"This was big for these guys," Zalesky said of the Beavers, who had been beaten 33-10 at Nebraska last season. "Last year they got blown out by Nebraska, and this year to come in here and win has to be big for them ... we had to win a lot of hard-fought matches. Some guys had to suck it up, like Bressler at the end to win the meet for us, and they did a good job."
Oregon State faces two more big challenges on Sunday afternoon, when the Beavers visit Northern Iowa and also wrestle Tennessee Chattanooga. UTC is ranked 18th while both UNI and OSU received votes in this week's National Wrestling Coaches Association poll.
In Friday night's final match against the Cornhuskers (6-1, 0-0 Big XII), Bressler took to the mat with OSU holding an 18-15 lead; a decision by Nebraska's Levi Wofford would leave the teams tied and NU could win if Wofford scored a major decision or better.
Bressler trailed Wofford 1-0 as the clock ticked inside the final half-minute, then scored the go-ahead takedown with 22 seconds left for a 2-1 lead. Bressler also earned a point for riding time to provide the match's 3-1 final score. Bressler is now 9-5 with three pins this season after posting a 5-17 record last season as a freshman.
"We talked to him about he's just got to be tough," Zalesky said of Bressler. "There were some matches at Reno (Tournament of Champions on Dec. 20) where he just didn't wrestle tough and stay in the match; tonight it was a tough match and he pulled it out. He could have folded his tent a couple times but he fought out of some things and pulled the meet out for us."
Zalesky felt another big victory for OSU came at 157 pounds, where freshman Keegan Davis took a 9-4 decision over the Cornhuskers' Chris Oliver, who had an 11-1 record entering the match. Davis pulled away with a pair of takedowns in the third period and a point for riding time; he's now 7-4 with one pin this season.
"Keegan pretty much handled the match," Zalesky said. "That's a big win for him, being a freshman; it's a step in the right direction for him and he should gain some confidence. Freshman can make great improvement, and hopefully that's a big jump for him."
Oregon State 174-pounder Jeremy Larson, ranked 18th nationally, earned a 4-2 decision over Nebraska's Marc Harwood, who is ranked 20th at 165 pounds. The pair were tied 2-2 entering the third period, but Larson escaped and earned a point for riding time to improve to 16-4 with four pins this season.
Beaver heavyweight Ty Watterson, ranked 12th, received a forfeit to put his record at 14-3 with six pins this season. The victory was the 68th of his Oregon State career, tying him for 46th place on the school's list of all-time leaders.
OSU 141-pounder Kyle Larson, ranked 15th, took sixth-ranked Dominick Moyer of Nebraska into overtime before losing 8-7; Larson is now 15-4 with six pins this season. Larson led 5-4 in the closing seconds but Moyer scored a reversal with seven seconds remaining; Larson's point for riding time evened the score at 6-6 at the end of regulation.
Neither wrestler could score in the one-minute sudden victory period. In the first round of the tiebreaker, Moyer scored a two-point near-fall; in the second round, Larson was awarded a point when Moyer picked up a second stall warning but Larson couldn't come up with another score to win.
OSU 133-pounder Bobby Pfennigs picked up the Beavers' first victory of the night, scoring a third-period takedown and a point for riding time in beating Patrick Aleksanyan 4-2. Oregon State's other win came at 149 pounds, where Derek Kipperberg was an 8-6 winner over Jordan Burroughs.
Facing their first nationally-ranked Division I opponent of the dual season, the Beavers were held without a pin for the first time in a dual this season. OSU's 7-0 start is the Beavers' best since they won their first 10 duals during the 1993-94 season.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now