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Regular season concludes with 20-11 win at Boise State

BOISE, Idaho - Oregon State snapped Boise State's seven match win streak as the Beavers wrapped up their dual meet portion of the season Saturday night with a 20-11 victory in Pacific-10 Conference wrestling.

The Beavers (7-2 Pac-10, 12-8 overall) had lost two straight dual meets and fell behind 8-0 to the Broncos, but rebounded with six consecutive victories. Micah Houston started the OSU rally with a 6-0 decision over Mitch Morgan and Jed Pennell followed with a 3-1 decision over Nathan Ploehn.

OSU's Nathan Coy, ranked 12th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News, gave Oregon State a 9-8 advantage when he decisioned Pat Owens 8-1. Isaac Weber, ranked 16th, and Jason Lovell also recorded victories by decision for the Beavers.

Oregon State heavyweight Jason Cooley kept the Beavers momentum going with a tie-break win over Boe Rushton. Cooley, who has won seven straight matches and is ranked 7th, trailed 3-2 late in the match but the Broncos' heavyweight was penalized for stalling which tied the match at 3-3. After a scoreless overtime, Cooley rode out Rushton in the 30-second tiebreaker overtime for the win.

"That was a big match because it kept us on a roll and put them in a bind," Oregon State head coach Joe Wells said.

Nathan Navarro finished off the dual meet for the Beavers with a decision in the 133-pound match, defeating Jesse Brock 6-3.

"This was a big match for seeding opportunities and for us to vault off of this dual meet win," Wells said. "Boise State had just come off beating Oregon and Fresno State, and we kind of won in fine fashion, so I'm pleased with the win.

"I'm excited about opportunities for the Pac-10 Championships. We've seen everyone in the conference and now we have to look at what each wrestler can do to be successful in the Championships."

Oregon State plays host to the Pac-10 Championships, which take place March 2-3.

OREGON STATE 20, BOISE STATE 11
(Current Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parenthesis)

Cooley wins in loss at Eugene 14-18

EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon State heavyweight Jason Cooley avenged a pair of year-old losses but the Beavers fell to Oregon 18-14 in Pacific-10 wrestling Wednesday night at McArthur Court. OSU (11-8 overall, 6-2 Pacific-10) wraps up the dual meet season Saturday at Boise State.

Wednesday's defeat left the season's Civil War series a split, as Oregon State had beaten Oregon (6-7, 4-4) on a tiebreaker in Corvallis as the teams were deadlocked 16-16. It was just OSU's fifth loss in its last 18 duals with the Ducks; the teams will battle again at the Pacific-10 Championships on March 2-3 at Oregon State.

Cooley, ranked seventh nationally by Amateur Wrestling News, beat 16th-ranked Eric Webb 3-2. Cooley had been pinned by Webb in the team's last dual in Eugene in December, 2001; he lost a 4-3 decision to Webb later that month at the Midlands Open.

"I got stuck here last year," Cooley said. "And you don't forget those. You try not to think about it too much, though, or it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

The two didn't meet again last season, as Webb missed the second Civil War dual and the Pac-10 meet due to injury. On Wednesday, Cooley and Webb traded escpaes to open the second and third periods; Cooley then worked his way in for a takedown with 13 seconds left and Webb could only manage an escape with four sseconds remaining.

"I just wanted to go out and wrestle the best I could," Cooley said. "I was trying to wrestle conservative and not give anything up . . . I'd watched a lot of tape, and there are a lot of things he does very well.

"This is exciting, but you can't get too excited because Pac-10s are in two weeks."

The win was Cooley's sixth straight, giving him a 12-4 record this season. It also gave the Beavers an 11-0 lead in the dual meet, coming on the heels of 16th-ranked 184-pounder Isaac Weber's technical fall of Elias Soto and 197-pounder Jason Lovell's 4-0 decision of Jake Leair.

straight matches. They clinched the dual with fifth-ranked Eugene Harris' 9-4 decision over Jake Pennell at 165 pounds before OSU's 13th-ranked Nathan Coy topped Shane Webster 3-0 at 174 pounds to cap the evening.

"We're in great shape, but we're just not using it," Beaver head coach Joe Wells said. "I thought we wrestled conservatively. We had some opportunities to pin people or take them to their back, and we didn't get it done. I don't know if we were nervous or tight, but we looked tentative. That's not the way you win championships - you've got to go out there and go after it."

