Since early September, the Oregon wrestling team has been training for this weekend. For two seniors, the training began five years ago.
The 2000-2001 wrestling season comes to a finale this weekend in Iowa City, Iowa, for the NCAA Championships, which run Thursday through Saturday.
Seven Ducks will be vying for individual titles. Oregon hasn’t sent so many entrants to the big meet since the 1980-81 season.
“We feel we’ve yet to prove ourselves on the mat,” Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney said. “We have one goal left: Place in the top 10 at nationals.”
Senior All-Americans Doug Lee and Chael Sonnen enter the meet as Oregon’s highest seeds. Both are seeded No. 6 in the 34-man brackets, and both are chasing their third top-eight finishes at the NCAA meet.
Lee, who is 184 pounds and 32-5 this season, makes his fourth consecutive NCAA appearance and faces unranked Jeffrey Moskyok of Duquesne in first round action.
Lee’s biggest obstacle at 184 pounds will be arguably the greatest wrestler in collegiate history: Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson, who is undefeated in college with a 114-0 record.
“Doug’s goal is to win a national championship,” Kearney said. “And he wants to wrestle Sanderson for the title.”
Sonnen placed eighth at the 1998 NCAA meet before taking last year off to compete with the prestigious U.S. Olympic team. The West Linn-native faces Wyoming’s Craig Rumsey in the first round of the 197-pound bracket.
If Sonnen makes it out of the first two rounds, he could face No. 3 seed Zach Thompson of Iowa State, a wrestler he defeated at the Midlands Tournament on Dec. 29. Two days after defeating Thompson, Sonnen dropped a 10-3 decision to top-seed Mark Munoz of Oklahoma.
Sophomore Brian Watson is Oregon’s only other seeded wrestler, 12th at 133 pounds. Watson (22-9) has already defeated his first round opponent, Shawn Kegal of Buffalo, 7-2. Watson wrestled at the 2000 NCAA Championships but did not place.
Junior transfer Shaun Williams makes his first NCAA meet appearance after winning a junior college title and a spot on the South African Olympic team. The Pretoria, South Africa, native is 28-9 this season and faces No. 5 Matt Ridings of Oklahoma in the first round.
Junior Eugene Harris makes his second trip to nationals at 157 pounds. The Las Vegas-native faces Cael Sanderson’s older brother Cole in the first round. Should Harris (20-14) upset the elder Sanderson, he could face Pacific-10 Conference rival Rocky Smart of Arizona State in the second round.
Making his first trip to nationals is sophomore Tony Overstake at 149 pounds. After tearing the meniscus in his right knee, Overstake (15-12) battled through the Pac-10 Championships, placing fourth to earn an NCAA bid. The Central Point-native underwent surgery on March 5, but is recovering rapidly.
The biggest surprise for Oregon at the Pac-10 Championships was true freshman Luke Larwin, who scored two upsets to qualify for the NCAA meet after winning only six matches at 165 pounds all season.
Larwin is one of the few Ducks in school history to qualify as a true freshman and faces top-ranked Donny Pritzlaff of Wisconsin in the first round.
“We’re healthy and prepared,” Kearney said. “We’ve had three weeks to heal up and get ready for our second peak of the season.”
With seven wrestlers out of 10 weight classes, the Ducks appear to be in the team hunt for the first time since 1996. Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and host Iowa are the favorites in the team competition.
Thursday’s action includes championship first and second rounds and the consolation first round. Eight mats will be on display at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena.