Cliff Kirkpatrick

The Oregon State wrestling team continues to put together a stellar season at 12-1, having won the last 11 dual meets.

Up next are two winnable Pacific-10 Conference home meets, 7 p.m. on Friday against UC Davis and 2 p.m. on Sunday against Cal State Bakersfield. Here’s a link to my print story in Friday’s GT. Here’s the meet preview.

“Dual meet-wise we have a solid lineup,” coach Jim Zalesky said. “They’ll fight — we might not win them all — but they give us a chance to win a lot of dual meets.”

The streak gives the wrestlers confidence and motivates them. They don’t want to stop now. If they keep going they have their own destiny in their hands with a late-season rematch with Pac-10 rival Boise State, who beat them early in the season.

“You always want to keep positive things going, the mindset of winning,” 157-pounder Keegan Davis said. “We are not worried. We are more confident now. We want to keep it going.”

Zalesky isn’t a coach who downplays things. Just the opposite. He wants to win every dual. He knows at least a share of conference title is theirs if the Beavers win out.

“If you don’t like pressure this isn’t the right sport,” Zalesky said. “You want pressure. I don’t down play things or sugarcoat things.”

Talented younger wrestlers have been the key to the team’s success. He points out the addition of Colby Covington, RJ Pena and Jason Lara were big.

“We have guys on the team now who have similar goals and step out on the mat expecting to win,” 133-pounder Kelly Kubec said. “We just do what the coaches preach. Technically, there’s nothing specific we have to do, we just have to keep the momentum going and doing the right things on and off the mat.”

Zalesky didn’t rush his program and redshirted many younger wrestlers and developed them before they were thrown into action. So they may be young in class, but established in the program.

“We have one line of thought, and are working toward the same goal,” Davis said. “We should shake things up nationally. We are the underdog and will surprise people. We are in a solid position now.”

If interested in bone-crushing action, check out the Beavers this weekend. If you can’t make it, there’s only one other home meet this season. It’s a nonconference showdown at 2 p.m. Jan. 24 against Nebraska.

Tweet This Post 

Related posts:

1. Cliff: Wrestling at Pac-10
2. Cliff: Wrestling notes
3. Cliff: Wrestling update
4. Wrestling Civil War
5. Cliff: Wrestling notes