Three Oregon State Wrestlers Heading to NCAA Championships

Sophomore Keegan Davis from Salem, finished fifth at 165 pounds.

Senior Travis Gardner earned the Pac-10 title at heavyweight for the Beavers. Photo courtesy: OSU Athletics

EUGENE, Ore. - Senior Travis Gardner (Portland, Ore.) and junior Kyle Bressler (Federal Way, Wash.) earned decisions in their championship matches at heavyweight and 197 pounds to win individual titles at the 2008 Pac-10 Championships, leading the Beavers to a third place finish with 106.0 points.

The Beavers were just edged out of second place by one-half point by Stanford with Boise State taking the team title with 152.5 points. Arizona State finished in fourth with 103.0 points.

“Overall, I thought we did well at the tournament,” Oregon State head coach Jim Zalesky said. “I think the wins at 197 and heavyweight will be good for [Kyle Bressler and Travis Gardner’s] confidence going into the NCAA Championships.”

Bressler and No. 1 Jason Trulson (Arizona State) wrestled a close match with the match scoreless through the first period before Trulson earned a point on an escape early in the second round.

Bressler tied things up at 1:40 in the third before nearly securing the 3-1 win on a takedown that was ruled out of bounds right before time expired. Going into overtime, Bressler controlled the situation, earning the takedown and the Pac-10 title.

Having earned a forfeit when the two teams met in January, Gardner and No. 5 Mitchell Monteiro met for the first time with Monteiro taking a 2-0 lead on a reversal halfway through the second round. Gardner earned the escape to narrow the gap to one point before a reversal secured the win for Gardner, earning the 3-2 decision.

The Oregon State wrestling team secured another NCAA bid in senior Kyle Larson (Hermiston, Ore.) at 149 pounds in the final day of the 2008 Pac-10 Wrestling Championships.

Larson was the first Oregon State wrestler to compete in the final championship matches, vying for third place against No. 6 Lucas Espericueta of Stanford.

Espericueta got the upper hand in the first round of the championship bracket, earning a 9-5 decision over Larson, but Larson came out dominant earning an 8-3 decision to guarantee him the team’s third NCAA berth, his second.

The next wrestler up for the Beavers was redshirt freshman Tim Patrick (Milwaukie, Ore.), whose Pac-10 run finished with a fourth place finish at 157 pounds. No. 2 Josh Zupancic (Stanford) earned the 14-3 major decision over Patrick in the third place match.

Heading into the finals and third place matches, Oregon State continued to hold onto third place with 97.0 points, narrowly edging out fourth place Arizona State (95.0) and on second place Stanford’s heels (98.5). Boise State continued to hold the lead with 141.5 points, while Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Bakersfield kept the race tight with 92.5 points each in fifth.

Sophomore Keegan Davis (Salem, Ore.), the sixth-seed, routed No. 5 Zack Frazier (Oregon), 20-6, to win the three-match series between the two wrestlers on the season, both wins were major decisions. Davis finished fifth at 165 pounds after falling to No. 4 Daniel Atondo (Cal State Bakersfield) in his opening match of the day, 8-1.

No. 7 seed junior Jake Gonzales (Enumclaw, Wash.) was unable to find a win in the final day after falling in a close 4-2 decision to No. 4 Marcos Orozco in the consolation semi-finals before falling to No. 5 Micah Ferguson in the fifth place match, 15-5.

Unseeded redshirt junior Ben Harris (Langley, Wash.) earned his second win of the season at 184 pounds, finishing seventh with a 4-2 decision over No. 7 Jason Points of Cal State Bakersfield.

No. 4 seed redshirt freshman Chris Platt (Eagle Point, Ore.) tallied another seventh place finish for the Beavers at 174 pounds, earning his second consecutive fall over Ron Lee of Oregon in a time of 3:45, after previously pinning Lee in 4:16 in legendary Gill Coliseum.

Junior Heinrich Barnes (Pretoria, South Africa) earned eighth place honors at 141 pounds, adding points to the Oregon State team score.

Oregon State will send three wrestlers, Larson, Gardner and Bressler, to St. Louis, Mo., for the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships held Mar. 20-22. The Beavers could potentially earn an at-large bid to be announced later in the evening.

2008 Pac-10 Wrestling Championships Final Results

Final Team Scores:

1. Boise State, 152.5; 2. Stanford, 106.5; 3. Oregon State, 106.0; 4. Arizona State, 103.0; 5. Cal State Fullerton, 101.5; 6. Cal Poly, 99.5; 7. Cal State Bakersfield, 94.5; 8. UC Davis, 79.5; 9. Oregon, 59.0; 10. Portland State, 16.0.

