No. 19 Oregon State Bounces Back For Wrestling Win Over Cal Poly

The victory gives Watterson the inside track to the No. 1 seeding in the Pac-10 Championships.

OSU heavyweight Ty Watterson. Photo: OSU Athletics

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Oregon State’s Ty Watterson won a matchup of nationally ranked heavyweights and the 19th-ranked Beavers beat Cal Poly 33-12 in Pac-10 wrestling Sunday afternoon at Mott Gym.

OSU (14-2 overall, 6-1 Pac-10) also got pins from 125-pounder Eric Stevenson and 141-pounder Kyle Larson in the win while 149-pounder Derek Kipperberg, 165-pounder Dan Brascetta and 174-pounder Jeremy Larson all earned major decisions.

Against Cal Poly (5-8, 4-3 Pac-10), Oregon State responded well after a Friday night defeat at California-Davis that saw the Beavers lose three matches by one point and another in overtime.

OSU saw wins slip away in the closing seconds of three of those matches.

“We talked about finishing matches, finishing our holds, and we did a better job than we did the other day,” OSU head coach Jim Zalesky said. “We got a lot of bonus points today, and getting those are huge when it comes to tournament time.

“It was good to bounce back. Now we finish the duals next week and get ready for Pac-10s.”

Watterson, ranked second in the Pac-10 and seventh nationally by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, scored a 7-4 decision over Cody Parker, who was ranked first in the Pac-10 and 14th nationally.

The victory gives Watterson the inside track to the No. 1 seeding in the Pac-10 Championships.

After a scoreless first period, Parker built a 4-2 lead in the second period with a pair of takedowns.

Watterson scored an escape to close within 4-3, then picked up a takedown with 11 seconds remaining in the period for a 5-4 lead.

Parker chose the neutral position to begin the third period, and neither wrestler scored until Watterson earned a final takedown with one second remaining for the 7-5 win.

It was the eighth straight win for Watterson, who is now 22-4 with six pins this season.

Another matchup of the two wrestlers atop the Pac-10 rankings was at 133 pounds.

The Mustangs’ Darrell Vazquez, ranked sixth nationally and first in the conference, pinned OSU’s Bobby Pfennigs, ranked second in the conference, in 3:41.

Pfennigs is now 21-6 with four pins this season.

OSU 174-pounder Jeremy Larson, ranked 19th nationally, took a 15-7 major decision over Ernie Varlea by recording three takedowns in the second period and adding two more in the third.

Larson improved to 23-6 with four pins this season.

Beaver 141-pounder Kyle Larson, ranked 20th nationally, pinned Cal Poly’s David Christian in 6:25.

Larson, who had built a 9-3 lead before recording the fall, is now 21-7 with a team-high eight pins this season.

Stevenson was in OSU’s lineup for the third straight meet at 125 pounds, and he recorded his third straight win as he pinned the Mustangs’ Josh Obergon in 2:03. Stevenson is now 5-2 with two pins this season.

Brascetta, filling in for ill OSU 165-pounder Brett Arand, scored a bonus point for the Beavers with his 15-7 victory over CPU’s Evan Barbre.

Kipperberg, ranked third in the Pac-10 at 149, also scored a major decision by beating CPU’s fifth-ranked Eric Maldonado 11-2.

Another result that matched the Pac-10 rankins came at 157 pounds, where CPU’s third-ranked Chase Pami decisioned OSU’s fifth-ranked Keegan Davis 9-4.

There was an upset at 184 pounds, where CPU’s unranked Yuri Kalkia beat OSU’s second-ranked Kyle Bressler 6-2.

Oregon State concludes its dual meet season next weekend. The Beavers wrestle at Oregon on Friday at 7:00 PM in the Civil War, presented by Northwest Dodge Dealers.

OSU will be at home Sunday at noon against North Dakota State and Stanford; the Beavers will honor their seniors and former head coach Joe Wells that afternoon.

NO. 19 OREGON STATE 33, AT CAL POLY 12

(Current Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)

157 – Chase Pami, CPU, dec. Keegan Davis, OSU, 9-4.

165 – Dan Brascetta, OSU, major dec. Evan Barbre, CPU, 15-7.

174 – (19) Jeremy Larson, OSU, major dec. Ernie Varlea, CPU, 15-7.

184 – Yuri Calkia, CPU, dec. Kyle Bressler, OSU, 6-2.

197 – Travis Gardner, OSU, by forfeit.

HWT – (7) Ty Watterson, OSU, dec. (14) Cody Parker, CPU, 7-4.

125 – Eric Stevenson, OSU, pinned Josh Obergon, CPU, 2:03. 133 – (6) Darrell Vazquez, CPU, pinned Bobby Pfennigs, OSU, 3:41.

141 – (20) Kyle Larson, OSU, pinned David Christian, CPU, 6:25.

149 – Derek Kipperberg, OSU, major dec. Eric Maldonado, CPU, 11-2.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports