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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1999)
UO wrestlers prepare to battle best in the Midwest me uncos are set to jace two top-five teams in a trip to Oklahoma By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald It's crunch time. The Oregon wrestling team left Eugene early Thursday morning, en route to Oklahoma. Only two meets separate the Ducks from their end-of-season home stand. But it just so happens that the two meets will be against the toughest opponents the Ducks face all year. Tonight, Oregon will wrestle No. 5 Oklahoma, and on Saturday night the Ducks will take on No. 1 Oklahoma State. Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney said he is looking for ward to both meets, but he does not want to put the importance of WRESTLING tnis dual meet above others. “I’m excited every time we step out and compete,” Kear ney said. "I like watching us in different arenas in different set tings, and stepping out and com peting and pulling together as a team. Doing those types of things that will give us the opportunity to be successful.” Oklahoma is 3-2-1 in its last six matches. One loss came against No. 3 Iowa, while the other loss and the tie came against No. 4 Iowa State. The Sooners’ recent wins came over No. 11 Penn State, No. 9 Central Michigan and No. 7 Nebraska. “Oklahoma has got a fantastic dual meet team,” Kearney said. “They’ve got no weak weights and they’re solid from top to bot tom.” Leading the way for Oklahoma will be No. 3 Michael Lightner, a 141 pounder who has a 26-1 record this season. Sooner John Henry Ward is ranked No. 5 at heavyweight. At 125 pounds, No. 4 Shane Valdez of Oklahoma has compiled a 22-2 record. Oregon’s Daryl Christian will also have a good matchup at 157 pounds against No. 15 David Kjeldgaard. Oregon's 165-pound Sean Mor gan will wrestle No. 4 Rodney Jones, who has six pins this sea son. Morgan said this match will help him prepare himself for the NCAA Tournament. "I’m expecting to see these guys [at the tournament], granted I make it back there,” Morgan said. “It’s a good tester to let me know where I stand right now; if I need to work on some things or if I’m starting to get there. I want to give them a good match, beat them, and it will be a good test to see where I stand at this point of the season." However, Kearney said top ranked Oklahoma State will prove to be the Ducks’ greatest challenge. He said the Cowboys are “the second best dual meet team in the nation.” “[Oklahoma] lacks the race horses that Oklahoma State has,” Kearney said. “Oklahoma State has two defending national cham pions, and they’ve got three guys ranked No. 1 in the country. They’ve got some real champi onship quality wrestlers.” Oklahoma State has won 62 consecutive dual meets. The Cowboys have seniors on the team who have never experi enced the feeling of losing a dual meet in college. Top-ranked Oklahoma wrestlers include Teague Moore at 125 pounds, Eric Guerrero at 133 pounds, and Mark Smith at 174 pounds. They hold records of 18-0,17-0, and 22-0, respectively. Christian and Doug Lee will have important matches against the Cowboys. Christian will wres tle No. 5 Jimmy Arias, and Lee will face No. 6 Mark Munoz at 184 pounds. Kenny Cox, who did make the trip after sitting out last week, will have his hands full against Moore. _ Nick Mctlky/Enumild Daryl Christian, a 157-pound senior with a 14-7 record for the Ducks, takes a breather from a match last season. 49ers’field among the worst ay Fred Goodall The Associated Press MIAMI — Grass isn’t always greener and it isn’t always better than artificial turf — at least not in San Francisco. The natural playing surface at 3Com Park, home of the 49ers, is bad and getting worse, according to a survey released Thursday by the NFL Players Association. It was the lowest ranked grass field, slipping to fifth-worst overall. The best field was in Tampa Bay’s new Raymond James Stadium. The worst was in Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, despite a new carpet that was installed two years ago at a cost of $2 million. The field has ranked last all three years the survey has been conducted. “The Eagles and the Phillies had a major role in selecting the product ... and $2 million certainly buys you a good piece of carpet,” said Jim Smith, spokesman for the stadium’s management firm. “Some players aren’t aware that it’s new turf and don’t bother to compare what they have in mind with reality.” The survey covered 29 fields. The NFL has 30 teams, but the New York Jets and Giants share a stadium at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. 3Com Park’s ranking marked the first time a grass surface finished that low. The San Francisco field was ranked the 13th-worst surface five years ago and seventh-worst in a 1996 study. “I think the results show that players not only are concerned about the kind of surface they play on, but whether those fields are properly maintained,” said Richard Berthelsen, chief counsel for the NFLPA. Besides Veterans Stadium, three other stadiums with carnet — Cincinnati’s Cinerev Field, Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium and Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. — ranked below 3Com Park. lampa Bay s grass held was first in the two previous surveys, but that was in the team’s former home, Houlihan’s Stadium. All of the top five-ranked surfaces were grass. Finishing second was Carolina’s Ericsson Stadium, followed by Jacksonville’s Alltel Stadium, Miami’s Pro Player Stadium and Baltimore’s PSINet Stadium. Four of the five stadiums opened in the past three seasons. Players overwhelmingly preferred grass surfaces. A total of 957 responded to the survey, with 87 percent preferring natural turf. More players said they had no preference than preferred artificial turf, 8 percent to 5 percent. “Given the need to stay competitive in this day of free agency, we anticipate that many NFL clubs will recognize that converting to, or maintaining a first-class natural grass playing field, is paramount in attracting topflight talent,” NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw said. Players were nearly unanimous in their belief that artificial turf is more likely than grass to contribute to injuries, and about 90 percent said it is more likely to shorten their careers. About half the respondents said they suffered an injury on artificial turf that would not have happened on grass. Almost nine of every 10 said playing on an artificial surface will worsen their quality of life after football. Pro Player Stadium, site of this year’s Super Bowl, ranked fourth-best, slipped from the second-place ranking it held in the previous studies. Atlanta and Denver will play Sunday on what is essentially a new field, installed by a company run by golfer Greg Norman. The 49ers weren’t alone in having a grass field the players dislike. Four other teams — Chicago, New England, Oakland and San Diego — rank in the bottom 15. Ducks go up against nation s No. 1 team By Mirjam Swanson tor the Emerald The Stanford men’s tennis team is perennially a national power, and this season, the Cardinal has ascended to the top of the Associated Press top 25 poll again. TENNIS but tor ail of its accom plishments, No. 1 Stan ford has yet to win a match in Eugene. l nat s Because the t.ardinal (1-0) will play its first match ever at Oregon this weekend, the day after No. 25 California (1-0) comes to town for the first time in a quarter of a century. The Ducks face California at the Willow Creek Tennis Club on Saturday, then Stanford at the Eugene Swim and Tennis Club on Sunday. Each match will begin at 12 p.m. 1 he visiting teams will have to contend with an Oregon team (1-2) that is playing confi dent ly after picking up a strong win against Portland last week end. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Oregon head coach Chris Russell said. “It’s tough playing on a good team’s home court, and we are now a good team.” Oregon’s No. 1 singles play er, junior Guillermo Carter, will lead the Ducks into ac tion this weekend. Carter col lected impressive marks dur ing the individual season last fall, including a berth in the semifinals of the ITA Rolex Regional Championships held at Stanford. Adding to the Ducks' confi dence, freshmen Thomas Schneiter and Bertrand Dev illers each won his singles matches last weekend, both scoring a straight-sets victory over their respective Portland opponents. Also, senior Miguel Arriaga is undefeated so far during the team season, and team cap tain Carlos Navarro has only lost once. Despite a 6-1 loss to Califor nia and 7-0 loss to Stanford last season, Russell says he’s optimistic about his team’s chances this weekend. “Cal is going to play well against Oregon because they think they’re supposed to beat us," Russell said.
