Wrestling Finishes Ninth in Pac-10 Tournament
TEMPE, Ariz. ? The Oregon wrestling team finished ninth at the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament in Tempe, Ariz. on Monday night. Oregon will send three wrestlers to the NCAA Championships on Mar. 18 to St. Louis, Miss. Two wrestlers finished third which gave them each an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships while one was a wildcard bid. Boise State took first with 94.5 points in the tournament after trailing Cal Poly earlier in the day. Cal Poly was second with 91.0 and Cal State Fullerton was third with 89.5 points.
"We are pleased with (Joey) Bracamonte and (Luke) Larwin," head coach Chuck Kearney said. "(Chet) McBee wrestled tough today as well.
Junior Luke Larwin came back to win Monday after a devastating loss on Sunday evening. In the third round of consolation play, Larwin quickly scored and soon after pinned Devin Mair of Portland State in 2:36 to have a chance to compete for third place. Larwin met Russell Brunson of Boise State for the second time this tournament in the fourth round of consolation. Larwin and Brunson battled back and forth the entire match. It was tied 7-7 at the end of regulation. Larwin responded quickly to got a takedown early in overtime to take the victory over Brunson, 9-7. He finished the tournament in third and automatically advances to the NCAA Championships.
Sophomore Joey Bracamonte at 157 took control of the match early jumping out to a 6-1 lead after the first period over #2 Ben Cherrington of Boise State. He continued to dominate the match and defeated Cherrington, 9-5. Bracamonte also had a chance to redeem himself in the fourth round of the consolation finals. Bracamonte took on #5 Jeremiah Jarvis of UC Davis for the second time this tournament. Jarvis won the previos meeting which sent Bracamonte into consolation play. He wasn’t going to let Jarvis knock him out of a chance to get an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships though. Bracamonte was ready and dominated the match early jumping out to a 6-1 lead after the first period. He got an early takedown in the third to secure the win and defeated Jarvis, 15-5 to finish third in the tournament and get a bid to nationals.
Jason Harless, a stellar senior, suffered a concussion late in the third period of the third round of consolation play against #6 Paul Gross of Stanford. He will stay overnight in the hospital for precautiuonary observation, but is expected to be released from the hospital Tuesday. The match was 8-4 in favor of Gross with a minute to go in the third period before the injury to Harless occured. He finished the tournament in sixth place after having to forfeit two matches due to injury. Harless was picked up as a wildcard to nationals. The vote was by the Pac-10 coaches of each school and that shows the respect Harless has gained through his four years as an Oregon wrestler.
"By getting Jason (Harless) in as a qualifier as a wildcard, that shows that coaches have a lot of respect for him as a wrestler," Kearney said.
Sophomore Chet McBee at 174 wrestled #4 Leonel Sanchez in the third round of the consolation finals. Sanchez jumped out on top first and eventually pinned McBee at 2:21. McBee then faced Frank Richmond of UC Davis in the fourth round of consolation. He responded and defeated Richmond with a pin at 4:08 to finish the tournament in fifth place.
Freshman Chris Dearmon finishes the tournament in sixth place at heavyweight. He lost to #4 Arturo Basulto of Cal Poly in a decision match, 2-0. Dearmon then went on to wrestle #5 Eric Parker of Cal State Bakersfield for a fifth place finish. However, Parker took the match 3-2 and left Dearmon to finish sixth.
Oregon advanced three wrestlers to St. Louis, Miss. for the NCAA Championships held on Mar. 18-20.
Session 3 (Consolation Third Round)
133 - #6 Paul Gross (Stand) won by injury forfeit over #4 Jason Harless (UO)
157 - #4 Joey Bracamonte (UO) dec. over #2 Ben Cherrington (BSU), 9-5
165 - #3 Luke Larwin (UO) pinned Devin Mair (PSU), 2:36
174 - #4 Leonel Sanchez pinned Chet McBee (UO), 2:21
Hwt - #4 Arturo Basulto (Cal Poly) dec. over Chris Dearmon (UO), 2-0
Session 3 (Consolation 3rd/4th Place Finish)
157 - #4 Joey Bracamonte (UO) major dec. over #5 Jeremiah Jarvis (UCD), 15-5 (3rd Place)
165 - #3 Luke Larwin (UO) dec. over Russell Brunson (BSU), 9-7 OT (3rd Place)
Session 3 (Consolation 5th/6th Place Finish)
133 - #5 Derek Moore (UCD) won by injury forfeit over #4 Jason Harless (UO)
174 - Chet McBee (UO) pinned Frank Richmond (UCD), 4:08 (5th Place)
Hwt - #5 Eric Parker (CSUB) dec. over Chris Dearmon (UO), 3-2 (6th Place)
***Rankings are seedings in the Pac-10 Tournament
Team Standings
1. Boise State 94.5; 2. Cal Poly 91.0; 3. Cal State Fullerton 89.5; 4. Cal State Bakersfield 87.0; 5 (tie) Arizona State 85.0, Stanford 85.0; 7. Oregon State 69.5; 8. UC Davis 60.0; 9. Oregon 52.5; 10. Portland State 11.5
