Wrestlers regroup with skill, spirit
By Tim Davis
Of the Emerald
In January, the University
was stunned when a van
transporting the wrestling team
to a meet against Washington
State University crashed in
southeastern Washington, kill
ing squad members Jed Kesey
and Lorenzo West and leaving
several others seriously injured.
The team limped through the
remainder of its 1983-84
schedule emotionally shaken
and understaffed.
And now another setback has
struck once again with the
Duck’s 1984-85 season opener
only two days away. Of the ten
athletes and coaches involved
in Monday’s sniper incident,
five were Duck wrestling team
members and one was assistant -
coach John Kotmel.
According to head coach Ron
Finley, 1983 Pac-10 champion
Rick O’Shea, who carries the
Duck's strength in the 158
pound class, received shrapnel
wounds to the neck, buttocks
and calf and will probably Jbe
out of competition for at least
one month.
Wrestlers Keith Beutler, Bill
Beutler, Glenn Jarrett and Derek
Phillips along with coach
Kotmel and O'Shea were trap
ped in the weight room of
Autzen Stadiam for over three
hours while a gunmen released
an estimated seventy high
powered rifle rounds onto and
around the stadium grounds
killing a runner on Pre's Trail
behind Autzen, injuring O’Shea
and then killing himself with a
bullet to the head.
Finley, who was recently
named national wrestling
“Coach of the Year” for his in
volvement with the U.S. Olym
pic Greco-Roman wrestling
team, is striving to put the
team’s growing list of tragedies
into the past and not let them
overshadow the Duck’s poten
tial this year. However, Finley
did say that this new setback is
going to hurt them, but he feels
that with a lot of scrambling and
team effort they will be able to
pull themselves together and
become strong competitors dur
ing the 1984-85 season.
Fortunately, this year’s team
roster got a boost from an unex
pectedly large turnout of
wrestlers — 49 — for the
squad’s first practice one month
ago.
“People knew we had a lot of
holes on our team,” Finley ex
plains. “It’s by far the biggest
walk-on group that I’ve ever
had since I’ve coached here. I’m
really pleased. We definitely
needed it.”
Because of the influx of new
wrestlers, this year’s squad is
young and inexperienced. The
team is going to need some time
to develop, Finley cautions.
“We’re young and we’ll show
some signs of immaturity at the
first of the season. Dual-meet
wise we’re going to have to real
ly scramble. But I feel we’re go
ing to be fairly tough by the end
of the season.”
Finley points to a tough
schedule as the only way for his
young squad to get the needed
experience. “We have a long
schedule but we need it,” he
says. “These young guys have
got to get the experience.”
“Hopefully they’re going to
be veterans by the time the
season is over.”
The Ducks have already had
one meet, a pre-season exhibi
tion against a touring Japanese
national team. Though the over
matched Ducks lost to the
Japanese, the meet gave Finley
AP early look at his team.
“It gave me some ideas about
how our young guys compete. I
liked what I saw,” Finley says.
Much of the youth and inex
perience of the team is concen
trated in the lower five weight
divisions.
Two freshmen, Joe Little and
Roberto Pelayo, are emerging as
the key competitors in the
118-pound class.
At 126 pounds, rookie Jarrett
looks to be the top wrestler
there. Finley was especially im
pressed with Jarrett’s perfor
mance against the Japanese.
“He did a great job of com
peting out there even though he
got beat,” says Finley:
Up for grabs will be the
134-pound division with Tim
Curtiss, Greg Kimura, Steve
Newton, and Wayne Skill all
fighting for the lone spot. The
142-pound class appeared to
belong to Sean Braddock, but a
recurring back injury has caus
ed some doubt as to his status.
“Without Sean, that’s going
to be a wide open Weight,”
Finley says. “I’m not sure who
our top people are going to be
there.”
Both Bill Beutler and Derek
Phillips look to be contenders
for the 150 pound class, but
most of the team’s strength and
experience lies within the five
upper-weight divisions.
Although the 158 pound class
has been set back by O’Shea’s
injury, Finley is looking to
Keith Beutler, a senior and last
year’s team MVP, for strength at
167 pounds.
“(Beutler) could win the
Pac-10 this year and possibly
place in the NCAA tourna
ment,” says Finley.
One of the tougher and
deeper weight divisions will be
the 177-pound class. 1983-84
starter James Terry, transfer
two-time NCAA placer Michael
Harter, and David Thomason,
all have legitimate shots. At 190
pounds. Brad Steward and Cal
Thomason will battle it out.
Senior Lance Hochanadel,
1982 Pac-10 runner-up, will
represent the Ducks in the
heavyweight division. “1 think
he can win the Pac-10 and he
can place highly in the NCAA if
he wrestles tough and stays
healthy,” says Finley.
Photo by Ross Martin
The young Duck wrestlers are undergoing vigorous training in preparation for the 1984-85 season
opener Friday ■
The Ducks should be in the
thick of the Pac-10 team title
race despite its inexperience.
Finley points to Arizona State
and Oregon State as the two top
teams. The Ducks and
Washington State should fight
it out to see who the “next
toughest one is.”
The wrestlers themselves
share Finley’s determination to
make a show of it in the con
ference race.
“We’re going to make some
noise in the Pac-10 and surprise
a lot of people,” says
Hochanadel.
With the Friday season
opener against Humboldt State
and Chico State at Areata, Calif,
only a short time away, Finley’s
assessment of the team’s pro
gress is good considering all the
setbacks.
“I’m really pleased with the
way practices are going.”
Thanks in part to his ex
periences as Greco-Roman
coach at the Summer Olympics,
Finley has added some new
twists to the squad’s fitness pro
gram. In addition to an increas
ed and more team-oriented
weight lifting program, the
wrestlers are also participating
in bi-weekly sessions of
aerobics.
“It just adds a little, takes
away from the staleness of prac
tices. I think it helps,” says
Finley.
The success of the U.S. Olym
pic wrestlers at Los Angeles —
13 medals including nine gold
— has generated a lot of en
thusiasm for the sport
throughout the country. Finley
and Hochanadel point to this
fall’s unusually large turnout of
wrestlers as an example.
“I think the Olympics has
had an effect,” Hochanadel
says. “Finley is really fired up
about it. 1 think it trickles down
shortcuts
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to everybody.”
Most of all, though, Finley
hopes that the fans have gotten
caught up in the post-Olympic
excitment.
“I’m hoping it’s going to help
our turnout,’’.Finley says. “We
definitely need lots of fans. Pro
bably the biggest disappoint
ment I’ve had since I’ve been
here at the University is the lack
of fans from the community and
the students.”
“One of the big things that
made our success at the Olym
pics so good was the fans,” ex
plains Finley. “When the fans
are in the crowd yelling, it
makes a tremendous difference.
746-6517
“Teeth, ignore
them and they’ll
go away. ”
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