THIS WEEK: North
Dakota State (7-3, 3-1 Western Wrestling Conference) will take its
three-match winning streak west this weekend to wrestle non-conference
matches against Portland State (1-13, 0-6 Pac 10) at the Stott Center
on Saturday, February 10, at 7 p.m. PST, and then head approximately 80
miles south to Corvallis to take on No. 17 Oregon State (14-2, 6-1 Pac
10) the following afternoon at the Gill Coliseum at 2 p.m PST.
THE SERIES: North Dakota State
leads the series against Portland State 2-0. The two teams wrestled
last season in Fargo with the Bison winning 37-6. The Bison won eight
of ten bouts including pins from Jacob Bryce and Eric Sanders.
This will be the first meeting between NDSU and Oregon State.
North Dakota State Probable Lineup
(7-3, 3-1 Western Wrestling Conference) Wt. Name Yr. W-L Dual Hometown
125 Eric Hoffman Jr. 15-5 7-3 Davenport, Iowa
133 Eric Sanders Jr. 14-6 6-4 Wabasha, Minn.
141 Gabe Mooney So. 14-9 5-5 Greenbush, Minn.
149 Ryan Adams RFr. 6-3 6-3 Coon Rapids, Minn.
157 Adam Aho So. 15-8 7-3 Frazee, Minn.
165 Mike Quamme So. 12-10 4-5 Dundas, Minn.
174 Matt Hermann Sr. 11-8 6-4 Burnsville, Minn.
184 Warren Gall Fr. 4-3 0-2 Pierz, Minn.
197 Jacob Bryce So. 12-6 6-4 Glenwood, Minn.
Hwt. Justin LaGosh So. 9-7 4-5 Zumbrota, Minn.
Portland State Probable Lineup (1-13,
0-6 Pac 10) Wt. Name Yr. W-L Dual Hometown
125 Brad Caldwell Fr. 4-6 1-2 Vancouver, Wash.
133 Westley Moniz Fr. 6-17 2-9 Waipahu, Hawaii
141 Greg Einerson Fr. 5-15 3-11 Idaho Falls, Idaho
149 Joe Vanaman Jr. 3-13 1-9 Fife, Wash.
157 Steven Dailey Fr. 12-15 3-8 Molalla, Ore.
165 Dale Seley Jr. 19-10 7-7 Fallon, Nev.
174 Brian Lemmon So. 7-14 2-9 Aloha, Ore.
184 Jake Schneider Jr. 12-14 2-9 Milwaukie, Ore.
197 Keena Washington Fr. 4-18 2-11 Lakewood, Wash.
285 Zack Smith Fr. 4-15 1-9 Graham, Wash.
Oregon State Probable Lineup (14-2,
6-1 Pac 10) Wt. Name Yr. W-L Hometown
125 Jake Gonzales So. 12-9 Enumclaw, Wash.
-OR- Eric Stevenson Sr. 5-2 Newberg, Ore.
133 Bobby Pfennigs Sr. 21-6 Great Falls, Mont.
141 Kyle Larson Jr. 21-7 Hermiston, Ore.
149 Derek KipperbergSr. 15-8 Olalla, Wash.
157 Keegan Davis Fr. 9-11 Salem, Ore.
165 Brett Arand So. 9-11 Springfield, Ore.
174 Jeremy Larson Sr. 23-6 Hermiston, Ore.
184 Kyle Bressler So. 14-9 Federal Way, Wash.
197 Travis Gardner Jr. 15-7 Portland, Ore.
Hwt Ty Watterson Sr. 22-4 Enumclaw, Wash.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: Portland
State enters Saturday’s night match with a 1-13 record overall. The
Vikings’ only victory this season came against Pacific University on
January 5. Dale Seley leads PSU in wins with 19 and is projected to
start at 165 pounds against the Bison.
Portland State is coached by Mike Haluska. Haluska is in his first year
at PSU and is an alum of the university. He spent the past 13 seasons
at Clackamas Community College (Ore.).
Oregon State is ranked No. 18 in the country according to the February
6 USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll. The
Beavers are 14-2 on the year with victories over No. 20 Nebraska and
Western Wrestling Conference members Northern Iowa, Wyoming and Air
Force.
OSU has three wrestlers ranked in the top-20, including Ty Watterson,
who is the No. 6 ranked heavyweight. Oregon State is led by head coach
Jim Zalesky. Zalesky is in his first year at OSU and previously coached
at Iowa the past nine years where he compiled a record of 127-34 and
led the Hawkeyes to three NCAA national titles. He earned NWCA Coach of
the Year honors in 1998 and 1999.
AGAINST COMMON OPPONENTS: North
Dakota State and Portland State have faced four common opponents this
season. NDSU is 4-0 against Utah Valley State, South Dakota State,
Northern Colorado and Air Force, while Portland State is 0-4 vs. the
four schools.
NDSU and Oregon State have wrestled three common opponents with the
Bison going 2-1 and OSU beating all three opponents.
