FROM OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION OFFICE
TELEPHONE: (541) 737-3720 / (610) 417-9074
CONTACT: MATT FRANZBLAU
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013
Red Hot OSU Wrestlers Return Home for Meet with CSU Roadrunners
Beavers ranked No. 9/11 in the nation are winners of five in-a-row and look to extend the streak against CSU Bakersfield this Saturday night inside Gill Coliseum
CORVALLIS, Ore. –The No. 9/11 ranked Oregon State wrestling team returns home Saturday night
to host CSU Bakersfield, looking to extend its winning streak to a half dozen meets in-a-row. The Beavers (7-3) (2-1) have already claimed five straight and are coming of a weekend in which they won two duals against nationally ranked opponents in a span of
just two days.
The Roadrunners will be the first Pac-12 opponent OSU has faced since defeating Stanford 32-6, Jan. 19, and enter the meet with a similar 7-3 overall record, but a 1-1 mark
within the conference. CSU has won three straight meets entering their date with Jim Zalesky’s Beaver squad.
“You have to be ready for them because they always give a good fight,” Zalesky said about a Roadrunners squad whom he’s beaten in four straight meetings dating back to 2008.
“They always get a lot out of their wrestlers, so it’s one of those competitions where it’s important to get the wins for your seeding’s at the Pac-12’s.”
Oregon State is 20-11 all-time against Bakersfield with the pairs’ first meeting coming back in 1977. The 2013 version of the match-up takes place Saturday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.
Live results for the meet can also be accessed by going to TrackWrestling.com or to this exact web address:
http://www.trackwrestling.com/dualmeets/DualMeetDetail.jsp?dualMeetId=3590071
*MEET NOTES
OREGON STATE
The Beavers enter the weekend riding a five meet win streak, following defeats of No. 7/8/9 Cornell and No. 14/24 Lehigh on a two day two dual road
trip. OSU brings a 7-3 overall record into this weekend’s meet and a 2-1 record in Pac-12 competition. They are 5-1 on the road and 1-2 at home with a 1-0 mark in neutral sites. Oregon State is currently ranked at No. 9 in the nation by The Open Mat, their
highest rating since pre-season and No. 11 by the Intermat and D1 College Wrestling respectively. Jim Zalesky’s squad gained one spot in both TOM’s and D1’s polls but actually fell one in Intermat.
As a unit, OSU boasts six wrestlers with a total of 17 rankings beside their name, the highest of which is 141 pounder Mike Mangrum who pulled a No.
3 rating from The Open Mat and No. 4’s from the Intermat and D1 College Wrestling. Behind Mangrum is heavyweight Chad Hanke who is No. 4 across the board. 197 pounder Taylor Meeks (No. 7/8), RJ Pena (157 lbs.) at No. 8/10 and Scott Sakaguchi (149 lbs.), who
is No. 9/10 round out the Orange and Black wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in their weight class. The final ranked wrestler for the ‘Beavs is Ty Vinson who is rated No. 18 by the Intermat and No. 20 by D1 College Wrestling.
CSU BAKERSFIELD
The Roadrunners enter their match-up with OSU carrying an identical 7-3 overall mark but an even 1-1 conference record. CSU has beaten Pac-12 opponent
Cal Poly twice, with only one meeting counting as a conference match-up, as well as Cal Baptist, Columbia, San Francisco State, Grand Canyon and Drexel. Bakersfield has lost to Grand Canyon, Wyoming and conference foe Arizona State. The ‘Runners are not ranked
in the Top 25 in any of the three major wrestling polls but do claim a total of three ranked wrestlers, who all can be found in the top 20 of their individual weight class courtesy of D1 College Wrestling. First is 174 pounder Bryce Hammond who is ranked No.
19 followed by No. 21 Ian Nickell in the 133 lb. weight class. The trio is rounded out by 125 pounder Tyler Iwamura who is listed as the 23rd best wrestler in his weight class. CSU Bakersfield is coached by second year head man Mike Mendoza.
20-WIN CLUB
There currently are just four OSU wrestlers who have 20 or more wins so far during the 2012-13 season. Those select few include 141 pounder Mike Mangrum (29-4), heavyweight
Chad Hanke (26-3), 157 pounder RJ Pena (25-3) and 197 pounder Taylor Meeks (24-5). Of those four, All four boast a team best 9-1 record in dual competition, while the wrestler with the best tournament record is Mangrum who boasts a 19-3 record. Hanke is 18-3,
followed by Pena (16-2) and Meeks (15-4). Scott Sakaguchi, who is just off the pace at 8-2 in dual competition is the next closest wrestler to the 20-win plateau with his 18-5 record.
GOING STREAKING
As a whole, the OSU wrestling team is on a five meet winning streak. The Beavers have beaten five straight dual opponents for the first time since the handful they
claimed last season against Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, Boise, Stanford and finally Iowa State in the National Duals (Jan. 20 – Feb. 12, 2012). The Beavers have beaten CSU Bakersfield in four straight meetings dating back to 2008, heading into this
weekend’s match-up. A number of OSU wrestlers are also riding impressive win streaks into this weekend as well, including four who have won at least six in-a-row or more. Heavyweight Chad Hanke is tops on the list who has won 11 straight dating back to his
5-0 run and individual weight class title at the Midlands Championships in Chicago. Hanke is followed by 141 pounder Mike Mangrum who has won 10 straight, including four at the Midlands and another four in dual competition. Behind Hanke and Mangrum is RJ Pena
(157 lbs.) who has won six straight in dual competition as well as 174 pounder Zach Cardwell, who claims seven straight matches all in tournament competition. Cardwell will be getting his first collegiate starting nod this weekend vs. the Roadrunners.
CLIMBING UP THE LADDER
Mike Mangrum (141 lbs.) is continuing his assault on the OSU record book when it comes to career wins. The senior captain began the season with 96 victories and now
has 125, which places him in sole possession of seventh place on the all-time career wins list. He tied and passed Greg Strobel (1971-74, 190 lbs.), with 124 last weekend. Next up for the Auburn, Wash., native is Jeff Cardwell (1985-88; 150/158/167), father
of current Oregon State wrestler Zach, who has 127. The only other current Beaver with 100 or more career wins is heavyweight Chad Hanke, who is currently tied with Trent Flack (1989-90, 92-93) and Tom Phillip (1971-74) for 17th on the all-time program list.
The trio has 106 career victories, next up for Hanke is Dan Hicks (1976-79; 142/150) who is in 16th place with 108.
Matt Franzblau
Communications Assistant
W Soccer, Wrestling, M&W Rowing
Oregon State University Athletics
219 Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Oregon 97331
Office: (541) 737-3720
Cell: (610) 417-9074
Fax: (541) 737-9076
