Wrestling Back Home For Two Duals
DUCK WRESTLING BACK AT HOME FOR A TWO-DUAL WEEKEND
The Oregon wrestling team (1-7, 0-3) returns home to McArthur Court this weekend for a two-dual weekend against Fresno State on Friday night and No. 21 Cal State-Bakersfield on Sunday. Friday's match will begin at 7 p.m. and Sunday's will start at 5 p.m. This will only be the second time the Ducks have been in front of their home crowd this year and they will be looking to get their first Pac-10 win of the season. The Ducks are coming off two tough losses on the road to Pac-10 opponents Stanford and UC Davis. The Cardinal defeated the Ducks, 31-6 and the Aggies won, 24-18.
Fresno State (2-6); Oregon leads all-time series, 18-12-1
Jan. 23 ? Eugene, Ore. ? McArthur Court at 7 p.m.
Fresno State will head to McArthur Court to face the Ducks starting at 7 p.m. Fri. Jan. 23. Oregon leads the all-time series 18-12-1 dating back to the 1965-66 season. The Ducks have defeated the Bulldogs the last three times at home since the 1997-98 season. The Bulldogs are coached by Dennis DeLiddo, entering his 22nd season with an overall winning record at Fresno State of 296-152-5. Fresno State has three ranked wrestlers in No. 10 senior Casey Olson at 149, No. 14 junior Marcio Botelho at 197 and No. 11 sophomore Clint Walbeck at heavyweight.
No. 21 Cal State-Bakersfield (8-0, 4-0);
CSUB leads all-time series, 17-10
Jan. 25 ? Eugene, Ore. ? McArthur Court at 5 p.m.
No. 21 Cal State-Bakersfield will travel to Eugene for a Pac-10 match up against the Ducks. The dual will start at 5 p.m. on Sun. Jan. 25 at McArthur Court. The Roadrunners are coached by T.J. Kerr, entering his 20th season as head coach with a winning record of 167-106-4 at CSUB. Bakersfield is led by four premier wrestlers. The Roadrunners carry four ranked wrestlers on their roster. Junior Efren Ceballos is ranked No. 7 by Intermat at 125, junior Matt Sanchez is ranked No. 8 at 133, Senior Brian Cobb ranked No. 13 at 157 and sophomore Matt Monteiro ranked No. 4 at 197. Ceballos and Monteiro lead the Roadrunners individually, with a record of 21-3 and 21-4, respectively.
HIGHEST RANK THIS SEASON
Sophomore Joey Bracamonte continues to be in the rankings this week resting at No. 19 at 157. He started the season at 165, but moved down to 157 after the injury to freshman Scott Woods early in the season. Bracamonte carries a record of 5-2 at 157 and an overall record of 13-5, including a 5-1 pin record. Bracamote will look to improve his record with the big weekend ahead in front of the fans at McArthur Court. Bracamonte will most likely face senior Brain Cobb of Cal State-Bakersfield on Sunday in what looks to be the only ranked match of the night. Cobb is ranked No. 13 by Intermat and has an overall record of 19-9 including two pins.
STEPPING UP
Senior Jake Leair has shown tremendous strength and ability on the mat this season. He has defeated his last three dual opponents and continues to step it up. Leair has a 9-8 record at 197 and an overall record of 10-10. He has scored 16 team points for Oregon and some came at crucial times. Leair stepped up into his senior role and has become a leader on the team. He placed third at the Aggie Open this past weekend, capping a tournament record of 4-1. Leair will have a tough weekend ahead when he faces two ranked wrestlers. He will first face No. 14-ranked junior Marcio Botelho of Fresno State on Fri. and then No. 4-ranked Matt Monteiro of Cal State-Bakersfield on Sunday. Monteiro has an overall record of 21-4 including a team high of nine pins.
IN PAC-10 RANKINGS
The coaching staff at Arizona State has decided to make the Pac-10 rankings a top-8 instead of top-5. This means that the Ducks now have eight wrestlers in the rankings. Jason Harless moves to fourth at 133, Cyle Hartzell moves back in at 149 to take seventh, Joey Bracamonte is fifth at 157 ahead of CSUB’s Brian Cobb, Luke Larwin moves to fourth at 165 as Christian Arellano of CSUB moves into second. Larwin leads the Ducks with a 21-8 record including four pins, one major, and 15 decisions. Three Ducks move into the rankings for the first time this season. Sophomore Chet McBee moves into seventh at 174, Dustin Fisher is eighth at 184 and senior Jake Leair is fifth at 197. Rounding out the ranked Ducks is freshman Cody Parker. He moves to seventh at heavyweight.
THE LAST TIME VS. FRESNO STATE
Fresno State defeated the Ducks in Fresno, Calif. a year ago in a close dual ending in a 19-12 win in favor of the Bulldogs. The only Duck victories came from Martin Mitchell at 125, Tony Overstake at 149, Luke Larwin at 165 and Shane Webster at 174.
THE LAST TIME VS. CAL STATE-BAKERSFIELD
The Ducks broke a four-meet losing streak by defeating the Roadrunners of Cal State-Bakersfield, 26-16 in Bakersfield, Calif. last season. With the score 17-10 in favor of the Ducks, Elias Soto put it out of reach with a pin at 197 to secure the victory for the Ducks.
UP NEXT FOR THE DUCKS
The Ducks will travel to Boise, Idaho to face Pac-10 opponent Boise State in a dual on Fri. Jan. 30 starting at 6 p.m. Oregon will turn right around and head for Tempe, Ariz. to wrestle No. 18-ranked Arizona State on Sun. Feb. 1 starting at 1 p.m.
