OSU WRESTLE: Beaver Wrestlers Battle Boise State in Border War
OSU WRESTLE: Beaver Wrestlers Battle Boise State in Border War
FROM OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION OFFICE
TELEPHONE: (541) 737-3720 / (785) 218-8349
CONTACT: MATT FRANZBLAU
Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012
Beaver Wrestlers Battle Boise State in Border War
Broncos and Beavers to battle it out for the wooden axe in Spokane
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The coveted wooden axe will be up for grabs this Saturday when the Oregon
State wrestling team takes on Boise State in the Border War which will be held in Spokane, Wash. The Beavers enter the rivalry meet looking for their first win of the year after dropping their first dual to Michigan at Gill Coliseum last weekend. The Broncos
are in a similar position, also searching for their first win after losing their first three meets of the season.
“Every time you go against them you know you are going to get their best,” OSU head coach Jim Zalesky said about BSU. “Any time you go against a rival you know they are going
to be up for it and you’re going to be up for it.”
The meeting will be the two schools’ 43rd all-time but the ninth since the inception of the axe trophy which is given to the winner of each dual meet, starting
in 2009.
“Anytime we compete we compete for that axe,” Zalesky explained. “We just thought it would be a great idea to keep it going with this home and away series.”
Zalesky’s squad enters the matchup having swept last year’s pair of duals with Boise State and are looking to make it three in-a-row heading into their next meeting on Jan.
5 in Corvallis.
The first Border War battle will take place at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 24 at the gym inside Spokane Valley High School in Spokane Valley, Wash. Live results can be obtained
by going to trackwrestling.com
*MEET NOTES
OREGON STATE
The Beavers enter their first Pac-12 meet in search of their first victory of the season. OSU dropped its season opener to Michigan 21-18 last weekend
at Gill Coliseum and are hoping to even their overall record while going 1-0 in Pac-12 play. Oregon State is still ranked in all three major Division One wrestling polls as it is placed at No. 10 by Intermat as well as 14th by D1 College Wrestling and 15th
by The Open Mat.
Oregon State currently has a total of six wrestlers ranked nationally and those are Chad Hanke (HWT), Mike Mangrum (141), Taylor Meeks (197), RJ Pena
(157), Scott Sakaguchi (149) and Ty Vinson (184). Those half-dozen wrestlers can claim 14 different rankings in three separate polls. The highest ranked wrestler entering Week No. 1 is senior captain and returning All-American Mike Mangrum who is rated No.
4 in the 141 pound weight class by Intermat, No. 5 by D1 College Wrestling and six by The Open Mat. Also ranked in the Top-10 nationally is fellow returning All-American Scott Sakaguchi (4/5/6) at 149 lbs., senior Chad Hanke (6/6/6), coming off of a redshirt
year at HWT and RJ Pena (8/9/11) in the 157 lb. weight class.
BOISE STATE
The Broncos are still searching for their first win of the year after dropping duals with Wyoming (26-12), North Dakota State (24-15) and No. 1 Minnesota (30-6). Boise
State has also competed in Cowboy Open, which took place earlier this month in Laramie, Wyo., and are ranked 18th in the nation according to the latest Intermat poll.
Boise State claims a total of five different wrestlers who are nationally ranked with 11 different rankings, the top of which is senior Jason Chamberlain
(149 lbs.), who is ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively. Next highest on the list for the Blue and Orange is senior 133 pounder Brian Owen who is 10th, 11th and 16th, followed by Junior Jake Swartz (184 lbs.) at 11/12/14. Rounding out the list of ranked Broncos
is senior 197 pounder Brent Chriswell (13/16) and 157 lb. senior George Ivanov at No. 22.
STELLAR START
Senior captains Ty Vinson and Chad Hanke began their final OSU campaign on high notes as the pair was victorious in matches against Michigan on Friday
night inside Gill Coliseum. Vinson made waves by pinning Michigan’s Jordan Thomas in (1:25) during the 184 lb. matchup, while the heavyweight Hanke earned a 13-8 decision over U of M’s Justin Dozier. Other Beavers who won their matches in the season opener
were junior captains Scott Sakaguchi and RJ Pena. Sakaguchi earned a 9-6 decision in the 149 weight match, while Pena made it two in a row with an 8-2 decision in the 152 lb. weight class. Sophomore Taylor Meeks was the lone victorious under classmen as he
claimed a 5-3 decision over the Wolverines’ Maxwell Huntley in the 197 lb. match.
BORDER WAR
The Oregon State/Boise State rivalry is one that dates back more than a quarter of a century. Both schools are separated by a little more than 500 miles and have met for a
total of 43 times, with the Beavers having won a total of 27 of those meets. Jim Zalesky’s squad has won the last two match-ups with the Broncos, forcing the Orange and Blue to hand over the heralded Border War Axe to the Orange and Black. The Axe is an added
bonus to the rivalry and was not first introduced to both teams until 2009 when a BSU wrestler crafted the series trophy out of wood. Since then both schools have met a total of eight times, with the Broncos claiming a six to two advantage. Right now the axe
lies in the hands of the Beavers but has the chance of changing hands twice this season as OSU and BSU meet up a pair of times in 2012-13.
Matt Franzblau
Communications Assistant
Oregon State University Athletics
209 Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Oregon 97331
matt.franzblau@oregonstate.edu
O: (541) 737.3720
C: (785) 218-8349
F: (541) 737-3072
