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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2000)
The Oregon wrestling team searches for a win tonight against Fresno State. Bulldogs headed for the Pit ■ Oregon tries to rebound from a tough Civil War loss tonight at McArthur Court against Fresno State By Brett Williams Oregon Daily Emerald The young Oregon wrestling team experienced a setback in its 24-13 loss to rival Oregon State last Friday. But don’t think the Duck grap plers are going to let that affect their play this Friday when Ore gon battles Fresno State at McArthur Court. The Ducks’ third straight home match should be tough for both teams. Both squads have under gone major facelifts since the last time they met during the 1997-98 season, when Oregon won, 28 13. While the Ducks have a large number of true freshman in their starting lineup, the Bulldogs have tapped the junior college ranks, recruiting four new play ers this season. However, each team is without its best player. Oregon’s Chael Sonnen and the Bulldogs’ Stephen Abas, Jr. are currently both practicing with the U.S. Olympic Team. Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney said his team’s main fo cus is its own style, rather than worrying about what kind' of problems the opposing team may present. “With our group, we spend a lot of time working on our stuff,” Kearney said. “And not as much time on the opponents. With our youth, we want to be attacking as a program, so what they’re doing isn’t as important. We are con centrating on things we’re doing, and we want them to react to us and our aggressive style.” After last weekend’s loss to Oregon State, Kearney was quick to point out that, at this point in the season, the productivity and maturation of his younger play ers is more important than wins and losses. “We want to go out and do what we’ve been doing in prac tice,” Kearney said. “Not worry about results. Anytime we win it’s a payback for beating a real solid program, and that’s a bene fit for us.” Fresno State (5-3) participated in a pair of tough matches last weekend. The Bulldogs handed San Francisco a 28-6 loss in the first game of their doubleheader before being manhandled in their own gym by No.6 Illinois, 39-6. Fatigue may have played a factor in that loss. But if the Bulldogs thought last weekend was grueling, they may be in for a rude awakening when they reach Eugene. Fresno State wrestles Portland at 10:00 pm on Friday and then Central Wash ington at 12 p.m. before traveling south to Eugene to face the Ducks. Oregon has some idea of what to expect from the Bulldogs. Both teams participated in the Las Ve gas Invitational earlier this year. At the Invitational, the Bull dogs’ Paris Ruiz placed second. He will go toe-to-toe with Ore gon’s Brian Watson, who’s com ing off a big win against Oregon State’s Ben Richards last week end. Ruiz is just one example of the caliber of talent Fresno State brings to the table. Kearney calls the Bulldogs “top-to-bottom, a real solid program.” Oregon’s Eugene Harris will have another tough match against the Bulldogs. Harris, a junior college transfer from Lassen, was one of the Ducks’ most consistent wrestlers before losing 7-0 against Oregon State’s Eric Jorgenson. Harris will try to rebound against Fresno State’s Tim Cornish. Cornish was the only Bulldog besides Ruiz to record a victory against Illinois. Men’s hoops continued from page 7 The win was huge for the Ducks, especially considering that Washington clearly out played Oregon in a sluggish first half by the Ducks. “This year in the PaC-10 con ference, there is no such thing as an ugly win on the road,” said Oregon head coach Ernie Kent, who snapped a personal three game losing streak in Seattle. “It was a tough-fought battle for us. The character of this team stepped up and did the job for us down the stretch.” Oregon appeared to have the win toward the end of regulation after a spinning lay-up by Bracey gave the Ducks a 66-62 lead with 1 minute and 35 seconds left. But Washington forward Thalo Green — the 1996 Oregon High School player of the year at South Salem High — converted four of his 13 points down the stretch to tie the game at 66. Oregon had a chance to win at the end of regulation, as sopho more guard Freddie Jones drove to the basket and dished to Smith under the hoop. But the ball bounced off of his hands and out of bounds with less than a sec ond on the clock. Smith was held to single digits for the first time this year, finish ing with just four points. Smith’s play matched that of his teammates early on, as it was not clear whether Oregon was mentally ready for the game. Behind guard Deon Luton, Washington came out as the ag gressor and dictated the tempo of the game. Luton converted on all three of his three-point tries to score 13 of his team-high 18 points in the half. The Husky defense shut down Oregon’s perimeter game and most of its inside game in the first half. Besides Bracey’s 12 point first-half performance, Ore gon’s post players went a com bined 0-for-6 in the half. “We were out-of-sync offen sively,” Kent said. “I noticed it as soon as the game started that it was going to be a long first half. It took us a half to blow it out of our system because you don’t come back in a game and shoot 57 per cent for as poorly as .we played in that first half.” Jones joined the Ducks point parade and played a key role in the win with 19 points, most coming in the second half. But following the game, atten tion centered around Mr. Bracey. “For a guy to go 10 for 10 is in credible in the Pac-10 and in this type of environment,” said Kent, . whose team now travels to Wash ington State to take on the Cougars Saturday night. “He had a big game at the right time, and that’s an example of the depth on this basketball team.” NADA ZIP ZILCII FREE FREE MONTH WIRELESS ACTIVATION Sign up for one of the many qualified plans from AT&T Wireless Services by January 24, 2000 and we'll pay your first month's service and activation fees. Wirelen Long Distance Calling Card Internet AT&T personal network Authorized 657 W Centennial Springfield, OR 736-DUCK •JlM: irclc//> Unlimited Guaranteed Lowest Prices on Phones sat. • jan. 22nd 9-1 Opm john shipe trio rock fri.. jan. 12th eclectic open mic 9pm-midnight music ► poetry ► performance art ► theatre Sign-up to perform at The Break (located next to The Buzz) For more info call Melanie at 346-3725 tue. • jan. 25th 8-1 Opm university jazz combo thu.-jan.27th john hermann 9.30-11.30pm ascoustic Pick up an Emerald at S3 campus & community locations.
