Beavers to face Duke, Appalachian State

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State wrestling team hits the road this week for the Mountaineer Duals at Appalachian State.

The 15^th-ranked Beavers face Duke at 9 a.m. and the host Mountaineers at 11 a.m. Saturday. Both duals will be held at ASU's Varsity Gym in Boone, N.C.

The Beavers will take three competitors ranked by InterMat in its Nov. 8 poll. Senior 141-pounder Joey Palmer is No. 12 at 133; redshirt sophomore Corey Griego is No. 12 at 184 and redshirt junior Cody Crawford is No. 18 at 197.

Junior 125-pounder Ronnie Bresser is also ranked by InterMat, but he is not making the trip. Redshirt sophomore Kegan Calkins will fill the 125-pound weight class instead.

Calkins will make his dual-meet debut on Saturday. He has varsity experience, though, as he went 4-3 and took sixth place at the prestigious Ken Kraft Midlands Open at Northwestern last season, with a pin and a major decision. He also defeated Bresser in the title match of the Mike Clock Open and was 15-6 overall in 2015-16.

OSU will be without All-American heavyweight Amarveer Dhesi, sidelined for an indefinite period with a knee injury sustained in practice last week. Redshirt junior David Henry, who had two pins and a major decision at the Mike Clock Open this past Sunday, will replace Dhesi.

Also, redshirt freshman 149-pounder Bryce Parson, who took second place at the Mike Clock Open, may travel in place of senior Joey Delgado. Parson had three pins and a technical fall before losing the championship match.

"Our lineup will look a lot different," than what he anticipated in preseason, OSU coach Jim Zalesky acknowledged. "But I'm just looking to get us out of the room, and see where we are at."

Duke has two wrestlers in InterMat's rankings, 165-pounder Jake Faust (15) and heavyweight Jacob Kasper (15). Three Appalachian Staters are ranked: Forrest Przybysz (17, 165); Nick Kee (18, 174), and Denzel Dejournette (9, heavyweight).

"I'm looking to see what kind of effort we have right away," Zalesky said. "We are starting out with good competition. It will be good to see where we are.

"This will be good competition," as Appalachian State and Duke each received votes in this week's USA Today/NWCA Top 25 poll. "This is where we are right now, and we'll go from here.

"We will see who competes well, and see who steps up at some weights once we get on the mat."

The Beavers open the home portion of their dual-meet season on Nov. 20 with a noon dual against No. 10 Michigan at Gill Coliseum. The Wolverines defeated OSU 27-9 at Ann Arbor last season.

For more information on the Oregon State wrestling team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/Beaverwrestling, or by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateWrestling.

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OSU's projected lineup for the Mountaineer Duals:

125: Kegan Calkins (0-0)
133: Devan Turner (0-0)
141: Joey Palmer (0-0)
149: Joey Delgado (0-0)/Bryce Parson (4-1)
157: Abraham Rodriguez (0-0)
165: Rodney Williams (0-0)
174: Weston Dobler (4-2)
184: Corey Griego (0-0)
197: Cody Crawford (0-0)
HWT.: David Henry (3-2)

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Players Mentioned

Ronnie Bresser

Kegan Calkins

Cody Crawford

Joey Delgado

Amar Dhesi

Weston Dobler

Corey Griego

David Henry

Joey Palmer

Bryce Parson

Devan Turner

Rodney Williams