Oregon State Final Individual Results:

125 Pounds:

Pig Tails – No. 7 Jake Gonzales (Oregon State) decision over Allen Bartelli (Boise State), 6-5

Championship Round 1 – No. 2 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) technical fall over No. 7 Jake Gonzales (Oregon State), 17-0 (4:19)

Consolation Round 1 – No. 7 Jake Gonzales (Oregon State) decision over No. 6 Joey Lucas (Oregon), 3-2

Consolation Semi-Finals –No. 4 Marcus Orozco (UC Davis) decision over No. 7 Jake Gonzales (Oregon State), 4-2

Fifth Place Match –No. 5 Micah Ferguson (Cal Poly) major decision over No. 7 Jake Gonzales (Oregon State), 15-5

133 Pounds:

Pig Tails – No. 7 Francisco Manriquez (UC Davis) major decision over Clifton Ivanoff (Oregon State), 9-0

Consolation Pig Tails – No. 8 Porfirio Madrigal (Stanford) major decision over Clifton Ivanoff (Oregon State), 9-1

141 Pounds:

Championship Round 1 – No. 4 Levi Jones (Boise State) fall over No. 5 Heinrich Barnes (Oregon State), 0:59

Consolation Pig Tails – No. 5 Heinrich Barnes (Oregon State) decision over Max Rosefigura (Stanford), 8-6

Consolation Round 1 – No. 8 Cody Moulton (Oregon) decision over No. 5 Heinrich Barnes (Oregon State), 12-8

Seventh Place Match – No. 3 Elijah Nacita (Cal State Bakersfield) technical fall over No. 5 Heinrich Barnes (Oregon State), 16-0 (4:18)

149 Pounds:

Pig Tails – No. 3 Kyle Larson (Oregon State) fall over Alan Dickey (Portland State), 6:28

Championship Round 1 – No. 6 Lucas Espericueta (Stanford) decision over No. 3 Kyle Larson (Oregon State), 9-5

Consolation Round 1 – No. 3 Kyle Larson (Oregon State) major decision over No. 7 Barrett Abel (UC Davis), 19-5

Consolation Semi-Finals –No. 3 Kyle Larson (Oregon State) decision over No. 5 Eric Maldonado (Cal Poly), 4-1

Third Place Match –No. 3 Kyle Larson (Oregon State) decision over No. 6 Lucas Espericueta (Stanford), 8-3

157 Pounds:

Pig Tails – No. 5 Devan Velasquez (Cal State Fullerton) major decision over Tim Patrick (Oregon State), 10-1

Consolation Pig Tails – Tim Patrick (Oregon State) fall over No. 6 Alex Pavlenko (Arizona State), 4:35

Consolation Round 1 – Tim Patrick (Oregon State) fall over No. 7 Steven Dailey (Portland State), 5:42

Consolation Semi-Finals –Tim Patrick (Oregon State) decision over No. 4 Kyle Bounds (Oregon), 10-7

Third Place Match –No. 2 Josh Zupancic (Stanford) major decision over Tim Patrick (Oregon State), 14-3

165 Pounds:

Championship Round 1 – No. 6 Keegan Davis (Oregon State) decision over No. 3 Ryan Williams (Cal Poly), 5-4 (3OT)

Championship Semi-Finals – No. 2 Kurt Swartz (Boise State) decision over No. 6 Keegan Davis (Oregon State), 4-3

Consolation Semi-Finals –No. 4 Daniel Atondo (Cal State Bakersfield) decision over No. 6 Keegan Davis (Oregon State), 8-1

Fifth Place Match –No. 6 Keegan Davis (Oregon State) major decision over No. 5 Zack Frazier (Oregon), 20-6

174 Pounds:

Championship Round 1 – No. 5 Dave Seley (Portland State) decision over No. 4 Chris Platt (Oregon State), 4-3

Consolation Pig Tails – No. 4 Chris Platt (Oregon State) decision over Rick Renzi (Arizona State), 7-3

Consolation Round 1 – No. 8 Michael Williams (Cal Poly) decision over No. 4 Chris Platt (Oregon State), 2-1

Seventh Place Match – No. 4 Chris Platt (Oregon State) fall over No. 6 Ron Lee (Oregon), 3:45

184 Pounds:

Pig Tails – Ben Harris (Oregon State) major decision over No. 5 Jacob Antoine (Portland State), 10-1

Championship Round 1 – No. 4 Zack Giesen (Stanford) major decision over Ben Harris (Oregon State), 10-1

Consolation Round 1 – No. 8 John Clark (UC Davis) decision over Ben Harris (Oregon State), 7-6

Seventh Place Match – Ben Harris (Oregon State) decision over No. 7 Jason Points (Cal State Bakersfield), 4-2

197 Pounds:

Championship Round 1 – No. 3 Kyle Bressler (Oregon State) major decision over No. 6 Jake Johnson (Stanford), 16-5

Championship Semi-Finals – No. 3 Kyle Bressler (Oregon State) decision over No. 2 John Drake (Cal State Fullerton), 2-1

Championship – No. 3 Kyle Bressler (Oregon State) decision over No. 1 Jason Trulson (Arizona State), 3-1 (OT)

Heavyweight:

Championship Round 1 – No. 2 Travis Gardner (Oregon State) fall over No. 7 James Powers (Cal Poly), 4:28

Championship Semi-Finals – No. 2 Travis Gardner (Oregon State) decision over No. 3 Charlie Alexander (Oregon), 3-0

Championship – No. 2 Travis Gardner (Oregon State) decision over No. 5 Mitchell Monteiro (Cal State Bakersfield), 4-2

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