Following the Action at the NCAA's

These are links that will help you either follow the action at the NCAA's or find out the results:

Oregon State Wrestling News:
http://www.osubeavers.com/SportArchives.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=30800&SPID=127140

Megan will have updates at least once a day, maybe twice as she will be there following the action. Megan said Twitter.com/OSU_Wrestling is where the most timely updates will be.

Pure Orange Wrestling Forum:
http://www.pure-orange.net/bscwrestling/index.html

These guys do a great job of finding information and following the action. For example, in the last few posts, they have put up a  link to the official NCAA site, and the site where the brackets will be released on Wednesday. They also have a link to a really good story about RJ Pena at the Barometer:
http://www.dailybarometer.com/sports/pena-s-oregon-state-legacy-not-yet-complete/article_b1a02250-a8d5-11e3-b8a7-001a4bcf6878.html

The NCAA official site:
http://www.ncaa.com/championships/wrestling/d1#!championship_br_home

For everything you need/want to know about the NCAA's, especially if you are going, or want to watch live-streaming.

NCAA Schedule:
http://www.ncaa.com/championships/wrestling/d1/schedule-of-events 

Don't forget, if you get ESPN, they have more coverage this year:
http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2014/02/espn-expand-tv-digital-coverage-ncaa-division-wrestling-championships/

If you like following on TrackWrestling:
http://s502.trackwrestling.com/tw/TWHome.jsp?loadBalanced=true

My best wishes to our NCAA qualifiers, Joey Palmer, Joey Delgado, Scott Sakaguchi, RJ Pena, Joe Latham, Austin Morehead, Taylor Meeks and Amar Dhesi. May you all wrestle your best and come back home winners with no regrets!

Go Beavs!

Pac-12's - The Wrestlers IV

184 - Austin Morehead

  By now, we're into the upper weights. Senior Austin Morehead is Oregon State's 184. Seeded #3, Austin started the tournament with a BYE in the quarters. In the semi's, Austin met the eventual champion, Jake Swartz of Boise. Swartz prevailed 6-2. In the consolation rounds, Austin dispatched Kent Beecham of Cal Poly by major 8-0, then repeated his score in the third place match with Zach Nevills of Stanford, winning 8-0.

Since there were 2 spaces allotted for the NCAA's at 184, Austin then got to challenge for True Second with the #1 seed, Blake Stauffer of ASU. Stauffer had lost to Swartz in the finals. Austin punched his ticket to the NCAA's by winning 6-2! Austin Morehead, Pac-12 Third Place & True Second!

197 - Meeks vs Franklin

  Oregon State's Taylor Meeks was the #1 seed at 197. Taylor started the day with a major decision of ASU's Josh DaSilveira  16-2. In the semi's, Taylor took out Reuben Franklin of CSUB 5-1.  the finals between Taylor and Dan Scherer (#2 seed from Stanford) went into overtime. Scherer 4, Meeks 2. Taylor Meeks Pac-12 Second Place, wasn't what Taylor wanted, but it was good enough to take him to the NCAA's!

Hwt - Dhesi shoots on Eskam

  That brings us to the heavyweights, or 285. True freshman Amarveer Dhesi (Amar) came into the tournament seeded #2. In the quarters, Amar decisioned Chace Eskam of ASU 6-3. Amar won a major in the semi's with Spencer Empey of Cal Poly, 15-6, but then lost to #1 seed JT Felix of BSU in the finals 7-1. Amar's wrestling wasn't over yet. In order to see who would get to go to the NCAA's, Amar had to defend his second place status against third place Josh Marchok of Stanford. No problem, Amar won by major 11-3. Amarveer Dhesi Pac-12 Second Place! 

Dhesi vs Empey

Beavers win the Pac-12 team title for 2014! That makes it three for three in 2012, 2013 and 2014!

Congratulations to the team and Head Coach Jim Zalesky and his coaching staff!

Thanks to Michael Denison for providing all the great wrestling photographs!

Go Beavers!!

Go Beavs!

Pac-12's - the Wrestlers III

157 - Pena takes down Hernandez

  At 157, Oregon State had another #1 seed, senior RJ Pena. RJ had a BYE in the quarters, then wiped out Steven Hernandez of BSU by major in the semi's 10-1. RJ capped off his day by winning another major over ASU's Joel Smith in the finals by a shut out of 8-0. Champion RJ Pena!!

In the 165 bracket, Oregon State's Toney Chay was seeded #4. Toney had a BYE in the quarters, then faced #1 seed Jim Wilson of Stanford. His loss to Wilson dropped Toney into the consolations where he defeated Holden Packard of BSU. His win over Packard put him into the third-fourth place match with #3 seed, David Meza of CSUB. Toney sealed the deal with a first period fall over Meza! Toney Chay - Pac-12 Third place!

165 - Toney Chay

174 - Latham vs Waters

Next up, Oregon State's  174, Joe Latham. Seeded #3, Joe took out ASU's Ray Waters by major 14-5 in the quarters, then upset #2 seed Dominic Kastl of Cal Poly in the semi's 11-8. Joe's run came to an end in the finals, where he was pinned by #1 seed Bryce Hammond of CSUB in 3:43. Still good enough for Pac-12 Second place, Joe Latham!

Latham vs Waters

Latham faces Kastl

All photos by ace sports photographer, Michael Denison!

