shut out third-seeded Cody Parker of Cal Poly, before settling for an 8-2 victory.

“We tell Ty that when he wrestles his style, not too many people in the country are going to beat him,” Zalesky said. “Cody took a couple of shots early, but Ty eventually took control. He wrestled a very solid match.”

The Beavers also picked up runner-up points from second-seeded Eric Stevenson at 125, who fell 4-1 to top-seeded Tanner Gardner of Stanford.

Bobby Pfennings forfeited the championship match at 133 to Darrel Vasquez of Cal Poly.

Third-seeded Derek Kipperberg lost his 149 title match to top-seeded Morgan Atkinson of Cal State-Fullerton 8-4.

Pfennings has been bothered by a nagging hamstring injury and the coaches decided that it would be beneficial for him to concentrate on becoming healthy for the NCAA Championships rather than risk further injury.

Fourth-seeded Kyle Bressler took third place honors at 184 with a 9-0 victory over Brysen French of Oregon.

Fifth-seeded Travis Gardner finished fourth after falling in the 197 match to third-seeded Jason Trulson of Arizona State.

Unseeded Keegan Davis captured fifth place with an 8-2 win over six-seeded Daniel Alejandro of CSUB.

The top three placers at each weight plus nine “wildcards” advance to the March 17th-19th NCAA Championships in Detroit.

Pac-10 coaches were meeting at press time to determine the wildcards.

OREGON STATE AT PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS – FINAL TOTAL

FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Oregon State 110; 2. Cal State-Bakersfield 105; UC Davis 96.5; 4. Cal Poly 84; 5. Arizona State 76.5; 6. Stanford 72; 7. Cal State-Fullerton 69.5; 8. Oregon, 62; 9. Boise State, 58.5 10. Portland State 5.5.

OREGON STATE RESULTS (bold face represents Sunday’s action)

(Current National Wrestling Coaches Association national rankings in parentheses)

125, NO. 2 SEED ERIC STEVENSON – Pinned Brad Caldwell, PSU, 3:31 in preliminary round; dec. over Josh Obregon, CPU, 4-0 in quarterfinals; dec. over No. 3 seed John Espinoza, ASU, 4-2 in semifinals; dec. by No. 1 seed Tanner Gardner, Stan, 4-1 in championship – Stevenson finishes second.

133, NO. 2 SEED BOBBY PFENNIGS – Dec. over Levi Jones, BSU, 6-3 in quarterfinals; dec. over No. 3 seed Omar Gaitan, UCD, 4-3 in semifinals; forfeited championship match (injury). Pfennings finishes second.

141, NO. 3 SEED (18) KYLE LARSON – Dec. by No. 6 seed Teddy Astorga, CSUF, 4-2 in quarterfinals; dec. by Robert Galvan, ASU, 11-5 in wrestleback quarterfinals.

149, NO 3 SEED DEREK KIPPERBERG – Dec. over No. 6 seed Shawn Haratani, UCD, 8-3 in quarterfinals; dec. over No. 2 seed Brandon Doyle, CSUB, 6-5 in semifinals; dec. by No. 1 seed Morgan Atkinson, CSUF, 8-4 in championship match – Kipperberg finishes second.

157, KEEGAN DAVIS – Dec. by No. 3 seed Chase Pami, CPU, 10-4 in preliminary round; dec. over Kyle Bounds, UO, 9-5 in wrestleback preliminary round; dec. over No. 5 seed Jon Clark, UCD, 3-2 in wrestleback quarterfinals; dec. over No. 6 seed Daniel Alejandro, CSB, 8-2 – Davis finishes fifth.

165, NO. 6 SEED BRETT ARAND – Major dec. by Daniel Atondo, CSUB, 16-6 in preliminary round; dec. over Jake McCoy, UO, 6-4 in wrestleback preliminary round; dec. by No. 4 seed Bryan Tice, CSUF, 10-8 in wrestleback quarterfinals.

174, NO. 2 SEED (17) JEREMY LARSON – Tech. fall over Brian Lemmon, PSU, 20-4 (time n/a) in quarterfinals; dec. over No. 3 seed Nate Lee, BSU, 3-1 in semifinals; dec over No. 1 seed Ken Cook, UCD, 8-4 in championship match – Larson Pac-10 champion.

184, NO. 4 SEED KYLE BRESSLER – Dec. over No. 5 seed Luke Smith, BSU, 4-2 in quarterfinals; dec. by No. 1 seed Greg Gifford, ASU, 6-2 in semifinals; Pinned No. 6 seed Ernesto Ancona, CSB, 1:31; dec over Brysen French, UO, 9-0 in third-place match – Bressler finishes third.

197, NO. 5 SEED TRAVIS GARDNER – Pinned No. 4 seed Eliot Kelly, UCD, 5:11 in quarterfinals; major dec. by No. 1 seed (17) Matt Monteiro, CPU, 12-3 in semifinals; dec. over No. 6 seed John Drake, CSF, 1-0; dec. by No. 3 seed Jason Trulson, ASU, 13-1 – Gardner finishes fourth.

HWT, NO. 1 SEED (5) TY WATTERSON – Pinned Phil Doerner, SU, 2:18 in preliminary round; dec. Broc Maffia, UCD, 4-1 in quarterfinals; major dec. over No. 5 seed Colton Nichols, CSUB, 13-5 in semifinals; dec. over No. 3 seed Cody Parker, CP, 8-2 – Watterson Pac-10 Champion.

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