FROM OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION OFFICE
TELEPHONE: (541) 737-3720 / (610) 417-9074
CONTACT: MATT FRANZBLAU
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Beaver Wrestlers Cap Off 2012-13 with Post-Season Awards Banquet
Meeks wins a trio of awards as 10 wrestlers take home hardware from a night celebrating OSU’s best season in 17 years
CORVALLIS, Ore. – There was no shortage of smiles Saturday night on the third floor of Reser Stadium, where fans, alumni, coaches and student athletes celebrated the season gone by for the Oregon State wrestling program. The team
held its annual post-season awards banquet, which was organized and put on by the program’s official fan club, ‘The FALL’.
The 2012-13 season had many significant highlights, from a second straight team Pac-12 championship to crowning three All-Americans at NCAA’s, those impressive achievements were celebrated with speeches, awards and ultimately a highlight
video recapping all the wrestling action for the Beavers, since they first took to the mats in early November.
Head Coach Jim Zalesky, who wrapped up his seventh year on the OSU bench, proudly handed out hardware to his wrestlers, who worked hard for him on the mats and inside the classroom during the past season. Among the award winners Saturday
night were redshirt freshman Aaron David for the highest GPA (3.77), freshman Joey Delgado for the hardest worker, senior Cody Weishoff for the most improved wrestler and redshirt freshman Drew Van Anrooy for most dedicated.
Other award winners included Weishoff and senior Ty Vinson for the team impact award, seniors Chad Hanke and Mike Mangrum, who shared the team leadership award as well as junior Scott Sakaguchi for the team hustle award. Junior RJ Pena
and sophomore Taylor Meeks shared the most pins award with their dozen, while Meeks, Pena and Sakaguchi each took home the All-American award with their fourth, and fifth place finishes at nationals.
Meeks made it a trio of awards for himself Saturday night, as he received the final and most prestigious recognition, winning the outstanding wrestler award, given to the highest placing student-athlete at NCAA’s. The Ortig, Wash., native
was the first OSU underclassmen to finish in the top five at the National Championships since Babak Mohammadi finished fifth in 1992 as a sophomore.
Before the banquet concluded, all five seniors (Hanke, Anthony Harris, Mangrum, Vinson and Weishoff) gave speeches, thanking their teammates, coaches for the impact that was made on them in their OSU careers. Each speech had its own unique
flair, but every one held the same message of gratitude toward the Orange and Black coaching staff and its unique support system.
Coach Zalesky then put a wrap on 2012-13 by giving his thoughts on the past five months in OSU wrestling and left everyone in attendance with one thing to remember heading into 2013-14, that all 2013 All-Americans will be returning in the
fall.
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
