The Beavers have signed Zac Cardwell, from Lowell, Ore., George Swartzlander, who hails from Burns, Ore., and Clackamas Community College's Tyrell Fortune.
"Well, I like these guys, especially the fact that two of them are heavyweights, which we are lacking now," Oregon State head coach Jim Zalesky said. "(Clayton) Jack really had no one to work out with, and if he went down, we didn't really have anyone last year. So it gives us a lot of depth in the heavyweights and I think Cardwell is another guy who brings in another class that we need. And the upper weight class is really where we are targeting this year." Cardwell, who attends Lowell High School, is the son of former Oregon State All-American Jeff Cardwell and projects to wrestle at either 174 or 184 pounds. He is a four-time state champion and won the Resers Tournament of Champions in January at the 171-pound weight class.
"He has been around the program and his dad coached here," Zalesky said of Cardwell. "He is a four-time state champ and has been successful along with being a great student. I think he is really looking forward to being here and down the road I think he is really going to help us out."
Swartzlander will join the Beavers next season after winning three state titles while at Burns High School and Lakeview High School in southern Oregon. He has competed at the heavyweight class while in high school.
"Swartzlander is a guy who is 265 pounds and started out in his freshman year at 160, so he is a heavyweight who knows how to wrestle and has some skills which is what you look for," Zalesky said.
Fortune is a back-to-back national junior college champion in the heavyweight division and helped guide Clackamas to the national title in 2011. He is a two-time All-American and accumulated a 26-1 record this past season. Coming out of Lakeridge High School in Portland, he won a pair of state titles at the 215-pound class and was named as the nation's top high school wrestler in that weight class by USA Wrestling.
"Tyrell Fortune has been successful at every level he has been at," Zalesky said. "He's an Oregon kid, and all of them are, so that's great."
The three will join the program along with three OSU signees from November: Tarrence Williams (who is a teammate of Fortune's at Clackamas), Seth Thomas and Drew Van Anrooy.
Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. Former Student-Athletes are invited to join the Varsity O Facebook Page for upcoming Alumni events.
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