Beavers ranked No. 20 in USA Today coaches poll
The Oregon State wrestling team was ranked 20th in the season’s first USA Today/NWCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll, released on Saturday by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
The Beavers are the only Pacific-12 Conference team in the Top 25. Stanford was the leader among those also receiving votes.
Iowa received four of the 12 first-place votes and totaled 286 points to narrowly edge Minnesota for the top spot. Minnesota received seven first-place votes.
Three-time defending NCAA champion Penn State received the other first-place vote. The USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll is voted on by a team’s dual strength, not projected tournament points.
The Beavers were also ranked No. 24 by Intermat and No. 25 by the Associated Wrestling Press earlier this fall.
Also, senior Taylor Meeks and sophomore Amarveer Dhesi are ranked in the Amateur Wrestling News’ preseason Top-20s for their weight class. Dhesi is No. 7 at heavyweight; Meeks is No. 8 at 184 pounds.
Meeks is also ranked No. 7 by Intermat; No. 9 by The Open Mat, and No. 10 by the Associated Wrestling Press. Dhesi is ranked No. 7 by The Open Mat, the Associated Wrestling Press and Intermat.
The Beavers open the season at 7 p.m. Thursday with the annual intrasquad meet at Gill Coliseum. Tournament action starts on Sunday at the Mike Clock Open in Forest Grove.
Season and single-match tickets are on sale. General admission season tickets are $36 for adults and $24 for seniors (62-over) and youth (3-18). Single-match tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for seniors/youth; all seats are general admission.
Fans can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-GOBEAVS; by visiting the ticket area on osubeavers.com, or in person at the Gill Coliseum ticket office from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Season tickets are good for the entire six-event regular-season home slate. The Beavers host Southern Oregon (Nov. 13); Arizona State (Nov. 24); Stanford (Jan. 10); Cal State-Bakersfield (Jan. 17); Cal Poly (Feb. 7) and Boise State (Feb. 8).
The Pacific-12 Conference tournament, scheduled for March 1 at Gill Coliseum, is not included in the season-ticket package. Details on ticketing for that event will be released at a later date.
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.