Corvallis, Ore. – The Oregon State wrestling team faces a Top-25 newcomer on Thursday when it opens a three-match Pacific-12 Conference road trip at Stanford.
The Cardinal (9-2, 2-1 Pac-12) cracked the USA Today/NWCA rankings for the first time this season on Tuesday by displacing OSU (6-5, 0-1) as the Pac-12’s lone representative in the poll. Formerly No. 20, the Beavers dropped out of the Top 25 after losing 24-10 at Arizona State on Jan. 29 in their Pac-12 opener.
“They have better guys,” OSU coach Jim Zalesky said in analyzing Stanford’s recent rise to national prominence after years of being a non-factor in college wrestling.