The Oregon wrestlers scored an upset victory in their home opener Friday at McArthur Court, defeating Cal Poly 21-19 on three outright decisions and two Cal Poly forfeits.
Cal Poly (2-3, 2-1 Pacific-10 Conference) came into the meet undefeated in conference duels and boasting four nationally ranked wrestlers.
Among the winners for Oregon (4-4, 1-2 Pac-10) were freshman Brysen French, who defeated Yuri Kalika 4-0 at 184 pounds to put the Ducks ahead 15-13 and a six-point Cal Poly forfeit at heavyweight secured the team victory.
French was recently inserted into the starting lineup at 184 pounds when senior Tony Rolen suffered a herniated disc in his neck that required surgery, ending his season.
“I felt really bad for Tony, getting injured his senior season,” said French. “But at the same time, it’s a great opportunity for me.”
Other winners for the Ducks were sophomore Ryan Dunn, 12-5 against Josh Obregon at 125 pounds, and Ronnie Lee, 6-1 against Nick Hernandez at 174 pounds. It was the first match at McArthur Court for Lee, who comes from a family of Duck wrestlers.
“It felt great to finally get to wrestle here,” Lee said. “It feels good to have my parents here to watch me and to know that they’ll be here for every meet.”
Lee was on the verge of dominating his match for all three rounds but couldn’t quite get the major decision his performance deserved.
“I think I had about 40 double-legs but only finished one of them,” said Lee, smiling.
Lee received two points during the match for stalling penalties on Hernandez, who also took two injury time outs during the match. The last injury was a leg cramp.
“My strategy was to get him tired by keeping the pressure on him and it worked pretty well,” Lee said.
The dual meet was Oregon’s first conference victory this season, having dropped meets to Oregon State and Cal State Bakersfield over the break.
“We’re a work in progress” Oregon coach Chuck Kearney said. “So the things we’re attacking with them are attitude on the mat, wrestling hard and wrestling through adversity.
“We’re almost de-emphasizing the results figuring that if we do the things that successful wrestlers do, more often than not we’ll be more successful.”
Next up for the Oregon wrestlers is a dual meet against Cal State Fullerton, Friday, Jan. 12, at McArthur Court.