While three Ducks will see action on the mats in 15 days at the NCAA Championships, seven other starters ended their season at the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament last weekend.
With a 6-4 career record going into his junior season, Branson Phillips didn’t know if he would be starting at 157. After a handful of matches during the preseason, Phillips went 5-5 during the dual season. He started the conference tournament with a loss, then came back to win two matches in consolation. Phillips then lost and was bumped to the fifth-place match. He won an 11-4 decision, earning fifth place and finishing the season 10-11 overall.
Despite finishing fourth in the conference tournament, redshirt sophomore Luke Larwin did not earn a berth in the NCAAs. Larwin lost his first match of the Pac-10s to Oregon State’s Matt Ellis, but won his two consolation matches, setting up a rematch with Ellis. Larwin lost, earning fourth place. He was then challenged and subsequently bumped from a national berth. He finished his sophomore season with a 21-20 record at 165.
Redshirt senior Tony Overstake saw the end of his collegiate wrestling career as he was pinned by Beaver wrestler Tony Hook. Overstake lost his first match at 149, bumping him to the consolation bracket, where he faced Hook. Overstake ended with an 18-10 record on the season and an 85-46 career record.
Martin Mitchell ended his season the way he spent most of it — by pinning his opponent. The sophomore won his first match, then lost a 9-6 decision. Mitchell next lost a 5-3 decision, sending him to the fifth-place match. He pinned Stanford’s Nathan Peterson at the 1:03 mark, earning fifth place. He finished the season with a 15-8 record at 125, including seven pins.
Redshirt freshman Neil Phillips pinned his first opponent in the conference tournament before losing two matches. Phillips finished the season with a 10-21 record after becoming the starter at heavyweight in January, when senior Eric Webb withdrew from competition for medical reasons.
Elias Soto had a 1-8 record at 184 before moving up to 197 for most of the dual season. The sophomore won an 8-3 decision in the tournament before losing two matches to end his season. Soto finished with a 4-11 record at 197.
Freshman Tony Rolen went 0-2 in the conference tournament at 184, ending his freshman season with a 6-15 record. Rolen became a regular starter after Soto moved up to 197.
“We have a group of guys that worked so hard, things just didn’t go our way,” head coach Chuck Kearney said.
Larwin’s finish
challenged
Larwin was challenged late Monday by what the Pac-10 calls its “true fourth-place” rule. The rule says that the fifth-place finisher can challenge the fourth-place finisher under one of two conditions: The two wrestlers had not previously met in the tournament, or the fifth-place wrestler had already defeated the fourth-place wrestler in the tournament.
Boise State’s Nathan Ploehn finished fifth and challenged Larwin for his spot in the NCAAs because the two had not met in the tournament. After regulation and one overtime, the match was tied at one. In the second overtime, Larwin was called for an illegal hand lock, giving Ploehn a win and the NCAA berth.
Harless ‘wild’ choice for NCAAs
Joining the top four wrestlers from each weight class are two wild-card wrestlers. After the 40 wrestlers were finalized, the Pac-10 coaches voted on the wild cards.
One berth went to Rowdy Lundegreen of Cal State-Fullerton, and junior Jason Harless of Oregon earned the second. Harless joins senior Casey Hunt and sophomore Shane Webster at the national tournament.
Mindi Rice is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.