Oregon State and Hofstra (0-1-1) won five matches each, but the Beavers got team bonus points from Watterson's major decision and Bobby Pfennigs' technical fall at 133 pounds while the Pride picked up a pair of major decisions. OSU 157-pounder Tony Hook picked up another big win with a 3-2 upset of Hofstra's James Strouse, who was ranked 17th in the country in the National Wrestling Coaches Association/InterMat preseason poll and 15th by Amateur Wrestling News.
"We're pleased with the start, and now we go from there," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "There's no question about it, we made a lot of mistakes but we'll learn to make adjustments and get better. We let a couple matches slip through our fingers; a couple of guys didn't go out and demonstrate what they can do, and they came up short."
The overall outcome may be an indication that the Beavers' offseason efforts have begun paying off.
"There's no question that the older guys are leading the way and showing the young guys how it's done," Wells said.
Watterson didn't leave the team outcome in suspense, rolling to a 13-0 win over Jon Andriac, a two-time junior college All-American. Watterson, a junior, is ranked 15th in the country by NWCA/InterMat and 17th by Amateur Wrestling News.
Pfennigs, also a junior, blanked Hofstra's Robbie Deibert by a 15-0 score in 3 minutes, 41 seconds. That started a string of four straight Oregon State wins that put OSU in front 14-3 after 141-pounder Kyle Larson, 149-pounder Orlando Perez and Hook followed with victories.
The Pride came back with four straight wins of its own, though, to go in front 17-14 heading into the final match of the night. That string of Hofstra wins included a victory in the meet's only matchup of nationally-ranked wrestlers, as Mike Patrovich, listed at No. 9 by NWCA/IM, earned an 11-3 major decision over OSU's Jeremy Larson, who was ranked 20th by NWCA/IM.
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