Despite losing two All-Americans, the Oregon wrestling team should come back even stronger this season.
Ten letter winners, including seven starters and five NCAA Championship qualifiers, come back for head coach Chuck Kearney’s team. In addition to the returning competitors, the freshman recruits will also play a large role in the success of this year’s team. According to Intermat, one of the leading Web sites for collegiate wrestling, Kearney’s new class of freshmen ranks as the No. 8 recruiting class in the nation.
Kearney said that losing Doug Lee and Chael Sonnen, both of whom won more than 100 matches over their collegiate careers, is a big blow, but he said this year’s team is more balanced than last year.
“We can’t replace those two guys specifically, but the other weight classes are improving and getting better,” Kearney said. “I think we are going to kind of spread the load those two guys carried last year amongst 10 guys this year.”
The long list of top returners for Oregon includes Eric Webb, Eugene Harris, Brian Watson and Shaun Williams. True freshman Shane Webster will step in right away for the Ducks and wrestle in the 174-pound weight class. He comes to Eugene as one of the top recruits in the country and Kearney is anticipating excellent results from him.
“I can see him making a real immediate impact and becoming a real solid performer for us,” Kearney said.
In addition to Webster, Elias Soto from Eugene’s Churchill High will join the Ducks’ squad as a freshman starter. Soto will compete in the 184-pound slot, where Lee dominated last year, and has had a very good autumn of training. Chet McBee from Eagle Point, Ore., will likely start for Oregon as a freshman in the 157 slot, Kearney said.
Other top freshmen, Martin Mitchell, Skyler Woods and Jacob Boyles will most likely redshirt their first years to preserve a year of collegiate eligibility.
Two wrestlers for Oregon who both competed as true freshmen and then redshirted last year, Jason Harless at 133 pounds and Jake Leair at 197, will step into starting roles. Kearney said he is expecting “some real big things out of those two weight classes.”
Because Harris, who competed last year at 157 pounds, is moving to the 165-pound slot, Luke Larwin will probably redshirt this year. Larwin, who compiled a 12-12 record last year as a freshman, will step aside for Harris, a senior.
Last year, Harris was 22-16 overall, earning 67 total points for Oregon.
In the preseason polls, No. 12 Arizona State is the team to beat in the Pacific-10 Conference. They are followed by No. 20 Boise State and No. 23 Oregon State. Oregon is not ranked in the top-25 according to Intermat, but Kearney thinks that his team is on par with or above Oregon State and Boise State. The top five teams in the country are Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Michigan and Iowa.
Realistically, Kearney knows that those teams are competing at a level above where the Ducks presently are, but he is optimistic about the prospects of the season with the returners and the new freshmen.
“I think we can compete with (the top national teams), but it is just a matter of how the young guys develop,” he said.
The Ducks begin their season this Saturday with a meet against Stanford at 2 p.m. and California-Davis at 7 p.m.