Oregon State
Virginia Tech
No. 8/9/11 OSU Wrestlers Earn National Duals Split, Defeat Michigan, Edged by VA Tech
February 17, 2013 | Wrestling
Feb. 17, 2013
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 Senior 141 pounder Mike Mangrum picked up two wins on the day, including this one against Virginia Tech's Zach Neibert via a 7-3 decision. Mangrum extended his season's win streak to 15 matches, while the Beavers saw their nine meet win streak halted, falling to Virginia Tech 20-15 in the Corvallis Regional's first place match of the 2013 NWCA National Duals. |
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Beavers down Wolverines 22-13 in first dual of the day before falling to Hokies 20-15 in the second
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State wrestling team finished its day as hosts of one of four regional National Duals with an even 1-1 record, defeating Michigan 22-13 and falling to Virginia Tech 20-15.
The No. 8/9/11 Beavers started out the day against the No. 19/29 ranked Michigan Wolverines who they lost to earlier in the season (21-18, Nov. 16) in Corvallis. Oregon State drew a second seed as hosts for the regional, while Michigan was given a No. 3 ranking.
Jim Zalesky's squad quickly put the past behind them, reeling off seven straight points after dropping the 125 lb. bout to make it 7-3. A decision by Drew Van Anrooy and a major decision from Mike Mangrum (141 lbs.) gave OSU the momentum it needed to stave off a quick U of M comeback as the Maize and Blue picked up wins in the 149, 165 and 174 lb. matches.
An RJ Pena decision in the 157 lb. tilt gave the 'Beavs three team points and only put the home standing Orange and Black grapplers behind 13-9, heading into the 184 lb. match. That's when an unfamiliar face to OSU fans at the weight class toed the mats.
Junior Austin Morehead, who had wrestled at 184 while in junior college at Clackamas Community College, took a jump up in weight classes for National Duals. The first year transfer had competed at 174 lbs. in nine dual meets previously this season, but went back to his familiar post for Sunday's regional. The switch proved to be the spark Morehead needed as he pinned Michigan's Chris Heald at the 4:16 mark, putting his team out in front for good, by a 16-13 score.
Two more decisions from Taylor Meeks (7-5) and Chad Hanke (3-2) in the 197 lb. and heavyweight classes sealed the victory for Oregon State as it cruised to a 22-13 win and moved onto the first place match against Corvallis Regional top seed Virginia Tech.
In their second and final dual meet of the day, the Beavers took on the No. 7/10 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies, who defeated Oklahoma handily 33-6 in its first meet and had only lost twice all season. The Hokies started out the dual taking the first two matches at 125 and 133 lbs., but two decisions from Mike Mangrum (7-3) at 141 lbs. and Scott Sakaguchi (3-1) at 149 lbs., knotted things up at 6-6.
Following an ever so close 5-4 Virginia Tech decision in the 157 lb. bout, V-Tech reeled off four straight victories and 14 points to go ahead 20-6, heading into the 197 lb. tilt between OSU's Taylor Meeks and VT's Derrick Borlie. After going up 2-0 following the first period, Meeks was declared the winner because Borlie suffered an injury default, making it 20-12 Tech, heading into the final match.
With his team down by eight and a 15 match win streak on the line, heavyweight Chad Hanke refused to give up, taking leads of 2-1 and 4-3 following the first and second periods. After falling behind 6-5 to Hokie heavyweight David Marone, the fifth year senior scored a takedown as time expired in the third period for the dramatic 7-6 decision, making it a final score of 20-15, Virginia Tech.
The Beavers' split decision gave them an overall dual record of 11-4 on the year, remaining 5-1 in Pac-12 competition. Virginia Tech went 2-0 on the day and improved to 16-2 overall, they will next travel to Minneapolis, Minn., and take part in the National Duals' Final Four, where Missouri, Cornell, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota await.
In other mat action taking place inside Gill Coliseum Sunday, Michigan defeated No. 11/14/25 Oklahoma in the third place match 27-19. The Wolverines, like the Beavers also earned a 1-1 record on the day and went to 10-7 overall, while the Sooners were winless in Corvallis, going 0-2 and falling to 4-8 overall in dual competition on the year. Nearly 1,300 fans were on hand to witness Sunday's Corvallis Regional, the largest wrestling crowd Gill Coliseum has seen all season.
Jim Zalesky's squad is now 2-2 all-time in National Duals competitions, with the Beavers going 1-1 a year ago. OSU earned a 27-12 win over regional host Iowa State in 2012, but then suffered a 22-14 loss to Iowa inside Hilton Coliseum.
Oregon State will now have close to two weeks off to rest, recuperate and train for the Pac-12 Championships, which will take place Saturday, March 2 in Tempe, Ariz., with Arizona State hosting.
