FROM OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION OFFICE
TELEPHONE: (541) 737-3720 / (610) 417-9074
CONTACT: MATT FRANZBLAU
Friday, Dec. 14, 2012
Beaver Wrestlers head to the Desert for Reno Tournament of Champions
OSU will look to improve upon its third place finish in the event from a year ago
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The No. 11/14/16 ranked Oregon State wrestling team will head to Nevada for
the second time in two weeks as they take part in the 2012 edition of the Reno Tournament of Champions. The Beavers, 2-2 and 1-0 in Pac-12 play are fresh off a weekend in which they narrowly upset No. 2 Minnesota (18-21) and handily defeated No. 22 North Dakota
State, after competing in two duals in two days in two separate states.
OSU will have just one event this weekend, as they take to the mats inside the Reno Events Center for the annual Tournament of Champions.
“We still need a lot more matches, especially some of our younger guys and those who haven’t been in there,” said Head Coach Jim Zalesky. “The other thing it (Reno TOC) is
going to give us, is an opportunity for guys that may want to crack through the line-up still.”
Two wrestlers, Joe Latham (165 lbs.) and Cody Weishoff (174 lbs.) already earned a start during the North Dakota State dual last Sunday, and Zalesky knows there are even more
on his team looking to prove themselves during the final two tournaments of the calendar year.
“We had some wrestle-offs even after the intrasquad (Nov. 7), and some guys kind of got their spot,” Zalesky explained. “Right now it’s kind of open again because you have
two tournaments coming up here and the coaches will evaluate them to see who will be our starters for sure.”
Following the Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday, OSU will compete in the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill., Dec. 29-30, before opening up the heart of the team’s
dual schedule for the 2012-13 season against Boise State, Jan. 5 in Gill Coliseum.
*MEET NOTES
OREGON STATE
The Beavers enter the Reno Tournament of Champions with a 2-2 overall record and an unblemished 1-0 mark in the Pac-12. Oregon State is coming off a
weekend in which it almost pulled off an upset to No. 2 Minnesota (18-21) and handily defeated No. 22 North Dakota State 26-11. OSU is ranked in the top-20 in all three major Division I wrestling polls, the highest being in The Open Mat (No. 11), followed
by Intermat (No. 14), and No. 16 according to D1 College Wrestling. Jim Zalesky’s squad gained four spots in The Open Mat’s Poll and fell one spot in Intermat as well as two by D1.
The Beavers currently have 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). That group can claim 16 different rankings in three separate polls. The highest ranked wrestler entering the fifth week of the 2012-13 season is senior 141 pounder Mike Mangrum, who is listed at No. 4 by both
D1 College Wrestling and Intermat. Mangrum is rated No. 5 in the nation by The Open Mat, followed by senior heavyweight Chad Hanke at No. 6 in Intermat and D1 and No. 8 according to TOM. Also ranked in the Top-10 nationally are sophomore Taylor Meeks (No.
9/11/11) and RJ Pena (No. 10/10/10).
RENO TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
OSU will compete in the Reno TOC for the second consecutive year after a two year lay off from the event. In 2011, Head Coach Jim Zalesy’s squad finished
third with 105 points. In 2008 OSU finished in eighth place with a total of 59.5 points and in 2006 the ‘Beavs wound up again in third place with 96.5 points on the day. After this weekend, OSU will have competed at the Reno TOC a total of five times since
2003, when the event switched over to individual competition instead of a dual meet format.
The Tournament itself will be held on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012 at the Reno Events
Center. Live Results can be found by going to
http://rtoc.net/, the event’s official website. This season there will be a total of 24 colleges participating, including Pac-12 schools Boise State, Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield and Stanford in addition to OSU.
DOUBLE DIGIT WIN CLUB
Entering competition this weekend there are five Oregon State wrestlers with ten wins or more so far this season; they include Chad Hanke (HWT) at 12-1,
RJ Pena (157 lbs.) at 12-1, Mike Mangrum (141 lbs.) who is 12-2, Scott Sakaguchi (149 lbs.) at 12-1 and Taylor Meeks (197 lbs.) who carries a10-2 mark. Out of that group, Pena has the longest winning streak at seven, stretching back to his individual title
in the 157 lb. weight class during the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite two weekends ago. Following in Pena’s footsteps is Sakaguchi who has been victorious in four straight matches.
LANDMARK VICTORY
Junior 149 pounder Scott Sakaguchi won his 80th career match over the weekend, bringing his total win/loss total as a Beaver to 81-21, which is a staggering 60 wins
over the .500 mark. Sakaguchi joins teammates Mike Mangrum and Chad Hanke as the only other current members of the OSU squad with at least 80 wins in their Oregon State careers. Mangrum holds a 108-30 mark (.783), while Hanke boasts a 92-40 record with a .697
winning percentage. Sakaguchi is now tied for 33rd place on the all-time career wins list with Mike R. Jones (1970-73; 158) and Rodney Hawthorne (1983-86; 118/126/134). The next closest OSU wrestler to the 80-win plateau is fellow junior captain RJ Pena who
sits 24 wins away at 56-25 (.691).
Matt Franzblau
Communications Assistant
Oregon State University Athletics
209 Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Oregon 97331
matt.franzblau@oregonstate.edu
O: (541) 737.3720
C: (610) 417-9074
F: (541) 737-3072
