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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1999)
UO takes part in top tourney ■ A youthful Oregon hopes to gain valuable experience at the Las Vegas Invitational By Brett Williams Oregon Daily Emerald Tourists from everywhere flock to Las Vegas to see if they can make it to the top. The Oregon wrestling team is gambling that its hard work will pay off when it competes today and Saturday at the Las Vegas Invitational. The tournament, not sponsored by the NCAA, is a tuneup for some of the best wrestling pro grams in the nation. More than 40 schools from around the country participate annually. “This tournament is like [bas ketball’s] Preseason NIT for wrestling,” said Chuck Kearney, in his second season as Oregon’s head coach. “This is the who’s who of college wrestling.” The tournament consists of 32 man brackets, and some teams are entering partial squads. Unlike the last tournament the Ducks participated in, team scoring is kept in this tournament. Oregon’s youth will be tested early and often. Only two of the Ducks’ starters — junior Doug Lee and sophomore David Watson — have experience in a competitive college match. “No one else has wrestled in a college tournament of this magni tude,” Kearney said. “This will re ally open their eyes to college wrestling. We’re so young that the experience we need we can only gain through competition.” Kearney said many of his ath letes are ready to break out of shells and be come top wrestlers, and this tournament is an excellent opportunity to make such a statement. “Brian Watson is really close to making that step,” said'Kearney of David’s freshman brother. “Eric Webb and Leif Williams are the same. We could walk out after this weekend and say that they re ally matured.” Freshman Tony Overstake gets his first start of the season in the 149-pound weight class. Senior Mark Castle, who wrestled ahead of Overstake in Oregon’s first three competitions, is recovering from injury and was not cleared to participate. Kearney said he feels positive about having Overstake in the starting lineup. “He’s a kid that will rise to the level of competition,” Kearney said. “It’s extremely good for him because he’s on the border of be coming a good college wrestler.” Despite his inexperience, Over stake is confident he will perform well this weekend. “I’m going to go as hard as I can, and I expect to win,” Over stake said. “I was talking to coach, and he said I can surprise some people because I’m a freshman. I’m just going to wrestle as hard as I can and do my best to win.” The Las Vegas Invitational is the beginning of the Ducks’ most difficult month of the season. Ore gon hosts defending Pacific-10 Conference champion Cal-State Bakersfield on Dec. 11 and No. 4 Oklahoma State on Dec. 16. Lee said the competitive tour naments give the Ducks a good tuneup before Pac-10 play begins. “It’s important mentally be cause it will give us confidence later in the season,” said Lee, who wrestles in the 184-pound weight class. “How you do in the presea son gives you confidence when you face the same wrestlers later in the year.” No. 5 and No. 7 clash for SEC title By Paul Newberry The Associated Press ATLANTA — It’s like old times in the Southeastern Conference championship. No. 5 Florida and No. 7 Alaba ma, who met in four of the first five title games, face each other again Saturday night after a two-year hiatus, with a trip to the Orange Bowl at stake. “It seems like every time we go, it’s always against Alabama,” Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. This year, neither team has a chance at the national title and there are no individual honors at stake. Alabama (9-2) overcame the personal troubles surrounding coach Mike DuBose and a humili ating 29-28 loss to Louisiana Tech to get this far. Florida (9-2) was eliminated from the race for No. 1 with a 30-23 loss to top-ranked Florida State two weeks ago. “This is the biggest game of the year in the SEC unless you’re in the national championship game,” Spurrier said. “And we’re not going to be in it.” The SEC champion earns an au tomatic bid to the Bowl Champi onship Series, expecting to face Michigan in the Orange. The loser Saturday probably will head to the Citrus Bowl against Michigan State. Alabama won its last confer ence title in the first champi onship game, defeating Florida 28-21 at Birmingham’s Legion Field in 1992. The Tide went on to beat Miami in the Sugar Bowl and claim the national title. “Most of the time it’s been a very competitive game that’s gone down to the wire,” said DuBose, an assistant during Alabama’s pre vious trips to the title game. “The one I remember most is the only one we won.” Florida won the next four SEC titles, beating Alabama three times. Tennessee has been the Eastern representative the past two years, defeating Auburn and Mississippi State in the champi onship game. DuBose seemed unlikely to get this far in August, when he admit ted to lying about his personal re lationship with a school employee who settled a sexual harassment claim against him. Alabama pun ished the coach by cutting two years and $360,000 from his con tract. After the Sept. 18 loss to Louisiana Tech, which pulled off the upset by throwing a fourth down, 28-yard touchdown pass with two seconds remaining, an gry fans called for DuBose’s ouster. The mood changed dra matically two weeks later when Alabama shocked Florida 40-39 in overtime. The Tide lost only one more game the rest of the way, to Ten nessee, and wrapped up the West ern Division championship with victories over Mississippi State and Auburn. 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