Wyoming Meet Recap

Oregon State Wrestling supporters,

Benny & the Beavers

Friday night was a fun evening having the Beavers home again. The recap below is by my husband Brett Waner and my dad Ron:

The Beavers fought hard and lost a close meet against Wyoming. There was much to be excited about as even the losses were competitive. The refereeing was controversial, especially to Wyoming coach Mark Branch, and in particular excessive ref-caused false starts.

The meet started at the 165 weight class. Aaron Olmos kicked things off for the Beavers with a 6 – 4 win in OT vs Cole Moody. He had a powerful takedown to begin the scoring and a few quick escapes. The highlight was his takedown in the first period of OT with 1 second on the clock. Olmos has improved a lot this year.

After this suspenseful win the Beavers lost 4 straight. Unintimidated Jackson McKinney faced #10 Hayden Hastings. McKinney took down Hastings early in the match but let him escape despite being near the sideline. McKinney fought off a likely takedown to end the 1^st. Hastings dominated on top, dashing any hopes of an upset.

Tom Gienger & young Beaver fan

Colton Beisley had an early takedown on Tate Samuelson, but lost too, 8 – 3.

J.J. Dixon showed some fight but ultimately lost 9 – 5 to Stephen Buchanan. In the first period it appeared Dixon was going down but he managed to fight through and create a takedown of his own. He rode his opponent well and managed a nice escape early in the match. Slow reaction time ultimately cost Dixon the match. Dixon is a talented athlete with lots of upside.

Jamarcus Grant lost 2 – 1 to #18 Brian Andrews. Andrews had too much weight for Jamarcus to handle. More movement and searching for angles might yield better results. Another very talented "small hwt" he would do well to emulate the styles of Jim Baumgardner, especially Jim Hagen and of course Jess and Larry.

At 125 Brandon Kaylor wrestled with a lot of energy and a dominant 15 – 7 performance over Jacov Svihel. Though this was the sole bonus point match, Brandon's exuberance at the conclusion indicated perhaps he might have left something on the mat.

Devan Turner faced #6 Montorie Bridges. The 7 –4 loss is not what was desired but Devan worked hard and was in reach of a win until the very end. A couple mistakes were ultimately the difference in the match. Turner has improved steadily each match this year.

Grant Willits brought plenty of excitement as is his usual style. A reversal with 4 back points gave him a cushion to cruise into a 12 – 10 win vs Trevor Jeffries. There were hopes of a major decision or better but an injury slowed Grant and allowed his opponent several scores late in the match.

Lane Stigall got the "upset" win over #20 Jaron Jensen with a final score of 9 – 3. Stigall was able to fight off a leg grab and turn it into a takedown of his own. In the 2^ndafter a reversal, he was able to generate a quick escape and had a nicely timed takedown to end the period. Beavs then trailed 15-13.

Logan Meek wrestled Dewey Krueger for the opportunity to win the meet for the Beavers but fell 3-8.

The official write up by the OSU Athletic Dept:

https://osubeavers.com/news/2020/2/1/wrestling-beavers-fall-short-to-cowboys.aspx

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Lobby team - Jana, Brett, Linda Iwasaki, Jess Lewis

Big thanks to 2x NCAA champ Jess Lewis

Jess Lewis & Don Conway

who again helped in the lobby and recruited new and old friends to join The Fall booster club. He signed autographs, shook hands and the Pac-12 Network filmed some of this celebrity interaction.

Prior to the meet, the late Beaver wrestler Ken Noteboom was honored. Other class of '59 teammates in attendance included John Dustin, Chancy Ball, Tobe Zweygardt, Tom Gienger and Oregon State's first NCAA wrestling champion, Don Conway.

Before the meet, Ken Noteboom celebration

We had a great performance by Denise Tomasovic singing the National Anthem. Live music is always a treat!

Wrestling alumni Tom Phillips, Chris Bielenberg & Benny

At our social following the meet, Ken Noteboom's son Travis and Ken’s fraternity brother Dave Socolofsky shared some fun stories about Ken. Ken's sister, daughter, son and other family members were in attendance. Thank you to Bob Tomasovic from the Wrestling Endowment Fund and Steve Sullivan from the OSU Foundation for coordinating this tribute to Ken.

Social in Reser's Club

Ron Sather tearfully shared the news that Greg Strobel sustained a spiral fracture to his leg from a bicycle accident. The accident was on Jan 26, Donna's birthday. Donna's memorial service will be on Feb 6 at Packer Memorial Church on the Lehigh University campus. Teammates Ron Sather and Tommy Phillips are planning a trip to visit Greg. Please continue to rally around Greg and the Strobel family.

The 20th annual Reser's Tournament of Champions was held in Hillsboro on Jan 31 - Feb 1. This is another Beaver connection as Marty Reser and son Alex were both Oregon State wrestlers. Sadly, it was one year ago that young Alex Reser passed away, and it was announced that in his honor, the Reser Foundation will continue to support Oregon State Wrestling through the Alex Reser Wrestling Scholarship. More details to come.

Shout out to The Fall board members for the continued efforts, especially Scott Lewis and John Kowalewski at this last meet. We registered 10 more households for The Fall at Friday’s meet including Portland State Viking Marlin Grahn and Oregon Duck Bruce Glenn. Thank you to all of those who have already signed up. If you have not yet, it is never too late to join us! https://squareup.com/store/the-fall-fanclub/

Go Beavs!

Jana Iwasaki