Pearch Finishes Second, Advances to NCAA Tournament
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Senior Justin Pearch earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament in Detroit, Michigan as he finished 2nd on the final day of the Pac-10 wrestling tournament, held Sunday at the Icardo Center.
Pearch, the Oregon City, Ore. native, fell to UC Davis' No. 1 seeded Derek Moore in the 141 lbs. final match by decision, 4-1, but by finishing second automatically qualified for the national tournament.
"Justin wrestled well tonight and he got a preview of what an NCAA tournament caliber opponent is like," head coach Chuck Kearney said. "He will have to work hard to prepare for the grind that the national tournament is, but he has a good shot of going deep into it."
The only other Duck with a shot at winning his way into the national tournament was Brysen French, who faced Kyle Bressler in a Civil War rematch in the third-place match at 184 lbs. Bressler had won the previous two decisions by a combine four points, and tonight would be no different as French was forced to take risks after falling behind early and suffered the major decision loss, 9-0. French would be forced to settle for fourth place.
The Ducks did collect tournament medals in four other weight classes as heavyweight Chris Dearmon, 149 pounder Jeremy McLaughlin, and 174 pounder Ronnie Lee all finished fifth in their weight classes. Joey Lucas capped off the medals for the Ducks with a sixth place finish at 133 lbs.
As a team, the Ducks finished in eight place with 62.0 points. Oregon State won the Pac-10 Championship with a score of 110 points. The Ducks finished ahead of Boise State (58.5 points) and Portland State (5.5 points).
The nine wild cards will be named later tonight.
The NCAA Tournament will take place March 15-17 in Detroit, Mich.
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