|
Beaver Wrestlers Battle Boise State in Border War
Nov. 22, 2012
Broncos and Beavers to battle it out for the wooden axe in Spokane CORVALLIS, Ore. - The coveted wooden axe will be up for grabs this Saturday when the Oregon State wrestling team takes on Boise State in the Border War which will be held in Spokane, Wash. The Beavers enter the rivalry meet looking for their first win of the year after dropping their first dual to Michigan at Gill Coliseum last weekend. The Broncos are in a similar position, also searching for their first win after losing their first three meets of the season. "Every time you go against them you know you are going to get their best," OSU head coach Jim Zalesky said about BSU. "Any time you go against a rival you know they are going to be up for it and you're going to be up for it." The meeting will be the two schools' 43rd all-time but the ninth since the inception of the axe trophy which is given to the winner of each dual meet, starting in 2009. "Anytime we compete we compete for that axe," Zalesky explained. "We just thought it would be a great idea to keep it going with this home and away series." Zalesky's squad enters the matchup having swept last year's pair of duals with Boise State and are looking to make it three in-a-row heading into their next meeting on Jan. 5 in Corvallis. The first Border War battle will take place at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 24 at the gym inside Central Valley High School in Spokane Valley, Wash. Live results can be obtained by going to trackwrestling.com *MEET NOTES Oregon State currently has a total of six wrestlers ranked nationally and those are Chad Hanke (HWT), Mike Mangrum (141), Taylor Meeks (197), RJ Pena (157), Scott Sakaguchi (149) and Ty Vinson (184). Those half-dozen wrestlers can claim 14 different rankings in three separate polls. The highest ranked wrestler entering Week No. 1 is senior captain and returning All-American Mike Mangrum who is rated No. 4 in the 141 pound weight class by Intermat, No. 5 by D1 College Wrestling and six by The Open Mat. Also ranked in the Top-10 nationally is fellow returning All-American Scott Sakaguchi (4/5/6) at 149 lbs., senior Chad Hanke (6/6/6), coming off of a redshirt year at HWT and RJ Pena (8/9/11) in the 157 lb. weight class. BOISE STATE Boise State claims a total of five different wrestlers who are nationally ranked with 11 different rankings, the top of which is senior Jason Chamberlain (149 lbs.), who is ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively. Next highest on the list for the Blue and Orange is senior 133 pounder Brian Owen who is 10th, 11th and 16th, followed by Junior Jake Swartz (184 lbs.) at 11/12/14. Rounding out the list of ranked Broncos is senior 197 pounder Brent Chriswell (13/16) and 157 lb. senior George Ivanov at No. 22. STELLAR START BORDER WAR Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. i> Former Student-Athletes are invited to join the Varsity O Facebook Page for upcoming Alumni events. Follow Oregon State Athletics On YouTube.
|
|