Oregon State’s Michael Mangrum and Boise State’s Jake Swartz – Auburn-grown wrestlers – captured Pac-12 titles at the conference championships in Tempe, Ariz., last weekend.
Mangrum, a senior captain for Beavers and a three-time state champion at Auburn Riverside, took his second straight Pac-12 crown at 141 pounds. Oregon State won its second straight Pac-12 title and third in four years.
Swartz, a junior and a state champion at Auburn, claimed his second consecutive 184-pound title for the Broncos.
Both will compete in the NCAA Tournament on March 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Mangrum was fifth at the NCAAs last year, Swartz went 3-2.
In addition, Taylor Meeks, a sophomore from Orting, won the 197-pound class for the Beavers.
Meeks, Mangrum and Swartz – childhood friends of 10 years – trained at Auburn’s Vision Quest Sport and Fitness.
Mangrum used a pair of takedowns, locking a cradle on the second, to pin CSU Bakersfield’s Timmy Box at 3:33 in his championship bout.
Swartz downed Arizona State’s Kevin Radford, 3-1, in the finals.
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