After finishing third in its first tournament of the season, the Oregon wrestling team will take on top teams from across the country in Saturday’s Mat-Town USA Invitational.
The tournament, in Lock Haven, Pa., will feature 10 teams, including Oregon, 15th-ranked Nebraska, 19th-ranked Penn State and 23rd-ranked Purdue. The yearly tournament is hosted by Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.
On Saturday, Oregon competed in the Body Bar Invitational at Cornell. The Ducks finished third against eight East Coast teams, trailing only 14th-ranked Edinboro and 16th-ranked Cornell.
Redshirt junior Jason Harless, in the 133 weight class, and redshirt sophomore Luke Larwin, in the 165 weight class, both finished third in their weight classes, the highest Duck finishers at Cornell. Oregon got points from nine different wrestlers, including Harless and Larwin.
“We wrestled real hard,” head coach Chuck Kearney said. “The effort level was outstanding, and we did a lot of positive things that we can build on.”
Helping Harless in the 133 weight class were sophomore Martin Mitchell and redshirt freshman Skyler Woods. Mitchell and Woods placed fourth and fifth, respectively, adding to Oregon’s points.
Woods beat Drexel’s Joe Cristaldi, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, 5-1 in the first round.
Another weight class with more than one Duck scoring was the heavyweight class. Senior Eric Webb and redshirt freshman Neil Phillips both earned points for Oregon.
“Neil showed us some signs of things we hadn’t seen before,” Kearney said. “He wrestled really well.”
Sophomore Shane Webster won two matches in the 174 weight class before pulling out of the meet because of a sore muscle, which the coaching staff played cautiously so Webster would be healthy for Saturday.
The Mat-Town USA meet features 12 wrestlers who are ranked in the top 10 in their weight class. One of those wrestlers, Oregon’s Webb, suffered an injury at the Body Bar match and will not participate in Saturday’s tournament. Representing Oregon at heavyweight will be Phillips.
Senior Tony Overstake is the only other ranked Oregon wrestler, at No. 12 in the 149 weight class. He has not wrestled at that weight class this season, but Overstake was the Pacific-10 Conference champion last year at the 157 weight class.
Overstake will compete against a strong class Saturday, including All-American sophomore Jake Percival from Ohio. Percival finished fourth in last year’s national meet.
Harless, Larwin and Webster were all given mentions this week as wrestlers to watch from the national wrestling website Intermatwrestle.com. Intermat handles the nationally-recognized rankings of the nation’s teams and individuals. Webster was named top newcomer on the Duck squad last year.
Oregon will preview its Dec. 14 home match against Nebraska by competing in Saturday’s Invitational against the Cornhuskers. Last year, the Ducks won a close match against Nebraska on a tiebreaker.
The Ducks have 18 members of last year’s team back for this season. Oregon finished second in the Pac-10 and 24th in the nation last year. Shaun Williams and All-American Eugene Harris led the Ducks last year, both advancing far into the NCAA Tournament. Harris finished fourth in the NCAA Tournament in his weight class.
With Williams and Harris graduating last spring, the Ducks have point-scoring holes to fill. The team has many experienced wrestlers from last season returning, including five who competed in last year’s NCAA meet.
Overstake is the only returning wrestler who made it past the first day of national competition.
The Ducks open their home season against Oregon State on Dec. 13 at Mac Court and host Nebraska the following night.