Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald. com
Thursday, February 28,2002
Oregon Daily Emerald
Best Bet
Men’s hoops: Oregon vs. USC
7:30 p.m., KEZI
Cutting weight not an issue for Oregon wrestlers
■The members of the Oregon wrestling team have
maintained their weight with relative ease this season
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
High school and collegiate wrestlers have struggled for
years to control their weight down to the ounce. Stories of ex
treme measures to cut weight have surfaced, and at times tar
nished, the image of the sport.
The Oregon wrestling team, however, has had little trouble
meeting its weight requirements this sea
son.
“For the most part, we have nobody that
is really having to cut weight,” head coach
Chuck Kearney said. “They are managing
their weight, but they are not having to cut
weight. With this particular team, at the
end of practice on a good hard day, every
body is within a pound or two of making weight.”
New regulations were enacted during the 1999-2000 sea
son, placing tighter guidelines on the weight class that ath
letes are eligible to compete in. Before the start of each sea
son wrestlers must complete a “weight certification” process
that involves measurements of body density, body fat and
weight. The wrestler must also meet a certain level of hydra
tion during these tests for the measurements to be acceptable.
The certification determines the minimum weight-class that
the wrestler is eligible to compete in during the season. The
athlete may move up to a heavier weight class if they desire.
Many of Oregon’s wrestlers jumped up weight classes this
year from where they wrestled last season, including Brian
Watson (133 pounds to 141), Tony Overstake (149 to 157) and
Eugene Harris (157 to 165). Kearney said that his wrestlers
have made the adjustments to the new regulations.
Turn to Wrestling, page 12
«
Adam Amato Emerald
Senior Brian Watson (left) is one of four Oregon starters who moved up a weight class this season in order to more easily make weight.
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon knows it must come together on the road if it’s going to win its first league title since the 1944-45 season.
USC in Ducks’ way of Pac-10 title
■ Oregon hits the road to end the regular
season and attempt to win a league title
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Win tonight, and the Ducks clinch at least a
share of the conference championship for the first
time in 57 years.
So pack the champagne bottles, right? Not ex
actly.
“We’ll celebrate after Saturday,” senior Freddie
Jones said.
Pending, of course, wins by the No. 13 Oregon
men’s basketball team over No. 18 USC at 7:30
tonight and over unranked UCLA at 1 p.m. Sat
urday.
If the Ducks (20-7,12-4) lose to the Trojans, they’d
face the task of winning at Pauley Pavilion — a
place they haven’t won at since 1984 — on Satur
day in order to capture a piece of the title.
But should the Ducks win both games this week
end, the Pacific-10 Conference championship
would be theirs alone to cherish.
“Our whole goal is to be solo
champions,” senior Anthony
Lever said. “It’ll feel a lot better if
we end up there by ourselves
rather than splitting it.”
Still, a victory tonight is rea
son for celebration as it not only
clinches a co-title, but also guar
antees the Ducks of a No. 1 seed
in the upcoming Pac-10 Tournament.
“This is the biggest game in the history of the
University of Oregon since maybe the Tall Firs
considering what’s at stake,” head coach Ernie
Kent said.
The Tall Firs were the legendary 1938-39 Ore
gon team that captured the first-ever NCAA
Turn to Men’s, page 12
Seize this special day
Carpe this diem, friends.
Carpe this diem.
Pardon my poor Latin, but
“carpe diem,” as we all know
thanks to “Dead Poet’s Society,” means
“seize the day.”
Seize this day.
Because Thursday, February 28,
2002, could be the pinnacle for the
Oregon athletics program. The point of
no return. The top of the mountain
where the Ducks place their Nike “O”
flag and start down the other side.
But more than likely, the top of that
athletics mountain is a little broader.
More than likely, the Ducks reached
the summit in 1995, when they went to
the Rose Bowl in football. Or 1999
2000, when the Oregon men’s basket
ball team lived through a stunning 20
win, NCAA Tournament season.
It was probably earlier, with the
women’s track dominance of the
1980s. Or the living legend of Steve
Prefontaine in the early 1970s. »
All of those athletic phenomena
have served to raise the nation’s eye
brows in the direction of the Beaver
state.
The Duck state?
Because we live in the Oregon ath
letics renaissance.
This renaissance is Oregon football
eating buffalo for a Jan. 1 afternoon
snack, furthering the argument that the
Rose Bowl days later should have been
red, white, green and yellow.
This renaissance is Oregon men’s
basketball playing USC tonight for Pa
cific-10 Conference dominance, an al
most sure first-round win in the Pac-10
Tournament and a West Coast NCAA
Tournament berth. If there was any re
maining doubt about whether tonight’s
game is one of the most important
games in the country, Fox Sports Net
broke a strong policy by allowing the
game to be televised in the Northwest.
This renaissance is CBS crawling
over McArthur Court on Wednesday
because this Saturday’s game at UCLA
is nationally televised.
It’s a Freddie Jones season-dunk
highlight reel on SportsCenter. It’s top
recruits like Luke Ridnour choosing
Oregon over nationally prominent pro
grams such as Kentucky and UCLA. It’s
a phenomenal 16-0
home record in a
season that’s turn
ing into a true gem.
It’s Joey Harring
ton on ESPN’s
SportsCentury. It’s
Mike Bellotti as an
analyst for ABC’s
coverage of the
Rose Bowl. It’s a
No. 2 final football
ranking.
There are Duck
fans who’ve lived
in Eugene for years
and never seen a
hint of the renais
sance. They’ve lived through 0-0 Toilet
Bowls and six-win basketball seasons.
Now it’s payback time. How about
the most heart-stopping football team
and the highest flying basketball team
in the land to make up for those histor
ically dull Ducks?
But the renaissance isn’t confined to
Autzen Stadium and Mac Court. It’s
slowly bleeding like a soccer injury out
to Pape Field and the stands at Hay
ward Field. It’s seeping out to the Eu
gene Country Club and Howe Field.
The renaissance is Oregon soccer
landing recruits like Chalise Baysa
and Nicole Garbin, big-game kickers
who are laying a foundation for coach
Bill Steffen.
It’s Oregon volleyball hiring a top
drawer coach in Carl Ferreira, who in
turn landed big-time recruits like Katie
O’Neil and Stephanie Martin, who are
Turn to Hockaday, page 13
Hockaday
Two minutes for
crosschecking