Wednesday
Best Bet
NBA: Portland at Philadelphia
5 p.m., TNT
SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
Ducks emerge from holidays ranked No. 10
A tough
holiday
schedule puts
the Oregon
wrestling team
on the map
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
They entered the holidays as an un
known team with a few standout
wrestlers. They emerged as the No. 10
team in the nation with six wrestlers
ranked nationally.
The month of December may go
down as one of the most successful in
Oregon wrestling history. What is de
ceiving about the holiday break, how
ever, is that the Ducks picked up their
first three losses of the season in that
time.
On Dec. 13, Oregon began the break
by defeating in-state rival Oregon State
for the first time since 1997.
Sophomore heavyweight Eric Webb
provided inspiration and a key six
points with his pin over the Beavers’
Jason Cooley to begin the match. Webb
tangled with No. 2 Cooley for three
rounds before earning a pin with only
eight seconds remaining.
“It was exciting,” Webb said. “I final
ly wrestled my match. It was me con
trolling the match and I was mentally
prepared.”
Oregon State stormed back, taking a
16-15 lead with two matches remain
ing. Seniors Doug Lee and Chael Son
nen came through for Oregon, each
earning decisions to seal the upset.
“On paper we had five solid weight
classes that we knew we could win,”
Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney
said. “We got the extra win at heavy
weight and that really gave us momen
tum.”
The Ducks also participated in two
prestigious tournaments where they
Turn to Wrestling, page 9
Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald
Oregon junior Eugene Harris (left) is one of six ranked Duck wrestlers in the nation.
Runge s kids bounce back after a tough December
Tom Patterson Emerald
■ Oregon dropped three straight
during the holiday break, but
regained its poise to win the next
four games
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
It was a December to remember for
the Oregon women’s basketball team —
but for all the wrong reasons.
After a remarkable 4-0 start, which
included wins over then-No. 16 Wis
consin and 18th-ranked North Carolina
State, the Ducks (8-3 overall, 1-0 Pacif
ic-10 Conference) were propelled to a
No. 10 ranking in the Associated Press
poll.
With the second toughest schedule in
the country, though, head coach Jody
Runge’s early success didn’t last. Ore
gon dropped three straight games on
the road to ranked opponents, all in the
span of one week.
The first loss of the season came at
the hands of the Texas Longhorns on
Dec. 9 — and it wasn’t a pretty sight for
the Ducks, who suffered a 82-58 thrash
ing. The loss was the team’s worst loss
since 1994.
“Texas just ran us through the floor,”
said Angelina Wolvert, who is leading
Turn to Women’s, page 9
On Tap:
Oregon Women
vs. California
January 11
7pm at
McArthur Court
Men's basketball ‘tested,' enjoys four winter break wins
The Ducks
found a way to
win every
game except
Auburn, and
took positives
from their four
wins over the
school’s winter
break
iftSKETiiiii
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
While most Oregon students nestled
snug in their beds with visions of sug
arplums this break, a small band of
Ducks — the men’s basketball team —
set out to complete an undefeated pre
season.
After defeating Massachusetts in the
Pape Jam just before finals, Oregon was
5-0 and off to its best start under
fourth-year head coach Ernie Kent.
The Ducks would continue their
streak one more game into December,
beating Illinois-Chicago 110-87 at
McArthur Court Dec. 12. The streak
would end, though, with a 101-97
overtime loss to Auburn at the Las Ve
gas Showdown.
Oregon then rattled off three wins
against Northern Arizona, South Car
olina State and Louisville to cap a 5-1
December. The Ducks’ victory over
Oregon State last week moved their
overall record to 10-1.
“This team has tremendous charac
ter,” Kent said. “We’ve been tested
with the altitude, with the third game
in seven days, we’ve been tested at
Louisville on the road in front of
16,000.
“The one thing we have yet to con
quer is understanding what it takes to
win at the Pac-10 level. We’ve con
quered the preseason.”
Each of Oregon’s wins in December
highlighted one of the team’s individ
ual strengths. Against Illinois-Chicago,
forward Bryan Bracey and guard Fred
die Jones poured in 20 points each to
lead the Ducks to the 23-point victory.
Turn to Men’s, page 12
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon freshman guard Luke Ridnour ranks fifth in the Pacific-10 Conference in assists per game.