Pac-12's - The Wrestlers II

141 Delgado vs Kraus

  Beginning with 141, Oregon State started its run of champions.

 Joey Delgado was seeded third at 141. Joey decisioned Matt Garelli of Stanford 7-2 in the quarters, knocked off the #2 seed Matt Kraus of ASU by 5-1 score in the semi's. His final upset was in the finals, defeating Ian Nickell of CSUB, the #1 seed, 10-5. Champion Joey Delgado!!

Semi's - Kraus vs Delgado

Takedown, Sakaguchi!

  Next was 149,  senior Scott Sakaguchi's turn. Scott was seeded #1. Sakaguchi rolled through the competition, defeating Preston McCalmon of ASU in the quarters 8-2, and Donovan Halpin of Stanford by major decision in the semi's 10-1. In the finals, Scott faced Chris Castillo of Boise, winning 6-5. Champion Scott Sakaguchi!!

149 - Scott Sakaguchi working for back points!

Beaver Cheering section - love those back points!

All photos courtesy of Michael Denison.

Pac-12's - The Wrestlers I

Head Coach Jim Zalesky & Asst. Coach Kevin Roberts

  Oregon State won the Pac-12's for the 3rd year in a row with their 2014 victory! They had six make it to the finals, three of those were champions, Joey Delgado (141), Scott Sakaguchi (149) and RJ Pena (157). Congratulations, champs! Everyone else placed in the top three.

125- Pat Rollins

 At 125, Pat Rollins lost a close match to Evan Silver of Stanford in the quarters, then came back to take third place by MD over Ares Carpio of ASU.

133-Palmer vs DeMuelle (Boise)

Joey Palmer, 133, opened the tournament with a fall, pinning Boise's Ben DeMuelle in 5:38. Joey nearly knocked off Stanford's Ryan Mango in the semi's, losing 6-5. Joey ended up in third, by defeating Jose Mendoza of CSU Bakersfield in the consolation third place medal match. To reach that match, Joey had to go through Kalin Goodsite of ASU, whom he pinned in 2:05.

 Palmer vs  Mango

Joey Palmer & Spencer Mango in semi's

Photos courtesy of Michael Denison of "The FALL" Board. Thanks, Michael!

Pac-12's Bus Trip - Champions!!

125 Medal Ceremonies during finals

  Back at Maples by 2:30 for the doors to open, wrestling resumed at 3:30 with the finals at 5:00 pm.

Team scores were not put up right away, but once they started to post them, the Beavers led the way and never looked back!

Final team scores:
1. Oregon State 155.5
2. Stanford 134.0
3.Boise State 128.5
4. Arizona State 111.0
5. Cal State Bakersfield 109.5
6. Cal Poly 74.5

Beavers cheer on Austin Morehead

 After the Beavers were awarded the team trophy, the guys settled matside to cheer on two of their own, Austin Morehead and Amar Dhesi in their "true second" matches. You can bet that the Beaver fans stayed to root for them, also! They both won! That qualified them both for the NCAA's, joining teammates Joey Palmer, Joey Delgado, Scott Sakaguchi, RJ Pena, Joe Latham and Taylor Meeks on their way to Oklahoma City.

Once the wrestling was finally over, fans boarded the bus and headed for the party at "The Boardwalk" nearby.

Decorated tables at The Boardwalk

A big Thank You! from The FALL to Suzanne Flores of the OSU Alumni Association for arranging the party at "The Boardwalk", decorating the tables with Beaver logos and pompoms and even providing some appetizers to keep the fans going while their food was made!

The night was complete when the coaches arrived with the team and the trophy in tow. A great time was had by all!

All too soon it was 8:00 the next morning and the bus and fans headed back home with lots of great wrestling memories. Go Beavs!

Loading up at the HGI in Mt View

Happy Beaver fans going home

Snapshots by Elizabeth DeAngelis

Pac-12's Bus Trip - The Tournament

Maples Pavilion - Stanford

  March 2, Sunday, the day of the tournament. We started out the day with a hearty breakfast at our hotel, then loaded up the bus, including a few extra Beavers who had made their way to the hotel from other directions.

 

Beavers waiting for the doors to open

Not wanting to miss a second, we arrived a few minutes before the doors open, tickets in hand.

Getting set up for wrestling

 We picked out our spot, then settled in and waited for the rest of the fans to show up. At least for the first session, I'd say the Black and Orange was the largest contingent there.
Go Beavs! 

In between sessions, we had time to wander around campus, looking for places to eat lunch. Some went in to Palo Alto, others found campus eateries.

Looking for lunch on Stanford campus

Stanford has a beautiful campus and the weather cooperated, so we had a good walk.

Stanford campus

Snapshots by Elizabeth DeAngelis

Pac-12 Bus Trip - Driving Down

Time to stretch the legs

The FALL Fan Club chartered a bus to take fans down to the 2014 Pac-12 Conference Championships hosted by Stanford in Palo Alto, California. 34 eager Beaver Fans rolled away from the Hilton Garden Inn at 7:00 am on March 1, Saturday.

Snack time - Canyonville

Many scenic miles, several pick-up spots, several rest stops, a lunch stop at Redding and one Spider Man DVD later, 43 of us arrived at our destination, the Hilton Garden Inn in Mountain View, California. Time, approximately 8:30 pm.

Mt Shasta from windy rest stop at Weed

Lake Shasta houseboats

CA farmland, nearing sunset

Photos are some of my snapshots from along the way.