Dec. 31, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEKEND
Sun, Jan. 4 - No. 13 Oklahoma State (Gallagher-Iba Arena), 12:00 p.m. PT

LAST COMPETITIONS
Tues., Dec. 16 - PORTLAND STATE, W, 28-15
Thurs., Dec. 18 - Reno Tournament of Champions, 9th of 30

RECAP
The UC Davis wrestling team finished the 2008 calendar year with a 28-15 victory over Portland State in a Pacific-10 dual and a ninth-place showing at the Reno Tournament of Champions... A total of six Aggies earned bonus points in the win over the Vikings while senior Marcos Orozco and sophomores Barrett Abel and Ricky Alcala earned place-finishes in Reno.

Abel led the Aggies over Portland State on Dec. 16 with a 16-1 technical fall at 149 pounds... UC Davis won seven of the eight contested matches, six of which came by bonus points... Along with Abel's technical fall, Orozco, Alcala, senior Nexi Delgado and sophomores Brandon Low and Abe Otrambo earned major decisions... Senior Jon Clark was just one point shy of a major decision... The Aggies were forced to forfeit 165 and 174 pounds.

At Reno, all nine of the Aggie point scorers earned at least one victory... Orozco and Abel advanced to the third-place match in their respective weight classes, but lost the bouts to finish fourth... Alcala lost in the fifth-place match to earn sixth place... Low and redshirt freshman Joey Wilson just missed out on earning place finishes.

OKLAHOMA STATE DUAL
UC Davis heads up to the Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. on Sunday for a dual with 13th-ranked Oklahoma State at noon PT... It marks the third consecutive season UC Davis and Oklahoma State will meet in a dual... For the second time during that span the Aggies will be the visiting team.

The Cowboys have eight nationally-ranked wrestlers and boast the top-ranked heavyweight in Jared Rosholt... Obe Blanc at 125 pounds is ranked one spot ahead of the Aggies' Orozco, setting up the most intriguing match up... Blanc got the better of Orozco two weeks ago at the Reno Tournament of Champions... Oklahoma State travels to Minneapolis, Minn. on New Year's Day to take on No. 7 Minnesota... The Cowboys are currently 6-2 in duals and are coming off a team title at the Reno TOC.

Last season the Cowboys shut out UC Davis, 39-0, at Pavilion... Entering the dual as the 3rd-ranked team in the country, Oklahoma State became the highest ranked NCAA Division I opponent to ever visit Pavilion... Two years ago, the Cowboys earned a 22-9 victory in Stillwater.

HEAD COACH Lennie Zalesky
On Reno TOC: "The most we've ever placed there was three and we matched that this time around. We had a few other guys who were very close to placing and just fell short. What it really showed us was that we can compete with the top-10 teams. The fact that we weren't seeded in any but one of the bracketts also shows that we can battle. Overall, I feel like we had a good start to the first half of the season."

On Oklahoma State Dual: "They're a very good team. They have eight guys ranked and we know its going to be tough going in. At the same time, I believe we have some good matchups. I just want us to go in there and put in a good performance. We need to win the maches we can win and try to pick off some of these close matches. If we can do that I think we'll be okay. I think we have the potential to do that. The match at 125 pounds is a key match with two ranked guys. We have the potential to do well up there."