The Boise State wrestling team headed down to Tempe, Arizona in hopes of have a successful trip at the PAC-12 wrestling championship.
To say the Broncos had a successful trip may be an understatement.
The Broncos shared the spotlight of the night with the Oregon State Beavers. Boise State finished as a team 2nd overall in the tournament with 136.5 total points, just falling short to the Beavers who finished 1st.
Although the Broncos didn’t take home the team championship, several of the Boise State wrestlers had big days.
The biggest standout of the day may have come from senior wrestler, George Ivanov. Ivanov has had a season to remember and he carried that momentum into the PAC-12 wrestling championship as he defeated No. 9 overall in the NCAA, Adam Fierro from Cal-State Bakersfield.
With the win over Fierro, Ivanov won his 1st PAC-12 wrestling championship for his weight division and advances to the NCAA national tournament. Ivanov also took home the PAC-12 Most Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament.
Senior wrestler Jason Chamberlain continued his dominant year as he rolled through the PAC-12 wrestling championships with ease. Chamberlain pinned his 1st opponent, then gained a technical fall win over the next, which lead to him winning his 3rd match and ultimately making him the PAC-12 champion at his weight division for the 3rd straight year and a trip to the NCAA tournament.
Redshirt junior Jake Swartz had an impressive tournament as well as he won 3 straight matches to become the PAC-12 wrestling champion for the 2nd straight year and is also headed to the NCAA wrestling tournament.
Redshirt senior Brain Owen also had a very strong performance at the tournament, finishing 2nd in his division as he earned a bid to go to the NCAA wrestling tournament.
Senior J.T. Felix had a huge upset over No. 2 seed, Levi Cooper from Arizona State. The match eventually went in to overtime and Felix ultimately came out on top, 3-2. Felix would lose in the finals and finish 2nd in the PAC-12 wrestling tournament. Felix is also headed to the NCAA wrestling tournament.
Some other solid performances came from Cody Dixon, Travis Himmelman and Holden Packard as the battled to get into the finals, but ultimately ended up finishing 3rd overall in their respected weight divisions.
After a successful year, the Broncos will have a strong showing at the NCAA tournament as they send a total of 5 wrestlers to represent Boise State.
