OSU Opens Year 10 of Zalesky Era
October 13, 2015 | Wrestling
Corvallis, Ore. – The Oregon State wrestling team opened practice for the 2015-16 season on Monday at the Dale Thomas Wrestling Room in the Sports Performance Center.
Ten wrestlers with full-or part-time starting experience and seven who have NCAA experience are back for the Beavers, who went 12-1 in duals, captured their fourth consecutive Pacific-12 Conference championship and then placed 30th at the NCAA Tournament in 2015.
“These guys have been doing a good job in the preseason but now the whole coaching staff gets to work with them,” OSU coach Jim Zalesky said. “So it was good to have them in the room and start working on some things I saw we need to work on.
“They worked hard. You have to be ready to come in and work because everybody fights in here. You have to be ready to come in and fight, every day.”
The Beavers open the season on Nov. 4 with the annual Orange and Black Intrasquad at Gill Coliseum. The regular season begins Nov. 8 at the Mike Clock Open at Pacific University in Forest Grove.
Sophomore Ronnie Bresser (125); redshirt sophomore Jack Hathaway (133); senior Seth Thomas (165) and sophomore Cody Crawford (197) all advanced to last year's NCAA tournament. Hathaway has moved up to 141 pounds this season.
Junior Joey Palmer (133), redshirt junior Joey Delgado (157) and redshirt sophomore Amarveer Dhesi (heavyweight) competed at the 2014 NCAAs. Palmer and Dhesi redshirted in 2015.
“They are excited and helps our team having those two guys back,” Zalesky said of Dhesi and Palmer. “It helped them sitting out and watching, but their return adds depth to the room. It makes the room a lot tougher.
“We have seven guys back with NCAA experience and that's the most I've ever had” in his 10 years at OSU, Zalesky added. “That experience will really help us.”
Zalesky is 111-41-2 entering his 10th season at OSU. He was the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2015 for the fourth year in a row and for the fifth time overall. The Beavers have captured six conference titles in his nine seasons.
Junior Jared Reis (141) and redshirt sophomores Devin Reynolds (141) and Abe Rodriguez (149) also have starting experience. Reynolds and Rodriguez took third in last year's Pac-12 tournament and just missed advancing to NCAAs as at-large selections.
OSU's top graduation losses were 157-pounder Alex Elder; 194-pounder Joe Latham, and 184-pounder Taylor Meeks. Elder and Latham were Pac-12 champions and all three advanced to last year's NCAA championships.
The dual-meet season starts Nov. 15 when the Beavers face West Virginia, Northern Iowa and Nebraska in the Northeast Duals event in Albany, N.Y. The first home duals are Nov. 21 showdowns with Utah Valley and Rutgers at Gill Coliseum.
OSU starts Pac-12 action at Arizona State on Jan, 29, 2016. The lone Pac-12 home dual is Feb. 21 against Boise State.
Also on Monday, four Beavers were included in the Amateur Wrestling News annual preseason rankings.
· Redshirt sophomore Amarveer Dhesi, a 2-14 NCAA qualifier who missed the 2014-15 season, is ranked No. 8 at heavyweight.
· Sophomore Ronnie Bresser, the 2015 Pac-12 champion and an NCAA qualifier, is ranked No. 9 at 125 pounds.
· Redshirt sophomore Cody Crawford, the 2015 Pac-12 champion and an NCAA qualifier, is ranked No. 9 at 197 pounds.
· Redshirt senior Seth Thomas, the 2015 Pac-12 runner-up and an NCAA qualifier, is ranked No. 17 at 165 pounds.
For more information on the Oregon State wrestling team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/OSU_Wrestling or by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateWrestling.
