Three Oregon wrestlers competed in the Pacific-10 Conference Championship finals, and all three took home titles in their respective weight divisions Monday night at Cal Poly’s Mott Gym in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Oregon’s Joey Bracamonte, Shane Webster and Scott Barker all won by decision over their
respective opponents.
With the three wins, Oregon garnered enough points to leap-frog into a third place team finish, its highest placing since taking second in 2002. Arizona State won the team title, its 15th overall and third in the past five years.
“We wrestled great in three out of the four sessions,” Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney said. “We slipped a bit (Monday) morning, but we dominated each finals match.”
Bracamonte won his match against Oregon State’s Matt Ellis to capture the 165-pound title in a 6-5 decision. The Albuquerque, N.M., native finished third last season at the 157-pound class and is currently 27-3 this season.
In the 184-pound championship match, Oregon’s Webster dominated Arizona State’s
C.B. Hollaway 15-5 and improved his record to 21-3 on the season.
In Oregon’s final championship match, Barker (197) defeated two-time defending Pac-10 champion Ryan Bader of Arizona State 3-0 to improve his record to an impressive 31-5.
Barker’s victory made him the first Oregon wrestler in this weight division to win a Pac-10 title since Ryan Kelly took home the honor in 1981.
“Our three champs did an excellent job managing each match,” Kearney said. “With everyone but Barker returning from our tournament squad, this experience is going to help us.”
With appearances in the finals of their respective weight classes, Bracamonte, Webster and Barker have assured themselves a berth into the NCAA Championships this month. It will be the second consecutive appearance for Bracamonte and Webster, and the third for Barker (his first two were with Missouri).
In the consolation matches, all Oregon wrestlers lost in the semifinals.
Oregon’s Cody Parker won fifth place in the heavyweight class when he pinned Eric Parker of Cal State Bakersfield at the 1:16 mark of the first round.
In the 133-pound division, Oregon’s Martin Mitchell defeated John Espinoza of Arizona State in a 5-3 decision.
Two Oregon wrestlers took sixth place in
the tournament. Sophomore Skyler Woods fell
in the fifth-place match to Roberto Vargas of
Cal State Bakersfield in the 141-pound
weight class, and junior Chet McBee lost a
decision to Arizona State’s Rick Renzi in the
174-pound division.

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