Sports briefs
Steen’s season done
Junior Kyla Steen, a guard for the
Oregon women’s basketball team,
won’t play again this season after
she tore the anterior cruciate liga
ment of her left knee in Saturday’s
game against UCLA.
It will be six months before Steen
can fully recover from the injury,
which she suffered on a fast-break
play late in the game Saturday. On
the play, she stole the ball from a
Bruin player, broke down the court
and crumpled to the floor as she
went up for the lay-in.
Steen will miss the Ducks’ re
match with the Bruins on Saturday
in the Pacific-10 Conference Tour
nament. UCLA and Oregon are set
to tip off at 7:15 p.m. Saturday.
—Peter Hockaday
Golfers finish 13th
John Ellis was the bright spot.
The rest of the Oregon men’s golf
team wasn’t spot-on.
The Ducks finished 13th of 17
teams at the Cleveland Golf Classic
in Westlake Village, Calif., Tuesday.
Ellis notched his third top-10 finish of
the season by climbing 13 spots on
the final day to finish eighth overall.
The next-best Oregon finisher was
Gregg LaVoie, who finished 54th.
Oregon’s next tournament will be
at home, when the team hosts the
Duck Invitational, March 24-25 at
the Eugene Country Club.
Peter Hockaday
Men's
continued from page 5
— in the second round.
The reason the Ducks are pro
jected in the bottom-half of the
bracket? Because they are ranked
No. 48 in the Ratings Percentage
Index, and their strength-of
schedule rank is No. 124.
“Does it concern me that we’re
so low? A little bit, and that’s why
I feel we have to continue to win
games,” Oregon head coach Ernie
Kent said.
A No. 9 seed in the Big Dance
is tough to swallow for an Ore
gon team that was ranked as
high as No. 5 in the national
polls this season after a Dec. 7
win over Kansas. Kent also used
wins over Minnesota, Stanford
and Pepperdine to boost his
team’s schedule strength.
“I felt like we had a very tough
preseason schedule,” Kent said.
“Some of those teams, like Pep
perdine, have faltered because of
injuries. Our expectations were so
high, we started the season so
high, and we got blown out in a
couple games there, and people
started to go away from us.
“But if we can get into the
tournament, we’re a very dan
gerous team.”
The Ducks close out the Pac-10
season this week on the road
against Arizona State (17-10,9-7),
the team Oregon will face first in
the conference tournament, and
No. 1 Arizona (23-2, 15-1). A
sweep in the desert would surely
raise the Ducks’ seed — but that’s
easier said than done.
“We don’t want to leave it up to
the selection committee,” point
guard Luke Ridnour said. “We want
to play for a higher seed. These are
NCAA-type games, and they get
you ready for the tournament.”
Oregon recruit named
All-American
Seattle native Aaron Brooks, the
highlight of Kent’s incoming re
cruiting class, was named a high
school All American last week, one
of only 24 players in the country to
earn such recognition.
Brooks became just the fifth
prep hoopster from Washington to
earn All-American status. In
2000, Ridnour, of Blaine, Wash.,
was the last Washingtonian to be
named to the team.
“Oh, man,” Brooks told The
Seattle Times shortly after learning
about the announcement on
Thursday. “I am so honored. I can’t
believe I made it. I was surprised.”
A 6-foot senior guard at
Franklin High School, Brooks is
averaging 21.9 points, 5.2 assists
and 3.3 steals for the Quakers, the
state’s top-ranked Class 4A team.
He will play in the McDonald’s All
American Game on March 26 at
Cleveland’s Gund Arena. The
game will be broadcast on ESPN
at 4 p.m.
“That’s good for the program and
shows what coach Kent has been
able to do here,” Ridnour said.
Asked if two high-school All
Americans were going to be on
the Oregon roster next year, Rid
nour hesitated, then said, “That’s
what it looks like.”
Ridnour, of course, may opt to
enter the NBA draft after this
season.
Contact the senior sports reporter
at adamjude@dailyemerald.com
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Wrestling
continued from page 5
Redshirt senior Tony Overstake
saw the end of his collegiate
wrestling career as he was pinned
by Beaver wrestler Tony Hook.
