Wrestling Has Five Wrestlers Place at Aggie Open
DAVIS, Calif. ? The Oregon wrestling team wrestles well at the Aggie Open hosted by UC Davis in Davis, Calif. at Recreation Hall. Ducks had five wrestlers place in the tournament; one finished second, two finished third, one finished in fifth and one wrestler took sixth.
"We wrestled better today," head coach Chuck Kearney said. "It was what we needed to gain some confidence." "We got some wins early on, wrestled with some emotion and went on a roll and made some good improvements." "We’re real pleased with what we saw and this will help up spring board through the rest of the season."
Luke Larwin took second at 165 after a tough loss to Iowa’s Mark Perry in a decision match, 8-1. Larwin finished the day 4-1, bringing his overall record to 21-8. Senior Jake Leair had another big day, capturing third place at 197. He lost to No. 18-ranked K.C. Walsh in a decision, 5-3. Leair also finished with a strong record, 4-1 on the day. Senior Jason Harless had a 3-0 record for the tournament after having to forfeit the last two bouts to take sixth place at 133.
"(Jake) Leair took third and he has started to do the things we knew he was capable of doing."
The Ducks had two wrestlers place at 125. Sophomore Jacob Boyles placed third with a tournament record of 4-1. He pinned Pancho Manriquez to capture the third place finish for a career best. Freshman Joey Lucas took fifth place after defeating Sal Gonzalez of Fresno State. Lucas went 3-2 at the tournament.
"(Jacob) Boyles took third in the tournament and in our eyes turned a corner this weekend to head for better things this season."
Junior Shane Webster wrestled unattached at 174. He dominated the tournament taking a 4-0 record and capturing first place. Webster defeated Eddie Gifford of Fresno State in an 8-4 decision match.
The Ducks will be home next weekend when they host Fresno State on Fri. Jan. 23 at 7p.m. and Cal State-Bakersfield on Sun. Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. Both duals will be held at McArthur Court. "They (Fresno State and Cal State-Bakersfield) are two quality teams who are both on a roll. It will be important for us to show up and concentrate on the little things we have practiced."
