The Beavers (12-1 overall, 4-0 Pacific-10 Conference) stretched their home winning streak to 10 meets over the past two seasons. The Sun Devils, the two-time defending Pac-10 champions, dropped to 5-10, 2-2. The last time OSU posted a victory over ASU this big was in 1978 and a 30-9 win. This was also OSU's first victory over the Sun Devils in a dual since 2003 (the Beavers had lost the last three meetings).
OSU captured seven of the 10 weight classes (one by forfeit) and were led by a pinfall by Brett Arand at 165, a technical fall by Kyle Larson at 141 and major decisions by Ty Watterson at heavyweight and Jeremy Larson at 174.
"For us to take this step and to become a contender for the Pac-10 championship, you've got to beat them sometime," OSU Coach Jim Zalesky said. "Now's a good time to beat them. Guys stayed aggressive and did things the right way. We figured this team would keep getting better and better and that's what it's all about, to keep getting better by the end of the year."
Watterson (ranked No. 15 nationally by the NWCA) got the ball rolling with a 10-2 major decision over ASU's Thor Moen in the first match of the night. Watterson had takedowns in each of the first two periods and added two more in the final stanza.
The schools traded decisions at 125 and 133, with ASU's Josh Espinoza picking up a 9-4 win over OSU's Jake Gonzales in the former and OSU's Bobby Pfennigs beating ASU's Shawn Jones 7-2 in the latter.
Kyle Larson (ranked No. 19 nationally by the NWCA) had little difficulty at 141, as his match against ASU's Robert Galvan was stopped with 1:09 remaining in the third period after Larson built a 21-5 lead. Larson had an 8-3 advantage after the first period and a 13-4 lead after the second. The match ended after his second three-point near fall of the final period. OSU took an overall lead of 12-3 after the match.
A forfeit victory at 149 pushed OSU's overall lead to 18-3.
ASU's Brian Stith (ranked No. 5 nationally by the NWCA) had to fight off a strong challenge by OSU's Keegan Davis at 157. Stith appeared to be satisfied with a 5-2 lead late in the third period, but Davis kept after him and scored a takedown with 16 seconds remaining. With Stith holding a 5-4 lead plus riding time, Davis had to let him escape. Davis tried for another takedown, but Stith got one instead and held on for a 9-4 victory.
Arand, who came into the night with an 8-10 record at 165, may have had the highlight of the event as he rallied back from an early takedown to pin ASU's Kevin Gaughan. Gaughan led 2-0, but a late escape and takedown by Arand gave him a 3-2 lead after the first period. Arand started the second period with a reversal, then later had a takedown and turned that into his fourth pinfall of the season. It came with 58 seconds remaining in the second period and pushed OSU to a 24-6 lead.
Jeremy Larson (ranked No. 18 nationally by the NWCA) then clinched OSU's overall victory with a major decision, 14-3, over ASU's Alex Pavlenko at 174. Larson scored the first seven points, including a three-point near fall in the first period, and only allowed Pavlenko three escapes (while following each one up with another takedown) in the final two minutes. The Beavers then held an insurmountable 28-6 lead with two matches left.
The bout at 184 pitted the top two ranked wrestlers in the Pac-10, OSU's Kyle Bressler and ASU's Greg Gifford. Gifford scored takedowns in the first and second periods to go up 4-1, then added two more takedowns in the third period of his 10-2 major decision victory.
In the final match of the night, OSU's Travis Gardner upset the second-ranked wrestler in the Pac-10, ASU's Jason Trulson, with a 6-4 victory. After no scoring in the first period, both wrestlers earned reversals in the second period and were tied 2-2. After two more reversals, it was tied 4-4 with under a minute to go in the final period. But with Gardner holding more than a minute of riding time, Trulson had to let Gardner escape with 51 seconds left. Gardner battled Trulson to a standstill the rest of the way and picked up the win.
The Beavers next host another Pac-10 foe, Boise State, on Sunday (Jan. 28) at noon in Gill Coliseum.
"The win gives us momentum," Zalesky said. "It's a big weekend. Boise State is probably doing a little better than Arizona State is right now so it's another big meet that we've got to be ready for."
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