Final Dual Meet of the Season up Next for Wrestling
Oregon (1-12, 0-7) will travel to Portland, Ore. to face the Vikings of Portland State (1-14, 0-8) on Wed. Feb. 18 at the Peter W. Stott Center starting at 7 p.m. Portland State is 1-14 overall; 0-8 in Pac-10 play. This meeting will be the final dual meet of the season for both teams. Oregon has won the last 21 meetings against the Vikings dating back to the 1987-88 season. Portland State is coming off its fifth shutout this season against Pac-10 opponent Cal Poly, 47-0 on Sun. Feb. 15 in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The Vikings have also been shutout by Wyoming and Pac-10 opponents UC Davis, Cal State Bakersfield and Oregon State. Portland State’s only win was on Jan. 16 against Simon Fraser in a dual meet with the Vikings coming out on top, 38-9. Portland State has three wrestlers in the Pac-10 rankings. Senior Zach Enoch is eighth at 125, junior Eddie Dahlen is sixth at 149 and freshman Devin Mair is eighth at 165. Dahlen, leads the Vikings, individually with an overall record of 15-10 and 3-3 in conference duals. A week ago Dahlen upset Stanford Cardinal Luis Vendrell, ranked fourth in the Pac-10 at 149 in a decision match, 5-3.
THE LAST TIME VS. PSU
The Ducks traveled to Portland to face the Vikings in their final dual meet of last season. Oregon blanked Portland State, 42-0. The Ducks scored their first shutout since the 1981-82 season. The Ducks dominated the night, winning three major decisions and adding a fall en route to the convincing victory.
UP NEXT FOR THE DUCKS
Oregon will have almost two weeks off from competition to prepare for the Pac-10 tournament that will take place in Tempe, Ariz. on Feb. 29 and Mar. 1. The Ducks placed fifth at last season’s tournament and qualified three wrestlers for the NCAA Championships.
LEADERS OF THE PACK
Senior Jason Harless is not only a senior leader but an inspiration to this year’s Duck team. Harless began the season on Dec. 13, 2003 against Oregon State after taking the first two tournaments off to continue to heal after back surgery. He has continued to shine even though this season has been a rebuilding year for the team. Harless currently has a 14-8 overall record and leads the team in dual wins with seven at 133. He also leads the Ducks in dual major decisions with a record of 3-0 as well as the dual pin leader with two on the season. Harless also leads Oregon will 33 team points in dual action. Harless also has the most pins in one season during his career with a total of four overall. Junior Luke Larwin has also been a leader on the team this season. Larwin has complied his best record of his career with 22-11, increasing his overall career record to 55-43 at 165. He is not the type of wrestler to destroy his opponents by a wide margin. Larwin leads the team with 16 decision wins overall this season. He has a 6-7 dual record, the best of his career and has capped 19 team points in dual play this season for the Ducks.
IN PAC-10 RANKINGS
The Ducks have six wrestlers in the rankings. Jason Harless moves to sixth at 133, Joey Bracamonte moves to fourth at 157, Luke Larwin stays in fourth at 165. Larwin leads the Ducks with a 22-11 record including three pins, two majors, and 16 decisions. Dustin Fisher is seventh at 184 and senior Jake Leair is sixth at 197. Rounding out the ranked Ducks is freshman Cody Parker. He moves up to fourth at heavyweight.
OREGON’S COACHING STAFF
Head coach Chuck Kearney heads into his sixth season as the man in charge. He has an overall record of 42-52 in his sixth season as Oregon’s head coach. Kearney is a former NCAA All-American and Pac-10 Champion at Oregon. He was the teams’ most valuable wrestler in 1988. The former Pac-10 champion accumulated 60 wins in two years at Oregon after competing his first two seasons at Oklahoma State. Rick Stewart continues in his sixth season as part of the stellar coaching staff at Oregon. Stewart, the four-time All-American and two-time national champion complied a 118-15 record at Oklahoma State. Jeremy Ensrud also is in his sixth season as an assistant coach. The Oregon graduate has kept busy as he has placed four times in the U.S. Opens in the freestyle competition and has placed twice at the Dave Schultz International tournament and capped a second place finish in 2001. Oregon graduate, Tony Overstake adds to the coaching staff this season as a volunteer assistant. Overstake finished his career in 2003 with an overall record of 89-46 and was the Pac-10 champion in the 2001-02 season.
GOING OUT STRONG
Seniors Jason Harless and Jake Leair walked out of McArthur Court for the last time on a positive note Sunday afternoon after a tough loss to Oregon State. The Ducks were led by its two seniors, Harless and Leair in the Duck’s final home match of the season. Harless defeated sophomore Bobby Pfennnings in a decision match, 5-1 at 133. Leair wanted to leave McArthur Court with a statement and he did. Leair pinned senior Curt Willener of Oregon State at 6:27 to give the Ducks their first and only lead of the day.
