Oregon’s victory over Army was a starting point for what the team hopes is a turnaround in performance.
Army was Oregon’s most difficult opponent of the day, according to both the team’s players and coaches.
It was partly the fashion with which the Ducks beat Army that should give the team more confidence heading into this week’s showdown with Stanford.
“Of the three teams, Army was the best team,” head coach Chuck Kearney said. “Due to a couple of injuries we had our worst lineup, but we competed. That is a positive. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Kearney was speaking of injuries to freshman Cyle Hartzell (shoulder), sophomore Joey Bracamonte (undisclosed) and junior Dustin Fisher, who has a sprained ankle. Kearney struggled to find what worked well Friday in the Oregon Classic, where Oregon finished 1-2.
“We didn’t wrestle with confidence,” Kearney said, “We came out flat against California State-Fullerton. We can’t afford to have letdowns. We need to come out emotionally up and ready to compete against every opponent.”

Not quite there … yet
The Ducks received a strong performance from many of its wrestlers in its win over Army on Friday. One particular match has seemed to earn more attention than the others.
Freshman Cody Parker entered the final match between the Ducks and the Black Knights knowing that a victory by the freshman would earn his team its first team win of the year. Parker defeated his opponent to give the Ducks the 23-21 victory.
However, it wasn’t the first time Parker had faced James Hollis of Army.
“I knew a lot was on the line,” Parker said. “I had faced Hollis before and lost.”
This time the results were different and in Parker’s favor. But Kearney wouldn’t put any more emphasis on the Parker victory than he would any other during the match against Army.
“Every point is the same,” Kearney said. “If, say, (Luke) Larwin doesn’t do his job, Cody can’t (be in position to) win the dual meet. And it was no more different than (Chet McBee) getting a fall (earlier in the match). The only difference was the order, but he knew he had to win. It is a little different when everyone in the gym knows what he needs to do.”
So, while Parker and the team must be excited about the win, it was a team effort that made it possible for the victory that put the Ducks over the hump.
However, Kearney isn’t ready to hype up his freshman wrestler quite yet. Kearney added that Parker still needed to work on staying in focus and not taking any time off during a competitive match.
But, as individual as wrestling is, if one person doesn’t step up, it doesn’t matter how the others fare.

Hectic schedule
The Ducks are in the heart of their schedule, and it won’t get any easier anytime soon.
Oregon travels to Stanford on Thursday, followed by matches against UC-Davis on Friday and the Aggie Open on Saturday.
Oregon then has two home matches against Fresno State and No. 21 Bakersfield on Jan. 23 and Jan. 25, respectively.
It will be the first home match since Oregon hosted No. 1 Oklahoma State Dec. 14 and is the second-to-last home match before Oregon State comes to McArthur Court Feb. 15.
February will be a less strenuous month with only three matches. However, each match becomes more critical for the Ducks as they prepare for the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament in March.