MEET RESULTS – NATIONAL DUALS
No. 19/29 MICHIGAN vs. No. 8/9/11 OREGON STATE
125 - Sean Boyle (Michigan) def. Joey Palmer Dec. (10-6) UM 3, OSU 0
133 - Drew Van Anrooy def. Rossi Bruno (Michigan) Dec. (3-1) UM 3, OSU 3
141 - Mike Mangrum def. James Hillock (Michigan) Maj. Dec. (12-4) OSU 7, UM 3
149 - Eric Grajales (Michigan) def. Scott Sakaguchi Dec. (6-4) OSU 7, UM 6
157 - RJ Pena def. Michael Carpenter (Michigan) Dec. (8-4) OSU 10, UM 6
165 - Taylor Massa (Michigan) def. Seth Thomas Dec. (13-7) OSU 10, UM 9
174 – Dan Yates (Michigan) def. Cody Weishoff Maj. Dec. (14-4) UM 13, OSU 9
184 - Austin Morehead def. Chris Heald (Michigan) Pin (4:16) OSU 16, UM 13
197 - Taylor Meeks def. Max Huntley (Michigan) Dec. (7-5) OSU 19, UM 13
HWT – Chad Hanke def. Ben Apland (Michigan) Dec. 3-2 OSU 22, UM 13
FINAL SCORE: OREGON STATE 22, MICHIGAN 13
RECORDS: Oregon State (11-3) (5-1) / Michigan (9-7) (3-5)
MEET RESULTS – NATIONAL DUALS
No. 7/11 VIRGINIA TECH vs. No. 8/9/11 OREGON STATE
125 - Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) def. Scott Sakaguchi def. Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech) Dec. (3-1) VA TECH 6, OSU 6
157 - Jesse Dong (Virginia Tech) def. RJ Pena Dec. (5-4) VA TECH 9, OSU 6
165 - Pete Yates (Virginia Tech) def. Seth Thomas Tech Fall (15-0) VA TECH 14, OSU 6
174 - Austin Gabel (Virginia tech) def. Cody Weishoff Dec. (6-2) VA TECH 17, OSU 6
184 - Nick Vetterlein (Virginia Tech) def. Austin Morehead Dec. (15-8) VA TECH 20, OSU 6
197 - Taylor Meeks def. Derrick Borlie (Virginia Tech) Inj. Default VA TECH 20, OSU 12
HWT – Chad Hanke def. David Marone (Virginia Tech) Dec. (7-6) VA TECH 20, OSU 15
FINAL SCORE: VIRGINIA TECH 20, OREGON STATE 15
RECORDS: Virginia Tech (16-2) (5-0) / Oregon State (11-4) (5-1)
POST MEET QUOTES
OSU HEAD COACH Jim Zalesky
On hosting one of four National Duals Regionals…
“It meant a lot having the regionals here. You had four pretty good, traditional teams and there was a lot of good wrestling. There were a lot of good individuals out there and you will see a lot of these guys at the NCAA Tournament, so I think it was a great chance for our team to wrestle those guys and for fans to see them.”
On his team's performance…
“These teams were a pretty good test for us individually and as a team. There were a lot of good battles and a lot of good things I saw but we still have to get better before Pac-12's and before the NCAA Tournament. I don't know if we came out firing out our best, we kind of looked a little sluggish, especially with the first meet in our first few matches. I thought we picked it up better in the second meet but we lost a couple of those close matches and that kind of swung things Virginia Tech's way.”
On Austin Morehead's pin during the Michigan meet…
“It was something we needed, with Vinson out. We had beaten the Michigan kid (Chris Heald) before and we had beaten the Virginia Tech guy (Nick Vetterlein) before, so having him (Vinson) out, we had to have somebody step up and Morehead stepped up, especially with it being that first match.”
On the Gill Coliseum atmosphere…
“I thought it was great, especially when we give the fans something to yell about it is a great atmosphere. I think the other teams were impressed with our fans and I think the NWCA was impressed with that too, so I think it was a good event with a good crowd who were pretty knowledgeable wrestling fans.”
Junior 184 pounder Austin Morehead
On his pin of Michigan's Chris Heald in the 184 lb. match…
“I just felt my throw. The coaches were getting mad at me for throwing too much and now I felt it, it was there, so I took it and it paid off.”
On what his pin did momentum wise for his team…
“It felt real good. The win got us on that tempo and sent (Taylor) Meeks onto his match on a good note so that helped a lot.”
Sophomore 197 pounder Taylor Meeks
On taking the mats after Austin Morehead's pin in the 184 lb. bout during the Michigan dual…
“It was really big because it took a lot of pressure off me and (Chad) Hanke to have to go for the big points, so anytime someone pins someone and goes for bonus points, that's big.”
POST MEET NOTES
--Before its loss to Virginia Tech, Oregon State had won nine straight dual meets dating back to Air Force (Jan 11), the last time they accomplished that feat was during the 2009-10 season, when they won an impressive 17 straight from Nov. 2009 to Feb. 2010.
--With his two victories on Sunday, senior 141 pounder Mike Mangrum now has 130 for his OSU career, which puts him just four away from tying Beaver legend Les Gutches (1993-96; 177/190) for a tie for fifth place.
--Senior heavyweight Chad Hanke's two decisions extended his team high season winning streak to 16 matches.
--A trio of Orange and Black wrestlers went undefeated in National Dual regional competition Sunday, including Mike Mangrum (141 lbs.), Taylor Meeks (197 lbs.) and heavyweight Chad Hanke, all three went 2-0 and each extended their season win streaks to 15, 7 and 16 respectively.
--Oregon State is now 2-2 all-time in National Duals competition, going 1-1 in Ames, Iowa in 2012 and 1-1 in Corvallis, Ore., in 2013.
--OSU has now reached the 11 win plateau in a dual meet season for the fourth time under head coach Jim Zalesky's and for the third time in the last four years, the Beavers have gotten at least 11 wins in a season a total of nine times this century.
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