The Barometer Online

Issue date: 1/14/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Luke Wenker Senior, at 125 pounds, Jake Gonzales (in black) and the Oregon State Beavers look to continue three decades of domination against Portland State. Gonzalez, seen wrestling Oregon State freshman Jesse Kane, is 13-11 on the season as an individual.

With the wrestling season up and running, the Beavers' squad is heading into the main stretch of conference action as they host Pac-10 rival Portland State at Legendary Gill Coliseum for their conference home opener.

Coming off a loss against Michigan, the team will be looking to make up some ground against the Vikings, a team that the Beavers have been very successful against. The Beavers' wrestling squad has not lost to the Portland State Vikings in over three decades.

Portland State has been off to a rough start, having lost three Pac-10 meets this season. The Vikings come into the match with an overall record of 3-8 and 0-3 in the Pac-10. However, this will not change the way the Beavers will approach the match.

"It's a Pac-10 meet," coach Jim Zalesky said. "All of these matches are important for seeding down the road."

Senior Kyle Bressler, 184 pounds, has broken into the top 10 in the nation and is looking to gain on his success with wins this next week. Bressler is the first wrestler from OSU to break the top 10 since 2006-07 when Ty Watterson did so.

Going into the meet 0-1 in the Pac-10, Oregon State needs to come away with a win to stay on track in the conference. Coming off of some tough losses, the Beavers begin the conference home opener with an overall record of 3-5, making every meet a necessary win.

Coming off a long road stretch, Oregon State's home opener is a much-needed break for the squad. With a four-meet home stretch on the way, training becomes much easier as the team has its own practice facilities to use.

"It's going to be nice," 125-pound senior Jake Gonzales said. "Not having to use other gyms, being on the road can get to you."

With four meets in the next two weeks, the Beavers don't have time to train for each individual matchup, so they are using this time back in Corvallis to get ready for all the meets coming to town.

Continued...

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