OSU was hurt by the absence of 10th-ranked 141-pounder Casey Horn, who was held out of the meet with a leg injury in order to recover for the Pacific-10 Championships. The Beavers nearly got a win from his backup, though, as Peter Zamora dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decision to Brian Watson, who is ranked 20th nationally by InterMat.

The Beavers nearly pulled out another win at 149 pounds, where Jordan Barich was beaten 5-4 by Casey Hunt, who is third in the latest Pac-10 rankings. And in the dual-clinching match, Pennell trailed Harris just 4-3 going into the final period before the Duck standout slipped in for a pair of takedowns to put away the win.

OREGON 18, OREGON STATE 14
(Current Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)

Wrestlers fall to No. 24 Fresno State, 19-15

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State's nationally-ranked wrestlers Nathan Coy, Isaac Weber and Jason Cooley all extended their winning streaks but the Beavers saw their four-meet win streak end Sunday afternoon with a 19-15 loss to 24th-ranked Fresno State in a non-league dual at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers (11-7 overall, 6-1 Pacific-10) now head into the final week of the regular season, which includes meets Wednesday night at Oregon and Saturday afternoon at Boise State.

Weber, ranked 16th by Amateur Wrestling News at 184 pounds, won his sixth straight match. Coy, ranked 13th at 174 pounds, and Cooley, ranked seventh at heavyweight, both won their fifth straight matches.

Fresno State (11-7), strong at the lower weights, won the day's final three matches to come back from a 15-9 deficit. That included wins by the Bulldogs' top-ranked 125-pounder, Stephen Abas, and 16th-ranked 133-pounder Derrick Hayes.

"It was kind of an odd meet," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "We had opportunities galore and didn't capitalize on them. There were three or four situations where we could have pulled a match out and we didn't stay with our plan long enough or tenacious enough to prevail.

"There were tired out and willing to give it up, and we just didn't do the things we needed to at the end." OSU was without 20th-ranked 141-pounder Casey Horn, who was held out of this weekend's meets as a precaution because of a leg injury.

Weber had to rally from a 3-0 deficit for a 4-3 win over Eddie Gifford, scoring escapes late in the second period and early in the third to pull within 3-2. He finally caught Gifford for the decisive takedown with 19 seconds remaining, improving Weber's record to 19-10 this season.

Coy, the defending Pacific-10 champion, earned a technical fall over FSU's Britt Mooney in 5:49. The senior jumped in front quickly, scoring a trio of two-point near falls in the first period and then closing out the match with a takedown midway through the final period to run his record to 11-5.

Cooley's victory was a low-scoring affair, a 3-0 win over Grant Harrington that makes the Beaver heavyweight 11-4 this season. After a scoreless first period, Cooley rode Harrington for the entire second period, then scored an escape to start the third and added a point for riding time.

Beaver 165-pounder Jed Pennell also scored a convincing victory, taking a 16-2 major decision over Darrick Duran. Pennell recorded a trio of three-point near falls as he improved to 15-9 this season.

NO. 24 FRESNO STATE 19, OREGON STATE 15 (Current Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)

Oregon State cruises to 37-7 win over Bakersfield

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State got a pin from 184-pounder Isaac Weber and a major decision from 165-pounder Jed Pennell as the Beavers beat Cal State-Bakersfield 37-7 in Pacific-10 wrestling Friday night at Gill Coliseum. OSU (11-6 overall, 6-1 Pacific-10) took advantage of Roadrunner forfeits at three weights, but the Beavers outscored CSUB (2-8, 0-6) 19-7 in the seven matches that were wrestled to claim their fourth straight dual meet win.

OSU will wrestle its final home meet of the regular season Sunday at 2 p.m. when the Beavers greet 24th-ranked Fresno State. Oregon State will also host the Pacific-10 Championships on March 2-3.

Beaver head coach Joe Wells was disappointed to have Friday's matches at 174 pounds, 197 pounds and heavyweight go as forfeits, but he was pleased with the results of the matches that were wrestled.

"You'd like to be able to wrestle those matches, especially at this time of year," Wells said. "You want to see where you are and how you stack up, and you want to stay sharp, so it's disappointing. But injuries happen, and you have to deal with those. "We wrestled well, overall. We may have helped ourselves in a couple of places to move up in some seedings."

The key result in that department would have been at 125 pounds, where OSU's Michael Delaney got off to a quick start and claimed a 12-5 win over Vic Moreno. Moreno was fourth in the Pac-10 rankings that were issued this week, and four wrestlers earn seeds in the conference championships.

Delaney went on the offensive quickly, scoring a pair of takedowns in the first period. He followed the first takedown immediately with a three-point near-fall; the second takedown resulted in a two-point near-fall for a 9-2 lead after one period.

Weber, ranked 16th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News and 20th by InterMat, picked up his fifth straight win and second pin of the season when he flattened Scott O'Rear in 5:57 in the final match of the night. By then, Weber had already scored five takedowns and a reversal and was leading 12-3; he ran his record to 18-10 this season.

Oregon State also got a win from 133-pounder Nathan Navarro, ranked 18th nationally by IM, as he beat Efren Ceballos 10-8. Navarro took the lead on a takedown with 40 seconds left, then tacked on a point for riding time as he improved to 17-5 this season.

Some of the night's loudest cheers were for Beaver 157-pounder Micah Houston, who ended a 15-match losing streak with a 7-3 victory over Brian Cobb. Of Houston's losses, six were to nationally-ranked wrestlers and five of those opponents were ranked in the top 10 in the weight class.

"That was a nice match for Micah," Wells said. "It's a good win for him, and he showed some good technique early in the match. That was really nice to see, because he's worked hard."

OREGON STATE 37, CAL STATE-BAKERSFIELD 7 (Current Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)

Feb. 5, 2002 Pacific-10 wrestling rankings

Navarro, Horn, Coy, Cooley ranked nationally

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State has four wrestlers in this week's national rankings issued by Amateur Wrestling News magazine and the InterMat website. OSU 133-pounder Nathan Navarro, 141-pounder Casey Horn, 174-pounder Nathan Coy and heavyweight Jason Cooley are all ranked among the nation's top 20 wrestlers at their weight by both services.

Cooley, a senior, is ranked ninth by AWN and seventh by IM. Cooley has a 7-4 record this season.

Coy, a senior, is ranked 12th by AWN and 15th by IM. Coy has a 6-5 record this season.

Navarro, a senior, is ranked 17th by AWN and 15th by IM. Navarro has a 13-4 record with one pin this season.

Horn, a junior, is ranked 19th by AWN and 15th by IM. Horn has a 17-6 record with a team-high eight pins this season.

Oregon State (7-6 overall, 2-1 Pacific-10) does not have a meet this weekend. The Beavers return to action Jan. 26 with a meet at California-Davis at 12 noon and a meet at Stanford at 7 p.m.; on Jan. 27, OSU completes its trip with a meet at Cal Poly at 2 p.m.

Win two, lose one at Oregon Classic Duals

REDMOND, Ore. – Oregon State won two of its three meets Friday in the Oregon Wrestling Classic Duals at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds. The Beavers (7-5 overall, 2-1 Pacific-10) beat Brown 35-9, lost to 16th-ranked Illinois 26-10 and then used a lineup consisting mostly of reserves in a 26-8 win over Pacific (Ore.)

Oregon State returns home Saturday to meet fourth-ranked Michigan at 1 p.m. in a non-league dual meet at Gill Coliseum. After Saturday's meet, the Beavers will have wrestled duals against three of the top four teams in this week's national poll within the last month.

"Once again, we're wrestling top-20 teams and we're finding out how hard we've got to compete," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "We had many opportunities (vs. Illinois); in some cases we prevailed and seized those opportunities, and in other cases we didn't recognize the opportunities or we overpursued and came out in bad position.

"But our attitude and effort has been good, and this team has a good future. We've just got to keep working at it and realize this is all practice, and we have to put it together at the end of the season … this is the best thing we can do to prepare for the Pac-10 meet and the NCAA meet."

The Beavers' dual with Illinois saw OSU trailing 14-10 with three matches to go, but the Illini took all three to secure the win. Oregon State heavyweight Jason Cooley, ranked eighth nationally by InterMat and ninth by Amateur Wrestling News, made a bid to upset defending NCAA champion John Lockhardt before falling 3-2 in the finale.

Oregon State 133-pounder Nathan Navarro picked up a 14-6 major decision over Mark Jayne, who is ranked No. 17 nationally by IM; Jayne had beaten Navarro 10-5 at the Midlands Open last month.

"Nathan did a great job," Wells said of Navarro, who recorded four takedowns and a near-fall in the match. "He wrestled a lot more aggressively and scored almost five points per period . . . it was a good win."

Also turning the tables in a Friday match was OSU heavyweight Andy Bowlby, who pinned Brown's Bronson Lingamfelter in 1:55. Lingamfelter, ranked 15th nationally by AWN and 19th by IM, had pinned Bowlby in the Las Vegas Classic earlier this season.

"Andy took him a little lightly at Las Vegas and didn't respect the fact that he's a big, long, tall kid and he's pretty strong," Wells said. "This time, Andy went out and set the tempo and put the pressure on. Lingamfelter put himself in a bad position early and Andy just took the headlock. He probably had him on his back for more than a minute, then he finally settled in and got the pin."

OSU 141-pounder Casey Horn, ranked 19th by AWN, also picked up a pin against Brown, flattening Clint Frease in 6:07. That was Horn's team-high seventh pin of the year.

OREGON STATE AT OREGON WRESTLING CLASSIC DUALS
OREGON STATE 35, BROWN 9
(Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)

• 125 – Michael Delaney, OSU, tech. fall over Ryan Gill, BU, 20-5 (4:45).
• 133 – Rob Apgar, BU, dec. Justin Thurman, OSU, 6-5.
• 141 – (19) Casey Horn, OSU, pinned Clint Frease, BU, 6:07
.
• 149 – Jordan Barich, OSU, major dec. Jason Mercado, 15-4.
• 157 – Jesse Savage, BU, pinned Micah Houston, OSU, 0:56.
• 165 – Jed Pennell, OSU, dec. Sean Jenkins, BU, 8-4.
• 174 – (11) Nathan Coy, OSU, major dec. Adam Santee, BU, 14-4.
• 184 – Isaac Weber, OSU, dec. Nic Ciarcia, BU, 4-3.
• 197 – Jason Lovell, OSU, major dec. Peter Mosely, BU, 11-0.
• HWT – Andy Bowlby, OSU, pinned (15) Bronson Lingamfelter, BU, 1:55.

• 125 – Pham Twan, UI, dec. Michael Delaney, OSU, 9-4.
• 133 – Nathan Navarro, OSU, major dec. Mark Jayne, UI, 14-6.
• 141 – (19) Casey Horn, OSU, dec. Eric Novak, UI, 3-0.
• 149 – (15) Ryan Berger, UI, major dec. Jordan Barich, OSU, 14-3.
• 157 – (19) Griff Powell, UI, major dec. Micah Houston, OSU, 10-2.
• 165 – (2) Matt Lackey, UI, dec. Jed Pennell, OSU, 11-6.
• 174 – (11) Nathan Coy, OSU, dec. Brian Glenn, UI, 8-5.
• 184 – Jason Potter, UI, dec. Isaac Weber, OSU, 6-2.
• 197 – Tyrone Byrd, UI, pinned Jason Lovell, OSU, 1:40.
• HWT – (3) John Lockhart, UI, dec. (9) Jason Cooley, OSU, 3-2.

• 125 – Ale DeLaPena, OSU, dec. (7 NAIA) Kaaha Rezantes, PU, 4-2.
• 133 – Justin Thurman, OSU, dec. Garret Miyake, PU, 7-4.
• 141 – Tim Norman, OSU, major dec. Jason Smith, PU, 12-3.
• 149 – Peter Zamora, OSU, dec. Chris Sherrill, PU, 6-4.
• 157 – (5 NAIA) Troy Hall, PU, major dec. Micah Houston, OSU, 9-1.
• 165 – Brad Wahrlich, OSU, dec. Mick Davis, PU, 12-5.
• 174 – Scotty Nelson, OSU, dec. Jon Cinquini, PU, 8-5.
• 184 – Jake Huffman, OSU, major dec. Ryan Jones, PU, 17-5.
• 197 – Titus Folden, PU, major dec. John Winters, OSU, 17-5.
• HWT – Andy Bowlby, OSU, dec. (4 NAIA) Jon Small, PU, 8-1.

Horn pulls upset in duel with No. 1 Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Oregon State 141-pounder Casey Horn upset second-ranked Chad Erikson of Minnesota but the 25th-ranked Beavers fell to the top-ranked Golden Gophers 31-10 in non-league wrestling Sunday afternoon at the Sports Pavilion.

OSU now gets to compete in its home state for the first time in nearly a month. The Beavers (5-4 overall, 2-1 Pacific-10) will meet Brown, No. 14 Illinois and Pacific (Ore.) in the Oregon Wrestling Classic Duals on Friday at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds; on Saturday, Oregon State will host No. 3 Michigan at 1 p.m. in Gill Coliseum.

Against Minnesota (6-0, 0-0 Big Ten), the Beavers got wins from Horn, 133-pounder Nathan Navarro and 165-pounder Jed Pennell. Horn, who had dropped out of the national rankings this week, made his case for returning to the list with a 6-5 win. Horn improved to 14-6 this season with six pins and four wins over nationally-ranked wrestlers.

"There's no question he can compete," OSU head coach Joe Wells said of Horn. "He's one of the best competitors on the team; no matter who he's wrestling, he'll give it everything he's got. That's what I like about him - he's always getting after people. If he's going against a guy he's supposed to beat, he's trying to put him on his back and pin him."

Horn didn't get off to a great start Sunday, as Erikson scored a takedown just six seconds into their match. Horn escaped just over a minute later, then a long scramble ended with Horn scoring a takedown just before the end of the first period to go up 3-2. After starting the second period in the down position, Horn again got into a scramble with Erikson and managed a reversal to push his lead to 5-2 going into the final period.

Erikson opted for the neutral position to start the final two minutes and took Horn down with 1:12 remaining, cutting the gap to 5-4. Horn was warned for stalling with just over a minute to go, then escaped with 41 seconds remaining to go in front 6-4. The final escape was crucial, because Erikson had accumulated enough riding time to be awarded a point at the end of the match, making it a 6-5 win for Horn rather than forcing overtime.

Navarro scored the Beavers' only team bonus points of the day, earning a 10-2 major decision over Eric Anderson at 133 pounds. Pennell's victory was a 7-5 decision over Nate Baker at 165.

Going against a Minnesota team whose roster includes a nationally-ranked wrestler at every weight - including six in the top three in their weight class - the Beavers wrestled well enough to put themselves in scoring position numerous times. However, Wells felt OSU got a look at the details that separate a top-ranked team from a top-25 team.

"It was productive for us to go in and see exactly how hard they have to deliver their technique," Wells said. "They just have to be very determined and put a lot of power and pressure on a guy, and drive all the way through."

As an example, Wells looked at the 157-pound match in which Minnesota's third-ranked Luke Becker pinned OSU's Micah Houston in 6:20.

" A couple times Micah took Becker down, but Becker kept wrestling and flipped Micah over on his back," Wells said. "Micah just didn't hold on long enough, he took it off a little and Becker used Micah's strength against him from what would have been a great takedown.

"Hopefully, we take these lessons and learn from them, and use them next week against Illinois and Michigan and the other teams we wrestle at the Classic."

NO. 1 MINNESOTA 31, NO. 25 OREGON STATE 10
(Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)

• 197 - (3) Owen Elzen, UM, pinned Jason Lovell, OSU, 6:08.
• HWT - (5) Garrett Lowney, UM, dec. (9) Jason Cooley, OSU, 4-1.
• 125 - (2) Leroy Vega, UM, major dec. Michael Delaney, OSU, 9-1.
• 133 - Nathan Navarro, OSU, major dec. Eric Anderson, UM, 10-2.
• 141 - Casey Horn, OSU, dec. (2) Chad Erikson, UM, 6-5.
• 149 - (3) Jared Lawrence, UM, pinned Jordan Barich, OSU, 2:44.
• 157 - (3) Luke Becker, UM, pinned Micah Houston, OSU, 6:20.
• 165 - Jed Pennell, OSU, dec. Nate Baker, UM, 7-5.
• 174 - (6) Jacob Volkmann, UM, dec. (9) Nathan Coy, OSU, 5-0.
• 184 - (8) Damion Hahn, UM, dec. Isaac Weber, OSU, 6-3.

We fall to No. 2 Oklahoma State 38-3

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State started the day with a win from heavyweight Jason Cooley but Oklahoma State won the final nine matches as the 25th-ranked Beavers fell to the second-ranked Cowboys 38-3 in non-league wrestling Sunday afternoon at Gill Coliseum. Oregon State (5-3 overall, 2-1 Pacific-10) is now off for the holidays; the Beavers will return to action at the Midlands Open in Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 29-30.

Sunday's dual against Oklahoma State (4-1, 1-0 Big 12) wrapped up a string of three matches in five days for the Beavers, who had beaten Oregon 16-16 on criteria Wednesday night and lost at No. 9 Nebraska 22-16 on Friday night.

"They said they still felt pretty good today," Oregon State head coach Joe Wells said of the Beavers. "We faced a little adversity and a little travel, and that's good . . . I think our guys are glad they wrestled these guys. Facing someone ranked that high, the worst thing is the apprehension - going to nationals and not knowing how good your opponents are going to be. When we get there, we're going to know."

Oregon State jumped to an early 3-0 lead when Cooley, ranked 16th nationally by InterMat, took a tiebreaker win over James Huml, who was ranked 13th by Amateur Wrestling News and eighth by IM. The score was 1-1 after regulation and the first overtime. That led to the second overtime, a 30-second period in which one wrestler starts on top and the other starts on the bottom. If the top man can maintain control for 30 seconds, he wins; if the bottom man can escape within the 30 seconds, he wins.

Huml won the coin toss and chose the bottom. Cooley held one of Huml's legs until being warned for stalling with 21 seconds left; he managed to work his hold up to the top of Huml's thigh and keep it for what goes in the books as a 1-1 win.

"I just hung on for dear life, come hell or high water," Cooley said. "I tried to work his leg and make it look like I was trying to take him down again, but I had that leg secure."

It was the second straight win for Cooley, who had beaten Nebraska's Pat Miron on Friday night. A senior, Cooley had arthroscopic knee surgery just before the season and returned to action in a loss to Arizona State's Kellan Fluckiger on Nov. 29; he was then held out of the Beaver lineup until Friday.

"I thought I was just going to be out a week, and it turned out to be three," Cooley said. "I was anxious to come back. It's a load off my shoulders to be back in there . . . I feel good, but unless you get some matches, the confidence isn't there. It was good to go against some good competition and beat them."

The Beavers showed depth at heavyweight during the week. Junior Andy Bowlby went 11-2 in Cooley's absence, and that included Bowlby's 1-1 tiebreaker win over 12th-ranked Eric Webb of Oregon on Wednesday.

"Andy is an ideal workout partner," Cooley said. "He's been here four years (including his redshirt season) and he's pushed me harder - he keeps me on my toes, and he's a good wrestler. We're kind of a one-two punch."

After Cooley's win, the Beavers' Michael Delaney was edged 5-4 by Oklahoma State 125-pounder Matt Brown in a meeting of unranked wrestlers. At 133 pounds, the Cowboys' top-ranked Tommy Thompson earned a major decision over Tim Norman, 12-3, to give Oklahoma State a 7-3 lead.

Oregon State had a chance to tighten the meet at 141 pounds, where 20th-ranked Casey Horn would go against the Cowboys' unranked Ronnie Delk. The two became tangled quickly and scrambled back and forth across the mat, but 47 seconds into the match one of Delk's elbows opened a cut up Horn's nose and forehead.

That produced a flow of blood from Horn's face, and after receiving medical attention he injury defaulted to Delk, stemming whatever momentum the Beavers had. The closest match after that came at 174 pounds, where the Cowboys' ninth-ranked Ty Wilcox nipped Oregon State's fifth-ranked Nathan Coy 5-3.

NO. 2 OKLAHOMA STATE 38, NO. 25 OREGON STATE 3
(Current Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)

• HWT-Jason Cooley, OrSU, dec. (13) James Huml, OkSU, 1-1 (OT).
• 125-Matt Brown, OkSU, dec. Michael Delaney, OrSU, 5-4.
• 133-(1) Johnny Thompson, OkSU, major dec. Tim Norman, OrSU, 12-3.
• 141-Ronnie Delk, OkSU, injury default over (20) Casey Horn, OrSU, 0:47.
• 149-John Mark Bentley, OkSU, major dec. Jordan Barich, OrSU, 18-5.
• 157-(3)Shane Roller, OkSU, pinned Micah Houston, OrSU, 0:36.
• 165-(3) Tyrone Lewis, OkSU, major dec. Jed Pennell, OrSU, 18-6.
• 174-(9) Ty Wilcox, OkSU, dec. (5) Nathan Coy, OrSU, 5-3.
• 184-(3) Pat Popolizio, OkSU, major dec. Isaac Weber, OrSU, 11-2.
• 197-(18) Will Gruenwald, OkSU, major dec. Jason Lovell, OrSU, 14-4.

Beavs win half of matches; Nebraska 22, OSU 16

LINCOLN, Neb. - Oregon State won half the night's matches but a pair of pins by Nebraska made the difference as the 25th-ranked Beavers fell to the ninth-ranked Cornhuskers 22-16 in non-league wrestling Friday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Friday's meet continued a week designed to test the Beavers' mettle. OSU had beaten Oregon 16-16 on criteria Wednesday night in the season's first Civil War dual, then got on a plane Thursday to head for Nebraska (5-0, 0-0 Big 12). On Saturday, the Beavers fly home to get ready for Oklahoma State.

Despite the hectic schedule, Oregon State head coach Joe Wells felt the Beavers were capable of winning Friday's meet.

"We wrestled well enough to win it, yet we did a few things that hurt our performance," Wells said. "There were some undisciplined things in not finishing techniques and not scoring some takedowns at crunch time."

The Beavers got a major decision by 20th-ranked Casey Horn at 141 pounds and decisions from fifth-ranked 174-pounder Nathan Coy, 149-pounder Jordan Barich, 165-pounder Jed Pennell and heavyweight Jason Cooley. Horn improved to 10-3 this season and has earned team bonus points for a fall, technical fall or major decision in six of his 13 matches after beating Dusty Spaulding 13-2.

Barich and Pennell bounced back from losses against Oregon to take wins against Nebraska.

Barich started the meet with a 9-4 win over Jeremy Baker, scoring a takedown in each of the first two periods and adding a takedown and a reversal in the third. Pennell earned his 6-4 win over Tony Denke, a returning NCAA qualifier, with a pair of third-period takedowns, the final score coming with 52 seconds left in the match.

Cooley, wrestling for just the second time this season because of injury, beat Pat Miron 6-1 at heavyweight with all that match's scoring coming in the third period. At 174, Coy topped George Kirgan 7-2 after Coy built a 6-1 lead on the strength of two second-period takedowns.

OSU 184-pounder Isaac Weber nearly pulled off the upset of the night, taking ninth-ranked Travis Pascoe into overtime before losing 3-1. Weber nearly took Pascoe down twice in regulation, but Pascoe managed to reach the edge of the mat before Weber could finish the scoring move.

Beaver 133-pounder Tim Norman, filling in as 16th-ranked Nathan Navarro recovers from a minor injury, nearly added another Oregon State win before losing 7-5 to Joey Malia. Norman had Malia on the mat three or four times but couldn't gain total control to score a takedown.

The difference in the team score came on pins by a pair of nationally-ranked Cornhuskers. At 157 pounds, No. 1 Bryan Snyder beat Micah Houston in 2:00; at 197, No. 5 Justin Ruiz beat Jason Lovell in 1:49.

NO. 9 NEBRASKA 22, NO. 25 OREGON STATE 16
(Current Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)

• 149 - Jordan Barich, OSU, dec. Jeremy Baker, NU, 9-4.
• 157 - (1) Bryan Snyder, NU, pinned Micah Houston, OSU, 2:00.
• 165 - Jed Pennell, OSU, dec. Tony Denke, NU, 6-4.
• 174 - (5) Nathan Coy, OSU, dec. George Kirgan, NU, 7-2.
• 184 - (9) Travis Pascoe, NU, dec. Isaac Weber, OSU, 3-1 (OT).
• 197 - (5) Justin Ruiz, NU, pinned Jason Lovell, OSU, 1:49.
• HWT - Jason Cooley, OSU, dec. Pat Miron, NU, 6-1.
• 125 - (5) Jason Powell, NU, major dec. Michael Delaney, OSU, 11-2.
• 133 - Joey Malia, NU, dec. Tim Norman, OSU, 7-5.
• 141 - (20) Casey Horn, OSU, major dec. Dusty Spaulding, NU, 13-2.

Bowlby's 1-1 brings 16-16 win over Ducks

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State heavyweight Andy Bowlby upset Oregon's 12th-ranked Eric Webb in the final match Wednesday night to hand the 24th-ranked Beavers a 16-16 win in Pacific-10 wrestling at Gill Coliseum. OSU (5-1 overall, 2-1 Pacific-10) earned the team victory under a new rule in effect for all NCAA dual meets this season.

The rule had previously been in effect only for dual-meet tournaments, in which a winning team had to be decided to advance in the bracket. A set of criteria is used to break the tie, and OSU won on criteria g, which awards the victory to the team with the most near-fall points. OSU 174-pounder Nathan Coy scored the only near-fall of the meet with a two-pointer in his 10-1 win over Shane Webster.