Overstake lost his first match at
149, bumping him to the consola
tion bracket, where he faced Hook.
Overstake ended with an 18-10
record on the season and an 85-46
career record.
Martin Mitchell ended his season
the way he spent most of it — by
pinning his opponent. The sopho
more won his first match, then lost
a 9-6 decision. Mitchell next lost a 5
3 decision, sending him to the fifth
place match. He pinned Stanford’s
Nathan Peterson at the 1:03 mark,
earning fifth place. He finished the
season with a 15-8 record at 125, in
cluding seven pins.
Redshirt freshman Neil Phillips
pinned his first opponent in the
conference tournament before los
ing two matches. Phillips finished
the season with a 10-21 record after
becoming the starter at heavyweight
in January, when senior Eric Webb
withdrew from competition for
medical reasons.
Elias Soto had a 1-8 record at 184
before moving up to 197 for most of
the dual season. The sophomore
won an 8-3 decision in the tourna
ment before losing two matches to
end his season. Soto finished with a
4-11 record at 197.
Freshman Tony Rolen went 0-2 in
the conference tournament at 184,
ending his freshman season with a 6
15 record. Rolen became a regular
starter after Soto moved up to 197.
“We have a group of guys that
Wagner
continued from page 5
and wasn’t completely aware of her
presence and her ability, but after
talking with some high school
coaches here and her high school
coach, it became apparent that she
was someone that could not only
give us a lot in terms of basketball
skills, but a positive attitude and
wanting to be a Duck.”
Wagner took the situation in
stride, knowing that maybe her
freshman season wasn’t meant to
be spent in an Oregon uniform.
But now she’s in Eugene, perform
ing duties as a redshirt, helping
her teammates prepare for their
next opponent.
“I do wish I could get in there
and play,” she said. “But I try to
say ‘Hey, if I push them hard in
practice, then they’ll do well in
the game.’”
It has been a long season for the
Duck women, and an even longer
one for Wagner. It is a season that
has tested her ability to remain
calm, despite an intense desire to
play. But she has a lot to look for
ward to.
Next year, Wagner will be up for
a starting spot, as will every Oregon
player. But for her, just being able
to step on the McArthur Court floor
in a regular season game will mean
more than anything.
“It’s been great being able to look
up into the stands and see my fami
ly there,” she said. “I mean, I grew
up coming to Mac Court and
watching the girls play. I can look
up into the crowd and go, ‘Wow, I
used to be the little girl up there
Adam Amato Emerald
Luke Larwin (top) won fourth place in the Rac-10, but had his national berth taken by a
challenge from Boise State's Nathan Ploehn, who finished fifth.
worked so hard, things just didn’t go
our way,” head coach Chuck Kear
ney said.
Larwin’s finish
challenged
Larwin was challenged late Mon
day by what the Pac-10 calls its
“true fourth-place” rule. The rule
says that the fifth-place finisher
can challenge the fourth-place fin
isher under one of two conditions:
The two wrestlers had not previ
ously met in the tournament, or
the fifth-place wrestler had already
defeated the fourth-place wrestler
in the tournament.
Boise State’s Nathan Ploehn fin
ished fifth and challenged Larwin
for his spot in the NCAAs because
the two had not met in the tourna
ment. After regulation and one over
time, the match was tied at one. In
the second overtime, Larwin was
called for an illegal hand lock, giving
Ploehn a win and the NCAA berth.
Harless 'wild’ choice
for NCAAs
Joining the top four wrestlers
from each weight class are two wild
card wrestlers. After the 40
wrestlers were finalized, the Pac-10
coaches voted on the wild cards.
One berth went to Rowdy Lunde
green of Gal State-Fullerton, and jun
ior Jason Harless of Oregon earned
the second. Harless joins senior
Casey Hunt and sophomore Shane
Webster at the national tournament.
Mindi Rice is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.
Adam Amato Emerald
Wagner spent a year at Hawaii, but transferred to Oregon when Smith opened a spot.
watching them.’
“It’s been a pretty amazing expe
rience. It’s kind of like a dream
come true. That almost sounds
corny, but it really has.
Contact the sports reporter
at hahkhager@dailyemerald.coni.' *