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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1974)
Dean Dixon pinned his opponent at 150 pound match to key Duck momentum Photo by Jim Mockford Wrestlers clobber Washington, 22-12 By CARL STEWARD Of the Emerald If you’re a Washington Husky athlete, there are two places you never want to see. One is hell, the other is Mac Court. And not necessarily in that order. Saturday night a top-ranked and favored Husky wrestling team was dealt all the fire and brimstone it could take at the hands of an inspired Oregon unit, and Coach Ron Finley absorbed every glimmering moment of a 22-12 upset. “This is the biggest win since I’ve been coaching here,” said Finley. “The guys were all fired up when they saw that crowd behind them. We had a great road trip and we knew we had a good chance to win it. It all culminated here.” An estimated assemblance of 2,300 saw the Ducks capture six of 10 matches to cinch the team’s tenth dual meet in 12 encounters. This one, however, was the sweetest of them all. Oregon got going after trailing 6-3 with three mat ches decided when 142-pounder Mike Oilar humiliated Washington’s Dave Mitchell 18-4. Then came the key moment. Dean Dixon, wrestling at 150 pounds, suppressed both shoulders of Husky Bill Perkins against the mat with 42 seconds left in the second round to tally six giant fall points for the Ducks, giving the hosts a 13-6 ad vantage. “I really thought Perkins would win the match,” said Washington Coach Jim Smith. “Dixon rolled him, Perkins thought he could roll through, but Dixon wouldn’t let him. It was dumb on the part of Perkins.” Duane Stutzman followed at 158 and gained revenge over Husky Kaare Papenfuse with a 6-3 decision. Papenfuse had beaten Stutzman earlier in the season at the Washington Invitational Tournament. “Stutz wants the No. 1 seed at the Pac-8 meet and he needed this one awfully bad,” said Finley. “'Hiere was no way he was going to let Papenfuse bum him twice.” An 8-4 win by Don Evans over Jerry Kersey at 167 virtually gave the Oregon unit the team win. Freshman Buck Davis gave Washington’s top wrestler Mel Renfro at 177 a tough going early but lost on points in the end, 6-2. Wes Hines then scored a 9-6 triumph over Ron Wallick to sew it up for Oregon. Hines, who had not wrestled in a dual meet since the Dec. 8 opener against Athlete’s in Action, was visibly tired in the last round but held on after scoring heavily in the first two periods. Ric Reitmann lost an 8-1 decision to Washington’s powerful Dave Graves, but it was not near enough for the heavyweight. Even a pin wouldn’t have won it for the Huskies. ‘I wish they would have been a bit stronger. They were missing a couple of guys that might of made the difference,” said Finley. “Still, it was a tremendous win and it puts us right into the Pac-8 title picture.” “But we still have to beat Oregon State,” he added. Smith estimated that the Huskies were about 50 per cent effective, but admitted that Oregon did a pretty good job and it would have been close anyway. Finley countered with the philosophy of depth. “We’ve recruited some good people over the past few years,” commented Finley. “But you have to have some guys behind that outstanding front line if you Photo by Jim Mockford Don Evans scored takedown and went on to 8-4 win expect to maintain a consistent winner. I think we’re doing that. We know we’re winners.’’ Oregon jumped to a quick 3-0 lead when Steve Hart decisioned Washington’s George Hayasaki 6-4. Hayasaki was a replacement for Washington’s freshman standout Don Abbott. “Steve’s steadily improving,” praised Finley. “He looks better with every match and he has the hustle to go along with it.” Favored Brad Jacot of Washington had a tough battle with 126-pound Joe Sade, who lost a heartbreaker on Jacot’s riding time, 4-3. “It was too bad for Joe, but he just might beat Jacot next time,” Finley said. “He’s another who improves with time, and he had Jacot tired in the third period There were a couple of moments when Joe could have broken it open.” Shuichi Shoji found tough going with Washington’s Japanese counterpart Toshi Oonishi, who jumped off to a quick 2-0 lead on a takedown and never lost control, winning finally with a healthy 10-3 edge. Shoji trailed 5-3 going into the final seconds when a desperation try for points backfired. “You have to wrestle a bit different when you’re behind, and Shuichi hasn’t been behind that often this year,” said Finley. “Besides, Oonishi was just super after his initial takedown.” The lead Washington enjoyed with that victory, 6-3 after three matches, was the only one of the night—and it was shortlived after brilliant performances in the middle weight classes. “Oilar and Dixon turned it around. Of course, Oilar’s always tough especially when he’s got a motive and he’s at home. There was no way he was going to lose that match.” Finley wasn’t too surprised at Dixon’s tide-turning pin. “I knew when Perkins didn’t score on him in the first period, Dixon was going to give him a rough time. He’s in great shape and he’ll wear you down quickly.” Finley also felt that Evans is quickly reattaining the prowess he so he so adequately demonstrated as a fresh man. “We needed a good performance from Don to cinch it,” said Finley. ‘‘As it turned out, he had no problems.” Renfro was just too much for the less-experienced Davis, although the highly-touted freshman took the intimidation out of Smith’s big point-getter with a quick 2-0 lead. ‘‘I think Renfro will probably be the NCAA champ this year,” said Finley. "That is, if Buck doesn’t beat him when they meet again. Davis is the kind of guy that can do it. He’s no quitter.” In regards to a Pac-8 title shot, Finley still regarded it as something “we must contend with when we get there.” “I still have to be pessimistic. We could conceivably place in every weight, but it takes the first placers to win it. We still have quite a few duals left, many with our toughest opponents, so we can’t afford to look ahead too far.” Smith regarded Oregon as one of the challengers to a dynasty enjoyed in previous years by Oregon State and the Huskies. He said he thought this year will end up with the closest team scoring in the conference’s history. That remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure, the Ducks’ chances are remarkably enhanced with the victory over Washington. Finley’s squad returns to the mat this Wednesday against visiting Chico State of California, the second of six straight home encounters.
