"We got a lot of back points and a lot of falls, and we had guys working for falls," Zalesky said. "We were aggressive in most situations … that first time out, you're working some bugs out and I thought that overall it was a good job."
Tuesday night was the first time Oregon State managed at least five pins in a meet since Dec. 14, 1998, when the Beavers recorded six in a 42-9 win over Cal Poly at Gill Coliseum. The win was OSU's eighth straight over two seasons, the Beavers' longest streak since they won 13 in a row over the 1993 and 1994 seasons.
Gonzales and Watterson – who had been high school teammates at Enumclaw, Wash. – bookended the meet with their pins, Gonzales stopping PSU's Westley Moniz in 2 minutes, 49 seconds, and Watterson finishing Steve Fittinger in 2:46.
"I had to match him," Watterson grinned after the match. "In high school, he was always the small guy and we had a competitive team, we'd try to outdo everybody else. Now that I think back, that's how I'd have to look at our matches."
Watterson, a senior ranked seventh in the nation by the National Wrestling Coaches Association and eighth in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News in the preseason, got the 17th pin of his career to move into a tie for 35th place on OSU's list of all-time leaders.
"These coaches are telling us what to do, they're pointing us in the right direction," Watterson said of Zalesky and his staff. "We know the expectations, and I think everybody is trying to step up their match a little bit. Guys are buying into it, and they know it will pay off at the end."
OSU 174-pounder Jeremy Larson, ranked No. 20 by the NWCA and No. 12 by AWN, started his season with a technical fall over Tony Contreras in 6:44 by a 26-11 score. Larson reeled off 10 takedowns and a reversal in the match.
After Gonzales started the night with his pin, the Beavers got a major decision from Bobby Pfennigs at 133 pounds and then Kyle Larson – ranked No. 20 by AWN – earned the fastest fall of the night, taking 53 seconds to beat C.J. Grandjean. Derek Kipperberg tacked on a decision to put the Beavers in front 19-3, then the Vikings (0-3 overall, 0-2 Pacific-10) got their only win of the night as 157-pounder Brady Garner outlasted OSU's Andy Hall 13-11.
Brett Arand started the second half of the evening in dramatic fashion, as he trailed PSU's Dale Seley 5-4 late in the first period before scoring a takedown and then the pin in 2:46. Jeremy Larson scored his technical fall, then teammate Kyle Bressler beat the clock to score his pin of Keena Washington in 6:54. At 197, the Beavers' Travis Gardner earned a forfeit before Watterson wrapped things up with his first-period pin.
"This was really big," Gonzales said of OSU's dual win. "It shows Coach Zalesky is doing the right things and his staff is doing the right things. The things the coaches are doing are preparing us."
It was OSU's widest margin of victory and highest score since a 49-0 win over PSU in 2004. OSU now goes to the Jack Hancock Dual Invitational at Colorado School of Mines on Saturday.
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