Ducks Ready for Pac-10 Tournament
UP NEXT
Oregon (2-12 overall, 1-7 Pac-10) will travel to Tempe, Ariz. for the Pac-10 Tournament on Feb. 29-Mar. 1 at Wells Fargo Arena. Competition will start at 11 a.m. on both Sun. Feb. 29 and Mon. Mar. 1. Senior Jason Harless finished fifth last year at 133 and qualified as a wildcard to head to nationals. Harless will be looking to win his first Pac-10 title and be a contender at the NCAA championships. Match by match updates will be updated frequently and posted on the internet at: www.thesundevils.ocsn.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/2004-tourneycentral.html. Information about the tournament will be posted as well as quotes and recaps. This site may also be obtained through the Arizona State website at www.thesundevils.com. The top four finishers in each weight class will advance to the NCAA Wrestling Championships, slated for March 18-20 inside the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Mo.
LAST WEEK
The Ducks snagged its first Pac-10 win of the season in their last dual meet at Portland State in Portland, Ore. on Feb. 18. Oregon defeated the Vikings, 34-13. Oregon won seven of the ten bouts to improve its record to 2-12 overall and 1-7 in Pac-10 action. Portland State dropped to 1-15, 0-9 to end its dual meet season. That match marks the last dual meet of the regular season for three wrestlers. Senior Jason Harless ends his dual career with a victory as well as senior Jake Leair and junior Dustin Fisher.
PAC-10 NOTES
This year’s Pac-10 Tournament will be hosted by Arizona State. The Sun Devils will be looking to repeat as team champion this season after winning the tournament in 2003 with a score of 134.0. The Ducks finished fifth at last year’s tournament with three wrestlers qualifying for nationals. Individual winners from last season (returnees in bold)
125: Ben VomBaur, Boise State
133: Mike Simpson, Arizona State
141: Gabe Vigil, Boise State
149: Eric Larkin, Arizona State
157: Jeremiah Jarvis, UC Davis
165: Nick Frost, Arizona State
174: Curt Owen, Arizona State
184: Ryan Halsey, Cal Poly
197: Ryan Bader, Arizona State
Hwt: Kellan Fluckiger, Arizona State
STANDOUT LEADERS
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 15-6 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 4-0 as well as the dual pin leader with two on the season. Harless also leads Oregon will 37 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 23-11, increasing his overall career record to 56-43 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 7-7 dual record, the best of his career and has capped 25 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 43-52 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.
