Oregon wrestlers Justin Pearch and Ronnie Lee made early exits from the national tournament Thusday in Auburn Hills, Mich., losing two matches each to higher-seeded wrestlers.
Pearch fell to No. 6 Alex Tsirsis of Iowa 11-0 in the first round of the 141 pound draw. Lee managed to pick up three points in his first round match against No. 2 Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh at 174 pounds but lost the match by pin 36 seconds into the second round.
Pearch faced Bloomsburg’s Darren Kern in his consolation bracket match and lost in a close battle 7-5. Kern scored the first four points of the match on an early takedown and two-point near fall but Pearch battled his way back with a reversal and a takedown to go into the third round down just 7-4. Pearch chose to begin the final round in the down position and escaped quickly to make it a 7-5 match but he couldn’t score the tying takedown on Kern.
Lee drew Daniel Burk of Northern Illinois for his consolation match, losing by major decision 11-3. Lee again scored three times on escapes but Burk dominated the takedowns for the win.
Despite their early exit from the national tournament, Oregon coach Chuck Kearney said that the experience of wrestling against the best college wrestlers in the country is a one of a kind experience for Pearch and Lee and one that he hopes will benefit all of Oregon’s young wrestlers.
“The adrenaline that comes from being in that kind of environment just motivates you,” he said. “Ronnie is going to get back to Eugene on Sunday and from that moment on he will think of nothing but getting back to that tournament.”
“We want Ronnie to get back home and talk about this weekend and share it with the guys that didn’t qualify and through his experience give them a taste of the big time.”
Tomorrow’s matches will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., as will Saturday’s 10 a.m. session. ESPN will carry the championship matches live Saturday at 7 p.m.
Tournament brackets and live individual and team scoring updates are available at ncaasports.com.