This will be a bill the Oregon Athletic Department won’t mind paying.
Eight members of head coach Chuck Kearney’s team have earned invitations to Albany, N.Y., for the NCAA Tournament after their performance at the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament during the past weekend — the most Oregon wrestlers since 1981 that have earned invites to the nationals.
The Oregon wrestling team’s three individual champions and second place team finish at the Pac-10 Tournament was the best showing for a Duck squad since 1989.
In addition to Eugene Harris (165 pounds), Tony Overstake (157) and Shaun Williams (125) all winning their respective weight classes, Oregon placed one wrestler in second (Brian Watson), two in third (Shane Webster and Eric Webb), one in fourth (Casey Hunt), one in fifth (Jason Harless) and one in sixth (Jake Leair).

Wild about the invites
Harless, Oregon’s 133-pounder, was one of three Pac-10 wrestlers selected as wild card to compete in the national tournament. Arizona State’s Rocky Smart (157) and Boise State’s Gabe Vigil (141) also received invitations to Albany.
Smart was seeded No. 1 in the conference tournament at 157 pounds but lost twice, including a first round defeat at the hands of UC Davis’ Jeremiah Jarvis, who advanced all the way to the championship round
against Overstake.

Around the Pac-10
Arizona State’s Eric Larkin, who defeated Watson 11-1 in the finals of the 141-pound bracket, was named the tournament’s MVP. The conference title was Larkin’s third of his career and has already been named an All-American twice. The Arizona State junior was 24-4 overall this season and ranked No. 2 in the nation going into the Pac-10s.
Cal State-Bakersfield’s Thomas Juarez (149) received the Gorrarian Award, which is given to the wrestler with the most falls in the least time. Juarez recorded two pins in a total time of 6:14. In the third place match, Juarez defeated Hunt, 2-1, placing the two wrestlers exactly where they were seeded — No. 3 Juarez and No. 4 Hunt.
Boise State’s 123 points (7.5 ahead of Oregon) gave the Broncos their second Pac-10 title in three years. Their outstanding performance during the conference tournament came as a surprise to many of the other coaches around the Pac-10.
“I would not say this year’s championship is sweeter than the first one,” Boise State head coach Mike Young said. “But this one was extremely gratifying because most of the coaches in the league did not expect us to finish in the top three.”
Finishing behind the Ducks’ 115.5 points were Arizona State (103.5), Oregon State (83.5), Cal Poly (73.5), UC Davis (56), Stanford (50.5), CS Bakersfield (43), Portland State (31.5) and CS Fullerton (29).