Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, February 21,2002
UO wrestlers pound Portland State in last meet
■ In their last regular season
dual, Oregon lost just two
matches and cruised to a 38-7
victory over Portland State
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
In the final dual meet of the year,
Oregon defeated Portland State 38
7 in front of 469 fans at McArthur
Court on Wednesday night.
The Ducks improved their record
to 9-7 overall and 5-4 in the Pacific
10 Conference, while the Vikings
dipped to 9-13 (3-6 Pac-10).
“We competed well,” head coach
Chuck Kearney said. “With this com
petition, we want our guys to under
stand that regardless of who you are
wresting, whether it is the best team
in the country or a middle team or
whatever, that you go out with the
same attitude and dominance.”
The Oregon team next competes at
the Pac-10 Tournament, where they
will hope to maintain the momen
tum that has developed with
Wednesday night’s win and an 18-14
victory over Oregon State on Feb. 13.
“We’re con
cerned with get
ting ourselves
ready for the con
ference tourna
ment,” Kearney
said. “Things that
worked tonight will work against
guys at Arizona State, Oregon State
and Boise State. We want to have
that attitude when we go into the
conference tournament.”
Before the match, seniors Shaun
Williams (125 pounds) and Eugene
Harris (165 pounds) were honored
in their final home match, and both
were able to come away with wins
for the Ducks. In Harris’s case, his
final Mac Court win was not what
he may have dreamed.
Portland State forfeited the 165
pound match, so Harris was able to
pick up six team points for the Ducks
to raise his total team points on the
season to 94, which leads the squad.
Although he did not get to actually
wrestle for his last home win, Harris
remained in his typically amiable at
titude as he lifted his hand in victo
ry for the last time at Mac Court.
In the 125-pound match
Williams, ranked No. 10 in the
country, won by a score of 10-7, im
proving his record to 9-4.
Of Oregon’s eight wins in the
meet, six wrestlers earned bonus
points for the team. Brian Watson
and Casey Hunt both pinned their
opponents and Eric Webb and Jason
Harless scored technical falls by win
ning by a margin of 15 points.
Kearney was pleased with the
way many of his wrestlers compet
ed, including Jake Leair, who was
one of two Ducks to lose his match.
“Jake Leair, even in the loss, did
a good job of controlling the tempo
of the match,” Kearney said. “He
needs to wrestle from start to finish.
He eased up a little bit and gave up
a takedown.”
Oregon led from the start, winning
the first four matches. Hunt (149
pounds) was ahead by a score of 19-8
when, with 36 seconds remaining,
he pinned his opponent Casey
Banks. He said he is excited about
the way Oregon is competing head
ing into the conference tournament.
“A team like Portland State gave
our guys a chance to open up and get
big wins for us,” Hunt said. “Any
time you can come off a big win go
ing into Pac-lOs, that’s great.” *
In the 133-pound match, Harless,
a sophomore, improved his record
to 14-5 with a 20-5 victory.
“My main intent going out there
was to be intense and control the
action, and for the most part I
thought I did that,” Harless said.
The Pac-10 Tournament will be
held in Corvallis on March 2 and 3.
E-mail sports reporter Chris Cabot
at chriscabot@dailyemerald.com.
Adam Amato Emerald
Senior guard Ben Lindquist has appreciated all that Oregon basketball has
given him and is looking forward to his final two games at Mac Court.
A Basketball
Court-ship
■Two Oregon seniors prepare for their
final games with support from their wives
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
manda Michaelis’ laugh reverberates through the
phone.
JL JL “Oh, I’m sure he gets teased about it,” she said.
She then pauses, laughs again, and continues.
“Seriously, Mark is a wonderful person, and it’s so nice to
have someone like that in my life,” she said. “I think being
married has been a good thing for him as far as basketball
goes. It has made this experience so fun.”
No jokes from teammates could change the way Oregon
senior Mark Michaelis and fellow senior Ben Lindquist feel
about being married to their respective best friends. Michaelis
married Amanda in the summer of 1999, while Lindquist
married his wife, Joy, the following summer.
Lindquist, known as the team’s jokester, said it’s never too
hard to find a stinging comeback if one of his teammates does
attempt to tease him.
“There will be a few guys that try to throw a few jokes my
way, but I’m pretty quick to either get them back or raise an
interesting point about their social life,” Lindquist said.
For these two seniors, this weekend marks their final two
games at McArthur Court. And while they both admit that it
has been tough not playing as much they’d like, they enjoy
just being a part of this team.
Plus, they’re glad that they’ve had somebody to share the
experience with — especially since both Amanda and Joy
have played basketball in the past and understand the pres
sures of an athlete.
“My wife does a great job of supporting me,” Michaelis
said. “It’s been wonderful. We have a pretty good conversa
tion after each game. She tells me things I don’t do right, but
she does it lovingly.
“I can’t imagine playing college ball without being married. ”
As for Lindquist, he could have easily been frustrated after
seeing his minutes slowly decrease through the years. During
his sophomore season, he played in 23 games and then saw
Turn to Seniors, page 10
Adam Amato Emerald
Senior Mark Michaelis has traveled a windy path to Eugene, but says that
being part of a winning Ducks team has made it all worthwhile.
Oregon tries to not look ahead of lowly Washington State
■The women s basketball team travels
to Pullman for the beginning of the end
of the Pac-10 regular season
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
Here’s where it gets to be really interesting.
TWo Pacific-10 Conference games are left
for the Oregon women’s basketball team,
including tonight’s 7 p.m. match against
Washington State (2-23 overall, 0-16 Pac
10} at the Palousa
After taking on the Cougars, the Ducks
(14-11, 9-7) travel west to Seattle to face the
conference’s No. 3 squad, Washington (16
9,11-5), on Saturday.
If the Ducks are able to at least split the
series, they’ll finish as they did last season,
10-8 in the Pac-10. If the Ducks sweep the
weekend series, they will be 11-7 and pos
sibly in the fourth seed for the inaugural
conference tournament.
But if they lose both games, they could
finish 9-9 and fall all the way to seventh.
“I think the Pac-10 is a great confer
ence.” Washington Stete .head, cossh Jenny
Turn to Women’s, page 12
■The men s basketball team aims
to stay undefeated at home against
the last-place Cougars
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Well, it’s just Washington State; just the
good old, 5-18, last-in-the-Pacific-10-Confer
ence Cougars.
It’s also the team that has lost six-straight
games in Eugene — the team that’s won one
game ip its last 17 tries. The team that had
six players suspended last season when the
Cougars decided to take a late-night jaunt to
Rock ’n Rodeo and played the Ducks with
seven players.
But this is a team that still plays in the
Pac-10, so it still has talent — so it could,
conceivably, upset a Pac-10 team at any
time. Washington State will try to upset
Oregon at McArthur Court tonight, starting
at 7 p.m.
“It’s tough to play any team in the confer
ence,” Oregon forward Luke Jackson said.
“Even though their record doesn’t show it,
they’re still a tough game for us.”
Turn to Men’s, page 12