Oregon State’s wrestling team has begun oiling their gears for the start of the 2025-2026 season. Starting with the Orange vs Black dual meet held in Gill Coliseum on Friday night. Giving Beaver fans a chance to watch their familiar, favorite wrestlers and a combination of newcomers and freshmen, take each other on in friendly but deadly competition.
The first to gain points was the star 125 pounder, senior Maximo Renteria, for team Orange. His opponent was the redshirt freshman Hunter Taylor. Taylor, was with the team with limited action last year and did his best to bring the match to an end by time, but was unable to gain enough to hold off Renteria’s win by decision.
The next win, which once again came in team Orange’s favor, came with a win by incoming freshman Manny Saldate in the 133 weight class over fellow freshman Jeffrey Lopez. Saldate, coming out of Las Vegas, and Lopez, out of Fresno, were signed this offseason.
Tonight’s more casual meet also allowed the match schedule to be a little varied in terms of weight classes, which allowed for the usual 141 weight group, Nash Singleton, to take on and win for team Black by decision over fellow junior Damion Elliot, who would usually be in the 133 pound spot.
Singleton is coming off a season that saw him be crowned champion of the Pac-12 141 and qualify for the NCAA.
Junior C.J Hamblin would tie up the meet score with a close win by decision over junior Noah Tolentino at 149 pounds. With only a one point advantage, Hamblin managed to win a fight for control on the ground and held it until the last seconds ticked away.
Young talent was then on full display in the 157 weight class match. The incoming freshman duo of Beau Priest and Joel Adams showed plenty of promise, especially in driving to takedowns, with Adams scoring an 11- 3 victory over his teammate.
The table was then flipped at the 165 weight match, with Grad student Keller Rock vs redshirt senior Graham Gambrall. The match became dicey in the third period when Gamrall would tie up the score with a takedown, but immediately gave up a space at 18 seconds that let Rock earn the win by decision.
Team Orange was two wins up with scores of 13-6, but Sophomore Daschle Lamer came out with energy for team black, locking in an early grip with head and arm control to rocket himself to an 11-0 lead over Sergio Montoya. Montoya was unable to shake off lamer and would suffer a loss via tech fall.
Lamer was one of the notable transfers onto the Beavers roster, coming in from Cal Poly. Oregon State saw starters like Ethan Stiles and Murphy Menke leave in the transfer portal after the 2024-2025 season.
The cards were placed for a heavyweight match to decide the end of the meet. Grad student Charlie Hastriter welcomed newly signed freshman Khale McDonnell to the mats and took a decision victory that captured the win for team Black 14-13.
Other freshmen that didn’t see the floor in the meet include: Adrian Reyes, Koy Davidson, and Nash Singleton’s brother, Gage Singleton, who signed a letter of intent in February.
Oregon State wrestling also comes into the season with a new selection of coaches with previous connections to wrestling. Signing Trey Munoz, a senior star from last season. As well as Brandon Kaylor, a member of the team in 2024.
This newly polished team will see official competition on November 16th against Utah Valley, taking them on at home in Corvallis at Gill Coliseum to officially start the 2025-2026 campaign.