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.