In Texas, there is football. In Indiana, there is basketball. Where is the sport of wrestling king? Iowa.
The Oregon wrestling team faced No. 3 Iowa and all of the tradition that followed with it on Saturday afternoon. A crowd of 1,260 showed up at McArthur Court to see the Hawkeyes and Ducks tangle.
Unfortunately, wrestling three of the top wrestling programs in the nation over a period of five days took its toll on the Ducks as they fell 36-9 to Iowa.
“We got what we wanted out of wrestling these top programs,” head coach Chuck Kearney said. “Iowa controlled us mentally today and just wore us down. That’s what we want our wrestlers to do and now that they’ve seen it up close, I think it will help down the road.”
The three-time defending national champions brought in an impressive lineup with a top-10 ranked wrestler in all but two classes. Iowa’s Eric Juergens, Doug Schwab and T.J. Williams are all favorites to win NCAA titles in their respective classes.
The Ducks did take advantage of the Hawkeyes’ two weak spots in the heavyweights.
Senior Chael Sonnen turned in an impressive performance with an 11 second pin over Ryan Fulsaas at 197 pounds. Fulsaas charged at the starting whistle and grabbed Sonnen’s leg. Sonnen then dropped to the mat, reversed Fulsaas before recording the pin.
“If Chael can get in your head as well as dominate you physically, he is tough to beat,” Kearney said. “He’s capable of beating anyone if he wrestles up to his potential.”
The pin was Sonnen’s ninth of the season, tops among Oregon wrestlers.
At heavyweight, sophomore Eric Webb improved to 16-4 on the season with a hard fought 7-2 decision over Josh Liddle. After two rounds of low scoring, No. 7 Webb put the match away with two takedowns in the third round.
The wins evened the match at nine points apiece after the Ducks opened the match with a forfeit and a loss.
Iowa responded with six straight wins to put the Ducks away for good.
“Every guy went out and did what he could,” Kearney said. “Hopefully, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.”
Oregon fell to 3-3 on the year, but there’s easier sailing ahead. The Ducks don’t leave Oregon until Jan. 26 and won’t face a ranked opponent until Boise State comes to Eugene on Jan. 19.
The Ducks will take a hard earned rest day today before looking ahead to the rest of the season. Next up for Oregon is the Oregon Classic Duals at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. The Ducks will face Southern Oregon, Central Washington and Pacific, as well as Pacific-10 Conference rival Portland State on Friday.