CORVALLIS — In the state of Oregon it rains. And when it rains, it pours.
The Oregon wrestling team sustained its fifth straight dual match loss Wednesday night at the hands of heated rival Oregon State at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.
The Beavers won seven of 10 matches en route to a 25-10 victory against the No. 18 Ducks.
“There were matches tonight that we should have won on paper,” Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney said. “But we don’t wrestle on paper, we wrestle on the mat. The bottom line is they came out excited.”
Oregon fell to 7-8 overall and 4-4 in the Pacific-10 Conference while Oregon State moved into a tie for second place in the conference with an 8-2 league record and 12-7 overall.
“It wasn’t a perfect score,” said Oregon State head coach Joe Wells, whose team avenged a 22-16 loss in Eugene on Dec. 13. “But we might have helped ourselves in the seeding for the Pac-10 meet. It’s a big win.”
The Ducks suffered their worst loss since a Jan. 6 loss to No. 3 ranked Iowa. Oregon wrestlers won the first and last matches of the night, but lost all but one in between. The Ducks also had to overcome the loss of heavyweight Eric Webb, the team leader in wins, due to a concussion and sophomore Casey Hunt with a knee injury.
“The loss of Eric had a little bit to do with it,” Kearney said. “Eric is big emotionally for us and the guys are used to seeing him win and get fired up by it.”
The Beavers were helped out by three major upsets in the first half of the match. Unranked second-stringer Michael Delaney was a heavy underdog heading into the 125-pound match against Oregon’s No. 7 Shaun Williams. A reversal, three-point near-fall and escape was all that Delaney needed to edge Williams, 11-7.
Oregon sophomore Tony Overstake had defeated Oregon State’s Casey Horn twice already this season, but an early cradle move by Horn cost Overstake five points on a near-fall.
The Ducks’ Brian Watson fell victim to a questionable call in overtime for the second time this season, dropping a 4-2 decision to Ben Richards. With the match tied at 2-2 in the extra period, Richards attempted to gain control of Watson while falling out of bounds. The referee awarded Richards the takedown and the win. Oregon senior All-Americans Doug Lee and Chael Sonnen ended their regular season careers in an Oregon singlet successfully, both earning a decision. Sonnen tossed around Oregon State’s Jason Lovell for a 16-6 major decision. The victory extended Sonnen’s season record to 26-7.
“Something strange happened tonight,” Sonnen said. “We were flat. We weren’t on our toes. It just always seemed to go their way.”
Lee ended the match on a high note, defeating Oregon State’s Isaac Weber, 6-2, to cap his conference season undefeated, assuring him of the top seed at the Pac-10 Championships on Feb. 25-26.
One of the most inspirational wins of the match was at 165 pounds, where junior Leif Williams was trailing Oregon State’s Jake Huffman 8-3 heading into the final period. Williams responded with a reversal, escape and four consecutive takedowns to take the match into overtime. Four seconds into the extra period, Williams sealed the match with his fifth takedown.
“Leif started a little flat but he bounced back,” Kearney said. “It’s tough wrestling up a class but he never complains and he’s always ready to go out there.”
Williams, who switches off with freshman Luke Larwin at either 165 or 174 pounds, won for the eighth time this season.
Both teams look forward to participating in the Pac-10 Championships next weekend at McArthur Court.