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Junior l)an Vidlak (led) will be looking to hetomc Oregon's first three-time all-American in
more than 20 years this season.
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UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
Oregon wrestling team
gets richer with recruits
By Mike Maloney
f: merald ContobulOf
With .ill due respect to the
1990 Homecoming theme of
"Kverybody Dut k. " the Oregon
wrestling team may be better
represented b\ a different
phrase;
"To the victor goes the
spoils.
After registering the best
dual meet mark in school histo
ry (12-1) last year, the Ducks
were able to sign a recruiting
< lass that ini hides four high
si hool all Amerii ans who Ixiasl
lti state titles among them
selves.
That abundance of talent
prompted the Amateur U’res
tlinti Sens to tab the Oregon
recruiting class as the fourth
best in the nation.
"We had the liesl year we've
ever had as far as getting na
tionally ranked recruits." said
Coach Ron Finley, now in his
21st year. "We've gotten our
program to the point where top
kids want to come to Oregon. "
The Oregon recruiting cause
was also aided by an increase
in the number of wrestling
scholarships from eight to 11
Whether or not the newcom
ers can adequately fill the holes
in the Duck lineup will deter
mine how strong of a dual meet
team Oregon will In* this year
However, the nucleus of vet
erans who i omhined for seven
previous NCAA tournament ap
pearances should be able to
generate the points needed for
a top two Pacific-10 Confereni e
finish and a top 20 perforinant e
at the NCAA championships in
low .i (lily in Mart h
Oregon's best wrestler is 118
potind junior Dan Vidlak.
Vidlak. a two-time all-Ameri
lan. registered a 28-9-0 mark
last season en route to an
eighth-place finish in the
NCAA tournament. If he can re
peat that performance this year
lie will become Oregon's first
three-time all-American in
more than 20 years.
Once again, senior Rob Slone
and sophomore Jason Jones will
provide the most excitement in
the practice room. Stone ami
Jones battled throughout the
1989-90 campaign for the start
ing 120-pound spot and will
continue their head to head
competition in the 134-pound
( lass this season
The strongest of the Ducks’
middle weights is at 142
pounds, where senior Scott
Glenn resides Glenn, who
transferred from powerhouse
Iowa two years ago. earned a
1 ;t-7-l record and his second
c onsecutive NCAA tournament
appearance last year
The most highly contested
weight class could be 15S0
pounds this season, where one
of three wrestlers could get the
nod
The most experienced of this
group is sophomore Pat Craig,
who posted an 11-15*1 record
last year while wrestling in a
variety of weight classes rang
ing from 1.14 150 pounds. A
p.iir of three time high school
state ( hampions, Cory Sonnen
from Woodburn High School
and |ason Muggy from Wash
ington's Ferndale High School,
will fight Craig for the position.
The “make or break" area for
the Ducks this year could he at
the 158 and 167-pound weight
classes where former NCAA
qualifiers Ceorge (ohnston and
Fric Messner were lost to grad
uation.
Expected to fill the 158
pound spot was high school
all American Mat Sprague.
Sprague, chosen as the out
standing wrestler at the prep
nationals last summer and
tabbed as the top 158-pound re
cruit in the nation, is currently
sidelined with a knee injury
Sophomore Trevor Skarda,
who had a 2-8-0 mark in limit
ed action last year, will hold
the spot until Sprague's return
Former Montana prep cham
pion David Windauer and
sophomore transfer Solomon
I ulp will vie for the start at the
167-pound weight ( lass where
Messner gave the Ducks a Pac
10 title in 1080
The final question mark in
the Oregon lineup is at 177
pounds, where freshmen Jeff
McCoy and Scott Huzzard have
been challenging, hut Buzzard
has l>een hampered by injuries.
Senior brothers Curt (190
pmimis) and ('am (heavy
weight) Strahm. who combined
for 4 l wins last year, give Ore
gon a solid 1-2 punch in the
bigger weight classes.
Curt Strahm. who posted a
23-10-1 record and earned a
second trip to the NCAA tour
nament while wrestling at 177
pounds last season, made the
jump to the 190-pound class for
this year's campaign.
Meanwhile. Cam Strahm re
turns at heavyweight when? he
qualified for the NCAAs follow
ing a 1U-11-0 season mark.
The Ducks will be put to the
test this season with a schedule
that includes non-conference
road matches against
Hloomsburg State. Purdue and
Notre Dame while affording Or
egon only four home matches.
Oregon opens the season Fri
day at Portland State.
Pac-10 Pigskin Pr<x;nostications
EOiTOA'S NOTE Predictions are baaed on anticipated point spread as determined by m
divtdoai voters A correct response is credited each t«m« the favored team wins by at laast
the predicted margin The number* following each person s name represent that mdividu
a« s overall record These predictions are intended tor entertainment purposes onty
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