Last weekend in Oklahoma, senior 141-pound wrestler Justin Pearch went 2-0 in Oregon’s dual meets with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
He was wrestling for the first time since suffering a knee injury against Cal State Fullerton. He wasn’t 100 percent and he knew it. But he was motivated by the youth of this year’s wrestling team to get out there on the mat and lead by example.
“Some of the young guys, you could see it in their eyes that they were a little bit scared, wrestling in front of almost 3,000 fans,” Pearch said.
“A lot of what I did was for them, to show them that these guys could be beaten. So I stepped out there and showed them how it’s supposed to be done.”
Despite the lopsided losses in Oklahoma, Pearch said he thinks the team is better for the experience and he was proud of the way the young team performed.
“Some of the guys they were wrestling might have been a little better experience-wise, but they broke some of those guys. Conditioning-wise they looked really good,” he said. “I really think that experience is going to help them against some of these teams they face that aren’t as good.”
Oregon coach Chuck Kearney tells a story about a car ride from Oklahoma City to Stillwater last weekend where Pearch talked for over an hour to some of the younger wrestlers about the high level of wrestlers that they would be facing and how exciting it was going to be.
“You could tell he was excited about it, and that’s infectious, the younger guys can feed off of that,” Kearney said.
That sense of team leadership is one of the traits, along with his technical prowess on the mat, that Kearney praises in the senior.
“He cares about the other people in the room and does an excellent job of leading,” Kearney said. “He’s the first one to take one of the younger guys aside and show them something or talk to them about something different, technically.”
“I’ve always picked up things real quick, and if I think I have something I can show someone I will,” Pearch said. “I like working with people how they wrestle and not try to change their style, just add something to it.”
Pearch said that he plans on coaching wrestling after college and thinks he will be even more successful as a coach than he has been as a wrestler, and as a wrestler he has been very successful. He won two state titles in high school and was a two-time All-American at North Idaho State College where he was also a member of a National Championship team in 2003.
After so much success early in his career, Pearch’s focus has shifted from the mat to the classroom since coming to Oregon.
“I’m getting an opportunity to finish my education and I’m trying to concentrate on doing that and then start coaching,” Pearch said. “I’ve got to stick with wrestling though, I love wrestling.”
That positive attitude about wrestling, and life, is crucial to Pearch’s success on the mat. He transferred to Oregon from North Idaho State College last year and struggled to adjust to the heavier homework load. After he injured his knee, his season started heading downhill. Pearch says it was stress in his life and a negative attitude about things that was his undoing on the mat.
“You’ve got no one to help you when you’re out there, so if something negative is getting to you, you have to find a way to push it out,” Pearch said. “I told myself all summer that this year I was just going to work hard, stay positive and be happy. This is my last year and I want to have fun and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Pearch will take to the mat at McArthur Court with his Oregon teammates this Saturday against Boise State and Sunday against Arizona State for some of the last home matches of his career.
“For me, I just want to go out there and show what I can do, not really prove what I can do, but actually put on a show for the fans,” Pearch said.
And when Pearch is on his game, he is a thrill to watch.
“When his focus is positive he’s real fun to watch and he can be real successful,” Kearney said. “Technically, he’s as good a wrestler as we’ve ever had at the University of Oregon.”
That skill level comes from a lifetime of wrestling. Pearch started wrestling at age 6, and his coach at USA Cobra Wrestling Club, Mark Sprague, was a stickler for good technique. He also credits Oregon City High School coach Bill Nugent for his technical style.
Beyond the coaches and their teaching though, being technically skilled was a necessity for the always-undersized Pearch.
“I’ve always been the smallest guy so it wasn’t about power for me,” Pearch said. “It was about having the technique and outsmarting the other guy.”
Those technical skills lend themselves to wrestling well on a bad knee too, said Kearney.
“In wrestling, knees and shoulders are awful important and when you have one that’s a little bit dinged up it limits some of the things you can do,” he said. “Fortunately for Justin, he’s sophisticated enough in his wrestling that he can make some adjustments and change some things.”
No matter what happens on the mat this weekend for Pearch, he hopes his team gets a win.
“This is important for the team after getting our butts kicked in Oklahoma,” he said. “I mean, we’re young and we wrestled well and should be proud of that, but we need a win and this would be the perfect weekend to get one.”
Oregon wrestles at Mac Court Saturday, 7 p.m., against Boise State and Sunday, 2 p.m., against Arizona State.
The Ducks’ little Big Man
Daily Emerald
January 25, 2007
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