The Barometer Online

Issue date: 2/13/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Conner Jay / The Daily Emerald Brett Arand and the Beavers destroyed the Ducks in Eugene Friday, winning their final seven matches to complete the season sweep of Oregon.

The 18th-ranked Oregon State wrestling team grabbed three team victories this past weekend by defeating Oregon (35-7), Stanford (31-13) and North Dakota State (29-11). With the wins, the Beavers concluded the regular season with a 17-2 overall record and an 8-1 mark in the Pac-10.

"Overall, we wrestled pretty good, considering we had to shuffle through the lineups a little," said coach Jim Zalesky. "We came out slow at a couple weights, and you have to have emotion when you're wrestling, but I thought we bounced back good in the second meet."

In their final dual meet of the season on Sunday, the Beavers faced the North Dakota State Bison in a non-conference match up. They came out sluggish at the start, losing three of the first four matches which resulted in an 11-3 deficit. OSU, however, had an answer, starting with a comeback win in the 157-pound match by freshman Keegan Davis, who defeated Adam Aho, 6-3. Brett Arand, a 165-pounder, followed by using a 3-point near fall and a couple 2-point takedowns to shut out Mike Quamme, 13-0. Nationally ranked Jeremy Larson (174 pounds) then pinned Warren Gall with 1:27 left in the final period to give the Beavers the lead at 16-11.

"It was great to finish my career with a pin, that is always exciting," said Larson, a senior. "You definitely want to keep the ball rolling going into the Pac-10 tournament and finish out my senior year the way I want to."

Travis Gardner (197 pounds) then earned a major decision. Finally, heavyweight Ty Watterson pinned Justin LaGosh with 11 seconds left in the first period to earn the individual win in his final match at Gill Coliseum.

The Beavers took on the Stanford Cardinal two hours earlier in the day and fell behind early as well, down 6-0 on a pin by Tanner Gardner over 125-pounder Jake Gonzales. With a forfeit by Stanford at 133 pounds, senior Eric Stevenson jumped up to the 141-pound class and pinned Matt Kim in the final period of the match. Another six points to the team score gave the Beavers a 12-6 lead they did not relinquish.

"Eric (Stevenson) was very impressive today, had a lot of poise out there and that's what he brings to the team," Zalesky said. "He competes and has done well lately, so we'll probably wrestle him at the Pac-10's."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools