Oregon State ends its holiday by meeting
top-flight competition at Midlands Open tournament
The full release as a pdf document.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28 - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29
Oregon State at Midlands Open; Evanston, Ill.; all day
Oregon State (0-2 overall duals, 0-1 Pacific-10 duals) will get a look at national- and international-caliber competition this weekend when the Beavers take part in the 40th Annual Midlands Open tournament at Northwestern.
A look at the preliminary seedings shows representatives from 17 of the top 25 teams in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Assocition national poll. In addition, the tournament includes numerous post-collegiate wrestlers who have gone on to success at the international level.
"At 149 pounds, the top three seeds are guys who have been out of college four or five years and been on world teams," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "Joe Williams is going for a (Midlands) record eighth title at 174 pounds.
"A college guy is going to have a hard time cracking in there."
One of the post-collegians competing will be OSU undergraduate assistant coach Nathan Coy, who earned All-America honors by placing fourth in the NCAA Championships for OSU last season. He'll be representing the Orange Crush Mat Club, and he's seeded fifth at 174 pounds.
The Beavers' only current wrestler who is seeded is senior heavyweight Andy Bowlby, who rates eighth at his weight and is coming off an eighth-place finish in the tournament last season. Bowlby, 9-3 with four pins this season, is ninth in Amateur Wrestling News' latest NCAA Division I national rankings and is ranked 11th by InterMat.
The Midlands uses a slightly modified tournament format. Each team is still allowed a limit of 10 competitors, but can spread those entrants however it wishes over the 10 weight classes.
OSU will send nine wrestlers to the meet: Tim Norman at 133 pounds, Mike Unger Jr. at 141 pounds, Matt Ellis and Anthony Weber at 165 pounds, Jake Huffman and Jed Pennell at 174 pounds, Dan Pitsch at 184 pounds, Jason Lovell at 197 pounds and Bowlby at heavyweight.
"We'll leave a couple of our young guys at home training and getting in some extra work between now and the (Jan. 3-4) trip to California," Wells said.
For the Beavers who are at the Midlands Open, it will be a chance to gauge how they've progressed against top-flight competition since the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6-7.
"That's exactly what we're looking for," Wells said. "We need good matches against good competition, and that's what we'll get at the Midlands."
Oregon State starting lineup
National rankings are Amateur Wrestling News, InterMat of Dec. 17
- 125 - Michael Delaney, sr. (Tracy, Calif./Brethren Christian HS); 2-2 with 0 pins;
in Pac-10, ranked 5th
or - Brett Phillips, fr. (Turner, Ore./Cascade HS); 1-5 with 0 pins
- 133 - Tim Norman, so. (Newberg, Ore./Newberg HS); 3-4 with 0 pins
or - Bobby Pfennigs, fr. (Billings, Mont./C.M. Russell HS); 2-0 with 0 pins
- 141 - Mike Unger, fr. (Turner, Ore./Cascade HS); 0-3 with 0 pins
- 149 - Tony Hook, fr. (Sandpoint, Idaho/Sandpoint HS); 5-4 with 0 pins
or - Orlando Perez, fr. (Hermiston, Ore./Hermiston HS); 0-2 with 0 pins
- 157 - Jeremy Larson, fr. (Hermiston, Ore./Hermiston HS); 4-3 with 0 pins
165 - Matt Ellis, so. (Prosser, Wash./Prosser HS, Oklahoma St. U.); 2-2 with 0 pins
or - Anthony Weber, fr. (Newberg, Ore./Newberg HS); 1-2 with 0 pins
- 174 - Jake Huffman, sr. (Scio, Ore./Scio HS); 6-4 with 1 pin;
in Pac-10, ranked 5th
or - Jed Pennell, jr. (Cave Junction, Ore./Illinois Valley HS); 2-2 record with 0 pins;
in Pac-10, ranked fourth at 165
- 184 - Dan Pitsch, fr. (Tacoma, Wash./Spanaway Lake HS); 8-3 with 0 pins;
in nation, ranked 18th AWN; in Pac-10, ranked 5th
- 197 - Jason Lovell, sr. (Turner, Ore./Cascade HS); 5-2 with 0 pins;
in Pac-10, ranked 2nd
- HWT - Andy Bowlby, sr. (Newberg, Ore./Newberg HS); 9-3 with 4 pins;
In nation, ranked 9th AWN, 11th IM; in Pac-10, ranked 4th
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