Most of the crowd of 1,356 left the building thinking the dual had ended in a tie after OSU rallied to win the night's final four matches over Oregon (2-1, 2-1). But officials were thumbing through the rule books to find the list of criteria in order to declare a winner.

In order, the criteria are most victories (on Wednesday, five each), most six-point wins (none), most five-point technical falls (none), most four-point technical falls (none), most major decisions (one each), most decisions (four each) and greater number of total near-fall points earned (Oregon State 2, Oregon 0).

When the meet ended, OSU head coach Joe Wells knew criteria would decide the match; he was on the NCAA rules committee that adopted the tiebreaker for all dual meets starting this season.

"It's a rule we've had for the National Duals and for dual-meet tournaments, so we decided, 'Why not do it for all dual meets?'" Wells said.

It wound up paying off for the Beavers in the season's first Civil War, presented by Northwest Dodge Dealers. OSU has now won six of its last seven against Oregon and leads the all-time series 96-22-4.

The meet began at 125 pounds and the Ducks dominated the lower weights, winning five of the first six matches to go in front 16-3. But OSU got wins from the fifth-ranked Coy, 184-pounder Isaac Weber and 197-pounder Jason Lovell to send the meet into the heavyweight match with Oregon leading 16-13.

And that's when a 1-1 win by Bowlby gave the Beavers the 16-16 win, as odd as those scores sound.

Bowlby, a junior wrestling in his first Civil War dual, took Webb into a second overtime tied 1-1. The 30-second tiebreaker starts with one wrestler on top and one on the bottom. If the wrestler on the bottom escapes, he wins; if the wrestler on top rides out the 30 seconds, he wins. Webb won the coin toss and elected to start on the bottom.

"That's only the second double-overtime I've wrestled in my career, and the last one I lost with one second left," Bowlby said. "Starting on top, I didn't like the circumstances a bit."

To Bowlby, the 30 seconds seemed like an eternity.

"I hadn't been warned for stalling yet, so I knew I could just hang onto his ankle until they warned me," said Bowlby, who earned the reprimand with 13 seconds remaining. "Then I was able to slam him down the time after that."

That was near the edge of the mat, and a restart was called with just two seconds remaining. This time, Bowlby kept Webb on the mat until the buzzer sounded and earned what goes into the books as a 1-1 win.

"That's definitely the biggest match I've ever wrestled for OSU," Bowlby said. "I kind of didn't want it to come down to me, but I felt like it might after they drew 125 (as the starting weight).

"Now I'm glad it did - this is the most excited I've been in a long time. When it was over, I looked at the crowd and saw all those alums yelling . . . they'd have been mad at me if I'd let him get away."

Wednesday was OSU's annual Beaver Wrestling Homecoming, and Oregon State welcomed back 21 former wrestlers and legendary head coach Dale Thomas. The alums on hand accounted for 26 individual conference titles, 17 All-America finishes and seven NCAA national titles.

The Beavers now go on the road to face No. 9 Nebraska on Friday, then return to Gill Coliseum to meet No. 2 Oklahoma State on Sunday at 1 p.m.

NO. 24 OREGON STATE 16, OREGON 16; OREGON STATE WINS BY CRITERIA G
(Criteria g is most near-fall points by a team during the dual meet)
(Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)

• 125-Shaun Williams, UO, dec. Michael Delaney, OSU, 7-5.
• 133-Martin Mitchell, UO, dec. Tim Norman, OSU, 8-2.
• 141-(18) Casey Horn, OSU, dec. (20) Brian Watson, UO, 6-4.
• 149-Casey Hunt, UO, dec. Jordan Barich, OSU, 5-3.
• 157-Tony Overstake, UO, dec. Micah Houston, OSU, 15-8.
• 165-(10) Eugene Harris, UO, major dec. Jed Pennell, OSU, 20-7.
• 174-(5) Nathan Coy, OSU, major dec. Shane Webster, UO, 10-1.
• 184-Isaac Weber, OSU, dec. Elias Soto, UO, 4-0.
• 197-Jason Lovell, OSU, dec. Jake Leair, UO, 6-0.
• HWT-Andy Bowlby, OSU, dec. (12) Eric Webb, UO, 1-1 (tiebreaker).