Beavers start strong but fade at finish
as 1996-97 season turns disappointing
Oregon State (13-10 overall, 3-4 Pacific-10) managed a winning dual meet record for the eighth straight season, but there weren't many other things to smile about when the Beavers' season ended.
The Beavers got off to a fast start through the middle of January, then saw injuries end their hopes of high conference and national finishes.
"It looked like we were going to be more of a factor than we'd anticipated," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "In three weeks, we lost about four starters and a couple of backups. We had people looking around, as a team, and asking who was going to pick up the slack. As a young team, we didn't respond well to adversity."
OSU placed sixth at the Pacific-10 Championships, the Beavers' lowest finish in the meet since 1991. OSU tied for 54th at the NCAA Championships, its lowest finish at nationals since being shut out in 1990. OSU was without an All-American for the first time since 1990 and was without a conference champion for the first time since 1991.
"It was a young squad, so at least these guys get another shot at it," said Wells, whose lineup loses only three full or part-time starters who were seniors. "The only regret I have is that we have to wait so long before we get started next year."
It was a downhill run over the final two months of the 1996-97 season for the Beavers, who began the New Year full of promise. After winning the 17-team ASICS Oregon Wrestling Classic over the holidays, OSU ran its dual meet record to 11-3 before falling to Arizona State in the third-place match at the Virginia College Duals on January 11.
"In reflection, when we placed fourth at the Virginia Duals, we felt we were among the best teams in that field," Wells said. "From a team standpoint, it looked like we were coming together."
That's when a series of injuries began hitting the Beavers. OSU 118-pounder Jason Buce, 134-pounder Oscar Wood, and 158-pounder Jason Gutches would all miss time because of injury; heavyweight Mat Orndorff had already come back from a minor knee injury.
Starting with that January 11 loss to ASU, OSU lost seven of its last nine duals. The Beavers did manage to upset No. 13-ranked Cal State-Bakersfield 22-21 at Bakersfield on January 24.
"I remember similar circumstances a few years ago when we started 2-7, then won our last six duals and finished second at nationals," Wells said. "It was a reversal of that."
The Beavers did rout Brigham Young 34-4 in OSU's Wrestling Homecoming on February 1 at Gill Coliseum. On hand were 32 former Beaver wrestlers ranging from the Class of 1936 to the Class of 1996. Those wrestlers represented 29 individual conference titles and 21 All-America finishes.
The Beavers were also done in by the scales in post-season competition. Buce, the No. 1 seed at 118 pounds for the Pac-10 meet, didn't make weight at the meet. At the NCAA Championships, neither 134-pounder Oscar Wood nor 150-pounder Isaac Wood made weight.
Heavyweight Mat Orndorff was OSU's highest placer in the Pac-10 meet, finishing second. Placing third were Jake Whisenhunt at 126 pounds and Isaac Wood at 150 pounds; placing fourth were Oscar Wood at 134 pounds and Sanders Freed at 177 pounds; placing sixth was Josh Whisenhunt at 142 pounds.
[OSU Wrestling 1997]
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