Oregon Wrestling in Fifth Place After First Day of Pac-10 Tournament
March 2, 2003
BOISE, Idaho - The Oregon wrestling team stands in fifth place after day one at the Pac-10 Championships in Boise, Idaho. Sophomore Shane Webster advanced to the finals at 174 with a technical fall and a major decision in his two matches.
Oregon advanced four wrestlers into the semifinals, but only Webster was able to advance to the finals. Martin Mitchell, Jason Harless and Casey Hunt were Oregon's other semifinalists.
"We're obviously disappointed that we didn't get more guys in the finals, especially with how hard these guys have worked to get to nationals," head coach Chuck Kearney said.
Webster won 22-8, a technical fall, against Harold Penson of Stanford in the quarterfinals. Webster advanced to the semis and defeated Oregon State's Jake Huffman for the third time this year, this time by major decision, 10-2.
Mitchell was unable to pull off his second comeback of the day in the semifinals against Efren Ceballos of Cal State Bakersfield. Mitchell lost in the semis, 9-6, after a thrilling come-from-behind victory, 9-7, in overtime in the quarterfinals against Vic Moreno of Cal Poly.
Harless, the No. 1 seed at 133, advanced to the semifinals with a major decision, 11-3, in the quarterfinals against David Rodriguez of Cal State Fullerton. Unfortunately, Arizona State's Mike Simpson scored a first-period takedown and was able to hold the lead in the semis, winning 4-0.
At 141, senior Hunt made his way to the semifinals with a 9-5 quarterfinal victory. Boise State's Gabe Vigil, the No. 2 seed, took Hunt down late in the first period, and the two-point margin was enough to win the match, 3-1.
The Ducks have several wrestlers still alive in the consolation bracket. Joining Mitchell, Harless and Hunt in the consolation semifinals are Branson Phillips at 157 and Luke Larwin at 165.
Phillips and Larwin each lost in the championship bracket, but came back with victories in consolation action. Larwin pinned his opponent at the 3:30 mark to advance to the consolation semifinals.
"We have six guys left that we need to get wins from," Kearney said. "We're in a team race for third, and we need guys to compete to win."
The Pac-10 tournament will conclude Monday with two separate sessions. The morning session will take care of the consolation brackets, while the championship matches will take place in the evening.
TEAM STANDINGS 1. Arizona State 114.5 2. Boise State 109.0 3. Oregon State 60.5 4. Cal State Bakersfield 51.5 5. Oregon 51.0 6. Cal Poly 46.0 7. Cal Davis 38.0 8. Stanford 37.5 9. Cal State Fullerton 29.5 10. Portland State 28.0
