"Today was good competition going into the Pac-10 Conference Championships," first-year head coach Jim Zalesky said. "We are a little bit beat up; we now have a chance to get healthy. We have two weeks to get ready for the conference meet."
The Beavers fell behind to NDSU 11-3 after four matches, before winning the last six. Freshman Keegan Davis started the match win streak with a 6-3 decision over Adam Aho at 157 pounds to close the gap to 11-6. Brett Arand narrowed the Bison's lead to one with a 14-0 major decision over Mike Quamme and No. 19 Jeremy Larson got the Beavers the lead for good with a pin of Warren Gall to make the score 19-11. The match finished with Kyle Bressler at 184 scoring a 4-1 decision, Travis Gardner posted a technical fall at 197 10-0 and No. 6 ranked Ty Watterson earned his 10th consecutive win with a pin.
Oregon State dropped the first match of the day vs. Stanford, but then scored on its next three. The Cardinal forfeited at 133, Eric Stevenson wrestled two weights up and earned a pin at 141, and Derek Kipperberg scored a decision at 149. Travis Gardner had a pin in the second period at 197 to clinch the victory.
"I like the way Travis Gardner and Eric Stevenson are wrestling right now," Zalesky said. "Overall the team is wresting well, we just need to shore up a couple of things in the next two weeks."
Seniors making their final appearance in Beaver wrestling gear at Gill Coliseum were Bobby Pfennings, Jeremy Larson, Jamie Rakevich, Stevenson and Watterson.
In between the two matches Oregon State University honored former head coach Joe Wells. Wells directed the program for 14 years and led the team to four NCAA top-10 finishes and was twice honored as the Pac-10 Coach of the Year.
The Beavers head to Bakersfield, Calif., for the conference championships Feb. 24-25.
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