It was a quiet end to an impressive season.
The Oregon wrestling team sent seven wrestlers to Iowa City, Iowa, for the NCAA Championships, but not a single one was around for Saturday’s final round.
The 17th-ranked Ducks’ year ended Friday when four wrestlers dropped consolation wrestleback matches in front of a crowd of 12,960 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“We’re obviously disappointed,” Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney said.
Oregon had high hopes for its individuals, especially for senior All-American Doug Lee. Lee entered the 184-pound bracket as a sixth seed and had a legitimate chance to compete for the coveted national championship.
Lee won his first match Thursday but dropped his second and was sent to the wrestleback bracket. He still had a chance to salvage his tournament with a strong showing Friday, but was upset by unseeded Kyle Hanson of Northern Iowa, 13-10.
What made the loss all the more frustrating for Lee was that he had taken a 4-1 lead to open the match. Hanson then came back and had the score knotted at seven before he could secure the victory in the third period with a series of takedowns and escapes.
“Doug had an outstanding season and career, and we hate to see him end his career this way,” Kearney said.
Oregon did have one winner Friday. Junior Eugene Harris captured a wire-to-wire 9-5 victory against Shaun Shapert of Edinboro. Harris jumped out to a 5-1 advantage after the first period and never looked back.
Harris’ season ended in his next match, though, as he dropped a 5-3 decision to Boise State’s Kirk White.
Oregon junior Shaun Williams and freshman Luke Larwin also ended their respective seasons with defeats on Friday. Williams lost to Penn State’s Josh Moore by a count of 10-3, while Larwin took his lumps against 11th-seeded Ben Boozer of Edinboro in a 17-0 defeat.
Despite some of the lopsided scores, Kearney took some positives out of the matches because he knows the experience of NCAA Tournament competition will pay dividends down the line.
“Our returners have now seen what it takes to compete at this level,” Kearney said.