Beavers send experienced group to NCAAs

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State's wrestlers at this year's NCAA Championships all have ample experience on their sport's biggest stage.

Seniors Joey Palmer (133) and Joey Delgado (149), redshirt juniors Jack Hathaway (141) and Cody Crawford (hwt.) and redshirt sophomore Corey Griego (197) have combined for seven previous NCAA appearances, experience that should bode well for them in this weekend's completion.

The Beavers leave for St. Louis on Tuesday. The tournament begins Thursday morning at the Scottrade Center and runs through Saturday night.

"We've had really good training," since taking fourth at the Pacific-12 Conference championships on Feb. 26, OSU coach Jim Zalesky said. "I feel good about where these guys are, they're looking the best they have all year.

"[NCAAs] are about taking one match at a time. We know who we have in the first round and we have to concentrate on winning that first match. You cannot look past the first guy.

"It doesn't matter where you get placed, you're in the tournament. You're there to win it."

The brackets were released on March 7.

Griego is seeded 14^th and will face Stanford's Josh Marchok in the opening round. Griego (24-8) defeated Marchok 5-3 in the finals at the Pac-12 Championships, and 9-5 on Jan. 30 in a regular-season dual. He could face third-seeded Kollin Moore of Ohio State in the second round. Griego was 1-2 at the 2016 NCAAs in his first championships appearance. He is ranked 16^th by the coaches and 24^th in NCAA RPI.

Palmer (26-5) meets 15^th-seeded Jamal Morris of North Carolina State in the opening round. His second-round foe could be No. 2-seeded Seth Gross of South Dakota State. He was 2-2 at the 2016 championships and 0-2 in 2014. He ranked 24^th by the coaches, and unranked by the NCAA RPI.

Hathaway (17-11) seventh-seeded Joseph Ward of North Carolina in the first round. He could potentially face Wyoming's Bryce Meredith, the 2016 NCAA runner-up, in the second round. Hathaway was 0-2 at the 2015 NCAA championships. He is ranked 25^th by the NCAA RPI and 26^th by the coaches.

Delgado (18-10) faces 11^th-seeded Davion Jeffries of Oklahoma in the opening round. Jeffries defeated Delgado 5-3 in a Feb. 17 dual at Norman. He was 1-2 at the 2016 championships at 149, and went 0-2 as a 141-pounder in 2014. He is ranked 25^th by the coaches and 28^th by the NCAA RPI.

Crawford (22-7) takes on ninth-seeded Denzel Dejournette of Appalachian State. He was not yet at heavyweight when the teams met on Nov. 22 in their season-opener. He could potentially face top-seeded Kyle Snyder of Ohio State in the quarterfinals. Crawford was 2-2 as a 197-pounder at the 2015 championships. He is ranked 18^th by the NCAA RPI and 21^st by the coaches.

"I think Crawford, Palmer and Griego have all looked good," Zalesky said. "Delgado and Hathaway have battled back from their Midlands knee injuries to look good, they look 100 percent. They all have chances to win matches.

"These guys have all been there before. The training is done. Now it's time for the mental preparation. Visualize the tournament; you know what to expect.
"There are not going to be any surprises for them."

Palmer and Griego were Pacific-12 Conference champions. Hathaway and Griego took second, Delgado third.

The Beavers placed 21^st at the 2016 championships, with 22 points. Heavyweight Amarveer Dhesi took fifth place and earned All-American honors; he is redshirting this season after sustaining a knee injury in preseason practice.

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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Players Mentioned

Cody Crawford

Joey Delgado

Amar Dhesi

Corey Griego

Jack Hathaway

Joey Palmer