OSU's Travis Gardner clinched the victory with his pin at 197 pounds, while Ty Watterson won a bout between two nationally ranked heavyweights. Watterson, Bobby Pfennigs and Eric Stevenson each won their matches without surrending a point, and two other Beavers only gave up one point.
The Beavers (13-1 overall, 5-0 Pac-10), who beat Arizona State 31-10 on Friday, stretched their home winning streak to 11 meets over the past two seasons. OSU defeated Boise State (8-3, 4-2) for the third straight time and leads the all-time series 25-8.
"It was another big win," OSU Coach Jim Zalesky said. "Arizona State and Boise State have been the Pac-10 champions the last number of years so it's good for our team to have that mental edge going into the Pac-10 Championships. Guys wrestled hard today. Even though we won some lopsided matches there were a couple of matches where we still have to work on some things. We've got to continue to work because there are some harder matches down the road."
The Beavers won the first three matches, starting with Pfennigs' 13-0 whitewashing of BSU's Levi Jones for a major decision at 133. Pfennigs had a three-point near fall and a two-point near fall in the first period to go up 7-0 after the first break, then added another two-point near fall in the second period.
After Boise State forfeited at 141, Derek Kipperberg gave the Beavers another major decision, 11-1 over BSU's Cam Jones at 149. Kipperberg built a 10-0 lead and had a three-point near fall in the first period. After three matches, OSU had built a 14-0 lead.
The Broncos rallied to win the next two matches via decision (their only two victories of the day), closing the overall margin to 14-6. BSU's Tyler Sherfey (ranked No. 15 nationally by the NWCA) used a defensive style to edge Keegan Davis at 157 by a score of 3-0. With a 1-0 lead, Sherfey countered a takedown attempt by Davis midway through the second period and got one of his own. At 165, the Broncos' Jonathan Nunez scored a takedown with 20 seconds remaining in the third period to edge OSU's Brett Arand, 7-5.
OSU's Jeremy Larson (ranked No. 18 nationally by the NWCA) put the Beavers back in the win column with a 5-1 decision over BSU's Nate Lee at 174. Larson scored takedowns with eight seconds remaining in the first period and four seconds left in the third period.
While Boise State had earlier won a match decided in the final minute, the Beavers got one back at 184. OSU's Kyle Bressler and BSU's Luke Smith were tied 2-2 heading into the final period. Smith got an early escape to take a one-point lead and he looked like he might hold on for the victory, but Bressler was awarded a takedown with six seconds left at the edge of the circle. Boise State's coaches were upset at the official's decision and were cautioned, but Bressler earned a hard-fought 4-3 win.
Gardner wasted no time in his pinfall victory over Ryan Allen at 197 pounds. He scored a takedown just 24 seconds in, then had a pair of three-point near falls before ending the match just 2:36 into the first period. Gardner's victory gave the Beavers an insurmountable overall lead of 26-6 with two matches remaining.
"(Gardner) took it to him," Zalesky said. "He's wrestling with a lot of confidence. He's probably our most improved guy throughout the year."
The heavyweight match was highly anticipated, with Watterson (ranked No. 15 nationally by the NWCA) squaring off against Boise State's Andy Patrick (ranked No. 7 nationally by the NWCA). Watterson earned a 1-0 victory in a battle of two immovable objects. After no scoring in the first period, Watterson started down in the second period and quickly escaped. He kept his 1-0 lead heading into the third and final period. Instead of choosing the down position and trying for an escape, Patrick chose the neutral position. That strategy didn't pay off, as no additional points were scored in the final two minutes.
The final match of the day was at 125, and OSU's Eric Stevenson blanked BSU's Cory Fish 6-0. Stevenson picked up takedowns in the first and second periods and also earned points on a second stall warning and riding time.
The Beavers will look to continue their success during next weekend's road trip, which takes them to UC Davis on Friday (Feb. 2) and Cal Poly on Sunday (Feb. 4).
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