NDSU Portland State
vs. Utah Valley State W, 46-0 L, 19-26
vs. South Dakota State W, 30-14 L, 3-38
vs. Northern Colorado W, 23-14 L, 3-46
vs. Air Force W, 24-15 L, 9-31
NDSU Oregon State
vs. Utah Valley State W, 46-0 W, 49-0
vs. Wyoming L, 16-20 W, 32-6
vs. Northern Colorado W, 23-14 W, 25-12
RANKED OPPONENTS: Oregon State
will be the second ranked opponent the Bison will face this season. No.
10 Penn State beat the Bison 39-3 at the Virginia Duals on January 12.
LAST TIME OUT: North Dakota
State won a pair of dual matches at the Bison Sports Arena on February
1-2. The Bison defeated Eastern Illinois 32-16, and beat Western
Wrestling Conference foe Northern Colorado 23-14.
Eric Hoffman, Eric Sanders, Ryan Adams, Adam Aho and Jacob Bryce all
went 2-0. Adams won both of his bouts by major decision.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: NDSU is
4-0 in home duals so far this season, outscoring their opponents
131-44. The Bison have one more home dual meet remaining this season
against Northern Iowa on Friday, February 16.
The last time the Bison went undefeated at home was during the 2003-04
season when they had a perfect 14-0 dual record and had a 5-0 mark at
the Bison Sports Arena.
BETTER THAN LAST YEAR: North
Dakota State has won seven out of 10 dual matches this season, one more
win than they had last season in 12 matches. The Bison have four duals
left this season to improve their record.
HAVING THE GALL: Freshman
Warren Gall made his Bison debut at the Jimmie Open on January 25,
finishing in third place at 174 pounds. Six days later he was put in
the starting lineup against Eastern Illinois at 184 pounds.
Gall was the 2006 Minnesota Class A state champion at 152 pounds,
compiling a record of 43-3.
AHO ON A ROLL: Adam Aho has won
his last five dual matches, three by major decision for NDSU. Aho has a
4-0 record against Western Wrestling Conference opponents and is tied
for the team lead in victories this season with 15.
BONUS POINTS: North Dakota
State scored 46 points in their dual against Utah Valley State on
January 19, their highest total in almost seven seasons. The 46 points
are the most scored in a dual for NDSU since February 16, 2000, when
the Bison beat MSU-Moorhead 48-6 at the Bison Sports Arena.
NON-CONFERENCE MATCH: Although
NDSU and SDSU are both in the Western Wrestling Conference, the match
on December 15 was a non-conference dual. The two teams will wrestle
again with the dual in Brookings on February 18 counting toward the WWC
standings.
WETTERLING NAMED WWC WRESTLER OF THE
WEEK: Matt Wetterling (Willmar, Minn./Willmar HS) was announced
WWC Wrestler of the Week on January 17, after going 4-0 with three pins
at the Virginia Duals on January 12-13. In the opening match against
No. 10 Penn State, Wetterling scored the lone win for the Bison with a
6-3 decision over Mike Ward. In NDSU’s final three matches of the
tournament, Wetterling pinned Jared Ricotta of Duquesne in 6:53, Justin
Terhune of Drexel in 0:33 and No. 19 Jesse Strawn of Old Dominion in
2:20. Wetterling’s pin over Terhune clinched the match against Drexel
and a top-eight finish for North Dakota State, their highest finish in
three years of competing at the tournament. Wetterling is now 10-4 on
the season with five pins and has a 6-1 dual record.
WESTERN WRESTLING CONFERENCE:
North Dakota State and six other schools officially formed the Western
Wrestling Conference (WWC) on April 27, 2006.
Along with the Bison, charter members of the Western Wrestling
Conference will include: the United States Air Force Academy, the
University of Northern Colorado, the University of Northern Iowa, South
Dakota State University, Utah Valley State College and the University
of Wyoming.
Last season the Bison went 4-1 against these schools. Their only loss
came to Northern Iowa and their dual with SDSU last year was cancelled
due to bad weather. To make up for it, the Bison will face the
Jackrabbits twice this year.
NEWCOMERS: North Dakota State
welcomes 13 new student-athletes to their roster including a couple of
decorated transfers.
Eric Hoffman comes to NDSU via Iowa Central Community College where he
was the NJCAA national champion at 125 pounds in 2005. In two years at
ICCC, Hoffman compiled a record of 58-12.
Ryan Klinger is a transfer from the University of Illinois where he
backed up 133-pound All-American Kyle Ott for two years. In high
school, Klinger was an Illinois state champion and helped lead his high
school team to its first ever state team title in 2003.
The 11 high school wrestlers that joined the Bison this year have
combined for eight state championships, led by Casey Buchholz (North
Dakota) and Vince Salminen (Montana), who each won two.
POSTSEASON ELIGIBLE: Thanks to
an NCAA ruling in September 2004, North Dakota State could reclassify
its wrestling team to Division I in three years instead of five, making
them eligible for the NCAA West Regional and the Division I
Championships this year. NDSU is on track to reclassify in all sports
by 2008-09.