UC Davis traveled to Corvallis, Ore. hoping to come away with its first Pac-10 victory of the year.
The only problem is the Aggies were up against a tough task, heading into Gill Coliseum to face off against one of the hottest teams in the country.
Oregon State handed the Aggies their second conference loss in as many duals, winning by a 33-9 margin. The win extended the Beavers winning streak to 12 straight duals while the Aggies remain winless on the season.
The win also extended Oregon State coach Jim Zalesky’s dual record against his brother, UC Davis coach Lennie Zalesky, to 4-2.
Despite coaching teams in the same league, Lennie claims that there is not much of a rivalry between the two when it comes to coaching.
“I don’t think a lot about [the sibling rivalry],” Zalesky said. “I always pull for him except when we face off.”
The Aggies did have some success against the Beavers as No. 15 Junior Brandon Low had a fall over No. 16 Kelly Cubic at the 2:07 mark. Junior Barrett Abel also had a huge upset at the 149-pound class, defeating No. 14 RJ Pena 15-9.
Abel’s victory tied the dual meet between the Beavers and Aggies at nine. That was as close as UC Davis would get as the squad lost its final six matches of the day.
The Aggies seemed to be victims of bad timing as the Beavers entered the meet as one of the hottest teams in the nation as they continue to move up the national rankings and extend their win streak.
Despite the frustrations of having not won a dual meet yet this season, the Aggies are still a very young team looking to get better. The strong competition they have been wrestling against during the past couple of weeks is giving the squad much needed experience against national powerhouses, something it will need as the conference season progresses.
KYLE HYLAND can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
