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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 2005)
Sports Oregon Daily Emerald Friday, November 18, 2005 “We would love to have T.O. back. We love what he brings to the team. His emotions, his ability, his confidence. ” Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Ttotter on the team’s feelings heading into today’s grievance hearing for teammate Terrell Owens. ■ Duck wrestling Ducks place well among Cowboy competitors Shane Webster helps lead the Ducks to five title matches over the weekend in Laramie, Wyo. BY SPENCER CRUM FREELANCE REPORTER Last weekend the Oregon men’s wrestling team, led by Shane Webster and Justin Pearch, bucked up at the Cowboy Open. Five title matches featured Ducks, and the rest of the team had an impressive tournament. “Overall I am very pleased with how we competed. We got to see some things we are doing right and some things we need to work on,” Oregon coach Chuck Kearney said. After the first tournament, the Ducks are right where they need to be in pursuit of a national championship. The Ducks made it clear that they came to wrestle when senior Shane Webster was named Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament. “That is a real tribute to Shane, he proba bly wasn’t on top of his game, but to be able to not only win his weight class but also the Outstanding Wrestler title is a testament to just how good he is,” Kearney said. Webster opened with a first-round bye. With expectations high for the 184-pound senior, he responded by defeating Air Force’s Jake Devlin by technical fall with a 22-5 maFk. Webster’s next opponent was Jared Deguerro, who was wrestling unattached. Webster defeated him by major decision, winning 16-5. Webster’s win total moved to three when he knocked off Fort Hays State’s Mike Howell, winning 13-4. In the championship match Webster’s role con tinued as he took down K.C. Walsh of Boise State, winning a 12-5 decision to take the 184-pound title. Another Duck in competition, Ryan Dunn, won the decision 6-4 against Forrest Bouge in the second round of the 125-pound bracket. Dunn claimed third place when he defeated Bouge again with a 5-4 decision. At 133 pounds, junior newcomer Pearch was solid all day, winning the weight class with four straight decisions. Pearch opened his Oregon career with a 9-5 decision over Dave Beagely of Western Wyoming to move to the next round. A semifinal show down with Boise State’s top-ranked Scott Jorgensen, who is also ranked in the top five nationally, ended with a trip to the fi nals for Pearch as he won by decision 5-4. Pearch claimed the championship with his final decision victory, a 9-4 win. “Justin really put himself into a good place with his big win,” Kearney said. “It puts him into the national spotlight a little bit.” This year’s Ducks will have a lot of oppor tunities to be in the national spotlight, espe cially with the depth this Oregon team boasts. Skyler Woods rolled through his first ac tion of the season to advance to his weight class final. Woods opened with a major deci sion over Wyoming’s Shay Lawrence, 14-4. The first decision was a gutsy 1-0 win over Montana State-Northern’s Chris Smith. The second, a 6-4 win over Jeremy Johnson of Fort Hays State. Finally, Woods 3-2 decision over Air Force’s Jake Kriegbaum launched him to the title round. Woods couldn’t keep the roll going in the final however, where he fell to Jesse Brock of Boise State. Cyle Hartzell dropped from the usual WRESTLING, page 6A ■ Men's basketball Season tips off vs. Savannah State Zane Rrrr | Photographer lit B W / K ■* Bk " mr* ... Oregon’s Maarty Leunen scores two of his 12 points last Tuesday against Oregon Tech. Leunen leads the Ducks in free-throw shooting with nine out of 12 attempts. With a perfect exhibition record, the Duck men begin the season at Mac Court on Sunday night BY LUKE ANDREWS SPORTS REPORTER After winning with relative ease in its first two exhibition games, the grace period is now over for the Oregon men’s basketball team in its attempt to erase last season’s disappointing 14-13 record. The Ducks begin their trek back to re spectability in the official-season opener against Savannah State at McArthur Court on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Despite lopsided final scores against lesser op ponents in its exhibition games — 