After slow start, Beavers finish strong

Oregon State wrestling didn’t quite have the start they were hoping for at the NCAA tournament as the Beavers went 1-5 in the first round in New York City.

But the Beavers bounced back in the first consolation round as all five wrestlers won their respective matches and advanced to day two.

One of the highlights for OSU was redshirt sophomore heavyweight Amar Dhesi. Dhesi—seeded seventh—won his first match by way of a first round pin and followed it up by earning a dominating 12-4 major decision over Collin Jensen of Nebraska to gain a spot in the quarterfinals.

Dhesi will have his hands full tomorrow morning as he faces Kyle Snyder of Ohio State—the runner up at 197 pounds a year ago.

Sophomore 125-pounder Ronnie Bresser was upset in the first round by Dalton Macri of Cornell, 6-5 in double overtime. Bresser was up 3-2 with 30 seconds left in regulation but was called for stalling for the second time and Macri earned a point to tie up the match and ultimately send it to overtime. Macri had the riding time advantage after double overtime and earned the upset.

Bresser had another overtime match as he faced the six-seed Eddie Klimara of Oklahoma State in the first round of consolation. In a match that didn’t feature a lot of action, Bresser won 2-1 after the first round of overtime where he rode Klimara for 30 seconds and secured the victory.

Bresser faces Sean Russell of Edinboro—who beat the 12 seed in Paul Petrov of Bucknell—tomorrow morning.

Redshirt junior 133-pounder Joey Palmer started off the day losing a hard fought match to the three-seed in Zane Richards of Illinois, 5-4. Palmer was leading 4-3 heading into round three, but an escape by Richards and riding time, solidified the win for the Fighting Illini.

Palmer defeated Austin Eicher of Northern Illinois 6-0 in the first round of consolation and will now wrestle the 13-seed in Cameron Kelly of Ohio.

Redshirt junior 149-pounder Joey Delgado dropped an 11-8 decision to the 11-seed Anthony Collica of Oklahoma State to begin his tournament.

Delgado showed grit and toughness in his second match as he edged out Alex Kocer of South Dakota State, 9-7. He wrestles again tomorrow and will face a familiar foe in reigning Pac-12 champion and the 12-seed—Geordan Martinez of Boise State.

Senior Seth Thomas got off to a rough start as he lost by major decision to the eight-seed, Chad Welch of Purdue 13-4. Motivated by not ending his Orgeon State career quite yet, he won his consolation match against Dakota Juarez of Eastern Michigan, 8-5.

Thomas will look to keep his Beaver career alive tomorrow when he faces the seven-seed in Anthony Perrotti of Rutgers.

Redshirt freshman Corey Griego lost by major decision in his first NCAA appearance but would bounce back in a big way by earning one of the biggest upsets on day one.

Griego defeated the three-seed in Victor Avery of Edinboro, 11-5. He will have the chance to keep the momentum going tomorrow when he faces the four-seed Domenic Abounader of Michigan.

After day one, the Beavers are tied for 19th place with 7.5 points. Both Arizona State and Stanford are also in a tie for 19th place. Penn State is leading the team race with 27.5 points, followed closely behind by Ohio State and Oklahoma State at 24 points.

Day two will start tomorrow at 8 a.m. PT and 11 a.m. ET and will be broadcasted on ESPNU and online at ESPN3.com.