Oregon wrestler Ryan Dunn has not only locked up a position in a Pacific-10 Conference Championships final matches tomorrow, but he’s also ensured that the Ducks will have at least one more meet beyond the Pac-10s.
The fourth-seeded Dunn locked up his finals berth by scoring a dramatic victory over the top-seeded 133-pound wrestler, Cal State Fullerton’s Tyler Dillashaw. With a slim 2-1 lead going into the third round of their semi-final match, Dunn hit two takedowns, including a dramatic slam that brought Oregon coach Chuck Kearney and the 1,436 fans at McArthur Court to their feet. Dunn won the match 6-2 and will wrestle Boise State’s Cory Fish for the 133-pound championship today.
“That was probably the best match I saw tonight,” Kearney said. “It’s hard for me to think that you could watch that and think that wrestling’s not fashionable. The crowd was on its feet for the entire seven minutes.”
The tournament starts back up today at 3 p.m. at McArthur Court, with the championship and third-place matches slated for 7 p.m.
Cody Moulton will have a chance to continue through the consolation bracket after turning an 8-5 deficit into a 12-8 win in the last 30 seconds of his 141-pound consolation match. Moulton scored a takedown and two near-falls in the last minute to score seven points and earn the win over Oregon State’s Heinrich Barnes.
Kearney praised Moulton’s adaptation to the 141-pound weight class. “With Cody, we see it all week in practice, and we know what he’s capable of,” Kearney said. “And now it’s about building confidence to go wrestle seven hard minutes.”
With the top three in each weight class earning automatic bids, Moulton, Kyle Bounds at 157 pounds, Zack Frazier at 165 pounds, and heavyweight Charlie Alexander all have a chance to earn NCAA Championship berths through the consolation bracket.
“We’ve got a good number of guys that if they can put together two matches, they can be national qualifiers,” Kearney said. If those four Ducks get to the third-place matches they will have a decent shot at one of the nine remaining at-large bids, which Kearney said usually go to fourth or fifth-placed wrestlers.
Oregon’s Joey Lucas and Ron Lee still have the chance to improve their final standings to seventh place today. Lucas was close to surviving, losing his consolation bracket match Sunday evening 3-2 against Oregon State’s Jake Gonzalez. Lee suffered losses to the second and third-seeded 174-pound wrestlers, Stanford’s Luke Feist and UC Davis’ Tyler Bernacchi.
Ducks eliminated earlier in the day included 149-pound senior Elliott Tracy, 197-pound junior Shaun Dee, and junior Jeremy McLaughlin, who is listed at 149 pounds but wrestled in the 184-pound bracket Sunday. Dee lost his first match of the day to top 197-pound seed Jason Trulson. The Arizona State wrestler nailed a takedown in overtime to take the 3-1 win.
Boise State leads the way in team standings with 128 points and six of their 10 wrestlers in the championship rounds; the Ducks currently sit ninth, with just Dunn in the top half of the bracket. Oregon’s coach still believes a flock of Ducks could be making their way to St. Louis, though.
“I think we’re definitely in a position if we wrestle with good energy and good emotion that we can do that,” Kearney said.
[email protected]