75-58 over Southern Oregon and 84-66 against Oregon Tech — the Ducks understand much improvement is still needed. “Is this team ready for Sunday? We have no choice to be anything else,” guard Malik Hairston said. “We just have to go to practice and continue to work harder. Throughout the season, we need to improve.” Following the win against Southern Oregon, Oregon coach Ernie Kent listed defense and re bounding atop his list of needed improvements. The Ducks responded against Oregon Tech, outrebounding the Owls 41-28 and forcing 19 turnovers. Offensively, Oregon was nearly as sloppy, turning the ball over 16 times. “There was a lot of unforced turnovers, so it’s something that could be a lack of concentra tion, and I think that’s what we need to strive to do — concentrate more,” point guard Aaron Brooks said. The Ducks will attempt to put all phases to gether in Sunday’s opener, a game that marks the first of four games Oregon will play in the Hispanic College Fund Classic. It is the first time the event will be held in Eugene. The Ducks will then face Bowie State on Monday and Pacific on Tbesday. Oregon takes on Rice at home the following Sunday and hits the road to Vanderbilt on Nov. 30. Games against Rice and Vanderbilt are not a part of the Hispanic College Fund Classic, which will resume on Dec. 3 when the Ducks return home to face Georgetown in the Classic’s finale. The opening game pits Oregon and Savan nah State, a Division I-AA school out of Savan nah, Ga., who will be making its first ever trip to Eugene. Like the Ducks, the Tigers enter the season in search of eradicating past memories, MEN, page 8A ■ Women's basketball Ducks face Nevada to start regular play With three of their first four games at McArthur Court, the Ducks will turn to a variety of players to lead the team to a successful year BY JEFFREY DRANSFELDT SPORTS REPORTER The Oregon women’s basketball team has few ideas about what to expect from its next opponent. Nevada has only played two exhibition games. Exhibition games, as Oregon (1-1) has shown, are more about improving the team than winning. Nevada plays its first official game today at Portland State before visiting McArthur Court Sunday at 1 p.m. Oregon has had a week to recover from its loss to No. 21 Temple 51-46 last Saturday. “It was very good for us to see exactly where we are with those top-25 teams,” guard Brandi Davis said. “They are a great ball club.” Oregon defeated visiting St. Francis (Pa.) 80-30 in its season opener the night before. Now, Oregon looks to gain momentum with three of the next four games at McArthur Court. The lone road game is in Portland on Tuesday night. With home games against Arkansas and Drake University, Oregon is looking to gain momentum before spending December on the road. “It’s really a focus for us just to get into that rhythm while we’re comfortable at home so we can take that on our road trip,” Oregon’s 6-foot-6 center Jessie Shetters said. Oregon is relying on a variety of players to start the season. Gabrielle Richards stood out with 19 and 20-point performances in the first two games. Oregon led by three with 2:36 left to play before Temple’s defense focused on Richards and used an 8-0 run to win 51-46. “We relied on her heavily in the game and that is a slight disappointment for us,” Davis said. “We feel like we have other people that can get out there and score as well.” Oregon had an opportunity to tie the game with less than 30 seconds on a three-point attempt by Chelsea Wagner. With no set go-to scorer, Oregon has several options on last second shots. “In any game you always want to go to who is shooting well.... We definitely have a lot of players who can take that shot,” Kaela Chapdelaine said. Oregon has seven players averaging five or more points per game and four players shooting better than .500 through two games. The team is working on giving Shetters a larger role in the offense. With her large frame she is a strong rebounder, but she is working on shooting and adding a mid-range jump shot. “I’m starting to learn how to get position, and that’s the first step,” Shetters said. “After that is actually taking the shot.” The mid-range jump shot could take pressure off of a double-teamed Richards, Shetters said. “It’s a really easy kick for (Richards),” Shetters said. “If I can get that open shot, it gives our WOMEN, page 8A.
