SPORTS 1 « ....— — T '"II iiiiriihimtfBfc.*...™'* ■ «'-..-n-""11------ ■ ' - — KWV!m*> Junior l)an Vidlak (led) will be looking to hetomc Oregon's first three-time all-American in more than 20 years this season. "Whoa1 It s The Killer Bus him Planet X Great movie' I saw it 26 times one night T M f R f AMI OVIH 7 7 MOV If I Ml AT f MS AROUND Hf Mf YOU CAM GIT TO f V f R Y ONI ON ' T Mf BUS I R f t | VAlID U OF O ' STUDENT I D IS A BUS PASS FARE FOR THE TERM INCLUDED IN STUDENT INCIDENTAL I FEES PROVIDED IN I COOPERATION WITH ' ASSOCIATED STUDENTS 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