Gill Coliseum rocking in No. 16 Oregon State wrestling’s bout with No. 1 Penn State

Published 8:59 pm Friday, January 5, 2024

No. 16 Oregon State wrestling may not have put together the performance they were hoping for on the mat against No. 1 Penn State, but that didn’t stop droves of fans from keeping energy at a high Friday, Jan. 5.

8,540 piled into the 75-year-old arena for the match, the highest attendance ever for a wrestling meet in Corvallis. Fans were piled to the rafters, clad in orange, black, and the colors of local high school wrestling programs. The crowd roared for every throw, pin and escape.

“This year we only have a couple home duals,” Trey Muñoz, who wrestled in the 184-pound weight class, said. “Getting to see this crowd and the support Oregon State wrestling has, we don’t get to see it a lot… it’s heart warming to see the support we have.”

The total attendance neared Gill’s highest ever recorded attendance of 8,859 for a gymnastics meet in March of 2023 and just about 800 shy of its 9,301 capacity.

The rowdy crowd didn’t lend as much support as Oregon State would have hoped, as the match ended in a disappointing 36-3 loss for the Beavers for their second dual meet loss of the season.

“It’s a tough loss,” Muñoz said. “It stings, as losing should…there’s losing and there’s learning. (We) have to learn from those losses.”

Only Muñoz, the No. 6 ranked wrestler in the country at his weight class, came away with a 4-2 win over No. 2 ranked Bernie Truax. For Muñoz, the win was an important victory not only for his team but for his own collegiate career.

“(Truax has) been my biggest college rival, I’ve probably wrestled him more than I’ve wrestled anyone in college,” Muñoz said. “He’s had my number for the past couple years… (the win) is affirming that I’m putting in the work and I’m doing the things to get to that top level.”

The pair had faced off five times previously, with Truax winning four of their bouts. Muñoz now possesses back-to-back wins over his Penn State rival, getting his first in March of 2022.

Two other members of Oregon State’s squad came close to wins in their own bouts, but fell just shy. Wrestling in the 141-pound weight class, No. 25 Cleveland Belton came close to toppling No. 2 Beau Bartlett. Bartlett, who has yet to lose a bout this season, took the match 8-5.

Isaiah Crosby came into the night unranked in the 157-pound class and sitting at a 2-2 record on the year. His opponent across the mat was the undefeated, No. 1 ranked Levi Haines.

Crosby jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. Slowly, Haines made the comeback. The Nittany Lion standout had brought the score to a one point deficit with just 1:14 seconds left to go, before ultimately taking a 10-8 win and remain undefeated.

Crosby was wrestling through pain following an undisclosed but ‘serious’ surgery he underwent in October, according to head coach Chris Pendleton. His performance was one Pendleton was proud of, regardless of the outcome.

“He’s about 75-85%,” Pendleton said. “It’s hard wrestling through pain, but (he was) able to show (he’s) right there with the nation’s best.”

Despite the loss, Pendleton isn’t going to hang his head, nor will his grapplers. The level of competition his squad faced is the sort of position he wants to be in every year.

“Right now (Penn State) is the bench mark, they’re the standard,” Pendleton said. “We want to wrestle the best. If you want to be great, if you want to be remembered, you have to seek out the elite competition.”

He went on to say that his team won’t have much time to dwell on the loss regardless, as they’ll return to practice Saturday morning.

“We like to go ahead and get that bad taste out of our mouth ASAP,” Pendleton said. “(They’ll get) one night’s sleep being a little uncomfortable and then right back to work.”