FROM OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION OFFICE

TELEPHONE: (541) 737-3720 / (610) 417-9074                                

CONTACT: MATT FRANZBLAU                                                          

WWW.OSUBEAVERS.COM                                                          

 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

 

Seven Beaver Wrestlers to Go to NCAAÂ’s in Des Moines, Handful Earn National Seeds

 

Mangrum, Sakaguchi, Pena, Meeks and Hanke all earn top 10 seeds as OSU will look to finish in the top 10 for the second straight year

 

INDIANAPOLIS – The Oregon State wrestling team will take seven decorated student-athletes to Des Moines, Iowa for the NCAA Championships, next week as the official announcement came down from the NCAA Wednesday afternoon. Out of the seven, five received national seeds ranging from as low as three to as high as No. 10.

 

OSU had already qualified the crop of seven at the Pac-12 Championships in Tempe, Ariz., but was waiting to see if it sealed any additional at large bids in the process. The Beavers wrapped up their second straight Pac-12 title and third conference championship in the last four years, earlier this month.

 

Going to Des Moines will be Mike Mangrum (141 lbs.), Scott Sakaguchi (149 lbs.), RJ Pena (157 lbs.), Cody Weishoff (174 lbs.), Ty Vinson (184 lbs.), Taylor Meeks (197 lbs.) and heavyweight Chad Hanke.

Mangrum secured the highest seed out of the bunch as he will be No. 3 and take on MissouriÂ’s unseeded Nicholas Hucke (13-13). Following the 141 pounder, is heavyweight Chad Hanke, a No. 4 seed taking on unseeded Kevin Innis (21-5) from Boston University.

 

At 197 lbs., Taylor Meeks was awarded a fifth seed and will battle MichiganÂ’s Maxwell Huntely (17-14), who has beaten twice this season, once in the first dual meet of the year and another time during National Duals. Both matches were in Corvallis, and both were won by Meeks via a two point decision, (5-3) Nov. 16, and (7-5) Feb. 9.

 

The second-to-last seeded OSU wrestler is 149 lb. junior Scott Sakaguchi who drew a No. 7 and will face off against BuffaloÂ’s Blake Roulo (24-13), who is unseeded. 157 pounder RJ Pena was given a No 10 seed and will take to the mats in the first round against Ohio StateÂ’s unseeded Josh Demas, who is 17-10 on the year.

 

The final two first round match-ups for Beaver wrestlers feature unseeded Ty Vinson (184 lbs.), who will take on No. 4 Steve Bosak (20-2) of Cornell, as well as 174 pounder Cody Weishoff, going up against No. 1 seed Chris Perry (30-2) out of Oklahoma State.

 

Mangrum, Meeks and Hanke all won individual weight class titles in Tempe as Mangrum secured his second straight Pac-12 crown. Out of the group Mangrum will be making his team-best fourth appearance at Nationals, having finished fifth a year ago in St. Louis.

 

Also making a return trip to NCAAÂ’s will be Sakaguchi and Pena, who will compete for a third time. Meeks, Hanke, and Vinson will each make their second appearance at NCAAÂ’s, while Weishoff will be making his first.

This will be the fourth straight year Head Coach Jim Zalesky will be taking at least a half-dozen wrestlers to Nationals as he brought six in 2010 and eight in 2011 and 2012.

 

Last season Oregon State finished 10^th overall, which was its highest place, nationally since 1998 when it finished in 9^th place. The Beavers will look to secure consecutive NCAA top 10 finishes for the first time since 1995-96.

 

ESPN will televise each match at the 2013 NCAA Wrestling Championships, taking place March 21-23 in des Moines. Opening Round action can be caught live on ESPN3, while select quarterfinal and semifinal action can be seen live on ESPNU. The finals can be seen by a national audience live on ESPN, Saturday night.

 

OREGON STATE FIRST ROUND MATCH-UPS
141 lbs.
No. 3 Mike Mangrum (Oregon State) 37-4
                vs.
Nicholas Hucke (Missouri) 13-13

149 lbs.
No. 7 Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) 24-6
               vs.
Blake Roulo (Buffalo) 24-13

157 lbs.
No. 10 RJ Pena (Oregon State) 32-5
                vs.
Josh Demas (Ohio State) 17-10

174 lbs.
No. 1 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) (30-2)
                vs.
Cody Weishoff (Oregon State) 16-8

184 lbs.
No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) 20-2
                vs.
Ty Vinson (Oregon State) 16-9

197 lbs.
No. 5 Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) 31-5
               vs.
Maxwell Huntely (Michigan) 17-14

HWT
No. 4 Chad Hanke (Oregon  State) 32-3
              vs.
Kevin Innis (Boston U.) 21-6

 

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