On Saturday, the Oregon wrestling team competed at the SOC Best of the West Tournament in Medford and continued its winning ways as three Ducks finished first in their respective weight divisions.
The usual suspects of senior Scott Barker, Shane Webster and Joey Bracamonte took home titles for the 197, 174 and 165-pound weight classes, respectively. Webster’s first-place finish was a welcoming result for the junior from Sams Valley, who settled for second-place at last year’s Best of the West Tournament.
Barker (8-0) and Bracamonte
(7-0) remain undefeated this season heading into this week’s Pacific-
10 Conference opener with UC Davis at McArthur Court on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney has enjoyed his team’s successful start and marveled at its performance last Saturday.
“I was really pleased with our consistency,” Kearney said. “Overall, it was a very solid weekend.”
As for the rest of Oregon’s wrestlers, junior Chet McBee and sophomore Cyle Hartzell finished in second place as finalists for the 184 and 157-pound weight classes,
respectively. This was the first tournament Hartzell has wrestled in
all season. His fellow sophomore teammate Joey Lucas finished
in third place in the 125-pound weight division.
Kearney enjoyed seeing his younger wrestlers compete productively.
“Our young guys showed a lot of promise,” Kearney said. “It was nice to see our whole team compete at a high level.”
More than 5,000 fans came out
to see the second-annual Best of the West Tournament. Aside from
Oregon, schools that competed included Southern Oregon, Oregon State, Oregon Tech, San Francisco State, Pacific University (Forest Grove), UC Davis, Menlo College, Portland State and Lassen
Community College.

Scott J. Adams is a freelance sports reporter for the Daily Emerald