Jan. 5, 2013

OSU claims victories in the 141, 157, 165, and 197 lb weight classes as well as heavyweight

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Despite winning five of its total 10 matches Saturday night, the Oregon State wrestling team fell to rival Boise State 19-15 at Gill Coliseum in front of a boisterous crowd of more than a thousand. The battle for the Border Axe came down to the final few weight classes, but ultimately it was the Broncos who reclaimed possession of the coveted wooden trophy.

Trailing 16-9 after the 174 lb. bout, the Beavers won two of their final three matches but in the end were unable to overcome an early nine point lead built up by the Broncos. Victorious OSU wrestlers included Mike Mangrum (141 lbs.), RJ Pena (157), Alex Elder (165 lbs), Taylor Meeks (197 lbs.) and heavyweight Chad Hanke. With the defeat, Oregon State fell to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in Pac-12 competition, while BSU picked up its first win of the season. The Broncos improved to 1-4 overall and 1-1 within the conference.

A pin and a decision by the Broncos in the 125 and 133 lb. weight classes gave them an early 9-0 advantage, but wins from Mangrum, Pena and Alex Elder closed the gap to 12-9 after the 165 lb. bout. BSU extended its lead in the next two matches with wins from 174 pounder Scott Bacon over Austin Morehead via major decision (11-3), and 6-2 decision from Jake Swartz over Brian Engdahl in the 184 lb. tilt.

Heading into its final two matches of the evening OSU trailed BSU 19-9 and picked up victories in the 197 lb. weight class with a 7-2 decision from Meeks and in the heavyweight bout with an 11-6 decision at the hands of Chad Hanke. The half dozen points racked up by the Beavers still put them four away from their border rivals at the conclusion of the meet, giving the Broncos possession of the axe for the first time since January of 2011.

The meet was also OSU’s first to be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks, as a total of 1,129 fans were on hand to root for the Beavers in their annual rivalry showdown with the Broncos. Oregon State took the first meeting between the two schools this season, with a 21-16 win over BSU in Spokane, Wash., Nov. 24.

OSU now has a week to rest and prepare for its trip into the Mountain Time zone where it will square off against Air Force on Friday, Jan. 11 followed by a tilt with Wyoming in Laramie on Sunday, Jan. 13. The Beavers battle with the Falcons takes place at 6 p.m. in Colorado Springs and their dual with the Cowboys starts at 1 p.m. in Wyoming, both times pacific.

MEET RESULTS
125 lbs.
Rami Haddadin (Boise State) def Pat Rollins by fall. (6:24)
133 lbs.
Brian Owen (Boise State) def. Drew Van Anrooy dec. 4-1
141 lbs.
Mike Mangrum def Travis Himmelman (Boise State) by dec. 5-3
149 lbs.
Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) def. Scott Sakaguchi by dec. 3-1 (OT)
157 lbs.
RJ Pena def. George Ivanov (Boise State) by dec 6-0
165 lbs.
Alex Elder def. Chris Castillo (Boise State) by dec. 9-6
174 lbs.
Scott Bacon (Boise State) def. Austin Morehead by Maj. Dec. 11-3
184 lbs.
Jake Swartz (Boise State) def. Brian Engdahl by dec. 6-2
197 lbs.
Taylor Meeks def. Cody Dixon (Boise State) by dec. 7-2
HWT
Chad Hanke def. JT Felix (Boise State) by dec. 11-6

POST MEET QUOTES
OSU Head Coach Jim Zalesky
On the defeat…
“The last time we won on bonus points, this time we lost on bonus points, so you can’t give up majors and you can’t give up pins. At 125 (lbs.), we gave up a pin and at 174 (lbs.), we gave up a major. Both times we just kind of stopped wrestling, so it’s the effort I am more concerned about rather than the way we got beat.”

On his team’s effort…
“We were a little sluggish maybe, but it’s time to compete and you have to be ready to compete. You can’t worry about how you feel. If you are going to worry about how you feel, then we will put someone else in there, so you just have to go out and compete like Brian Engdahl. He is probably overmatched at 184 (lbs.), but he went out and competed, scrapped hard and fought hard, so that’s were looking for and that’s what I want out there. The other guys have to see that and pick it up.”

POST MEET NOTES
--184 pounder Brian Engdahl started in only the second dual meet of his career.
--Chad Hanke’s win in the heavyweight bout now gives him six in-a-row and 101 for his career.
--Mike Mangrum’s victory in the 141 lb. match improved his winning streak to four and gave him 120 total for his career.
--Oregon State now leads the Border War series 28-16-1 since the school’s first meeting in 1975

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