Oregon closes its Pacific-10 Conference dual schedule today in Salem as it faces Portland State, the final opponent the Ducks will wrestle this season as a team. Should the Ducks
(5-10 overall, 2-6 Pac-10) prove successful, they could send seven seeded wrestlers to the Pac-10 Championships in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in less than two weeks.
Morale is high for Oregon wrestlers, such as junior Joey Bracamonte, who see this dual as a final tuneup for the postseason.
“There’s no room for mistakes now,” Bracamonte said. “It’s the end of the season and we’ve practiced hard for this. We should have no let-downs.”
With his win last week over Matt Ellis of Oregon State, Bracamonte should wrestle as the No. 1 seed for the championships in the 165-pound weight division. His teammate, Scott Barker (197), should also find himself with a top seed heading to California. The senior from St. Louis is 28-5 on the season and leads the Ducks in pins, already holding the Oregon record for most pins in a season.
After wrestling nearly all of the regular season in the 174-pound class, junior Shane Webster will be wrestling at 184 pounds for Wednesday’s dual and for the championships. Webster was No. 1 in the conference at 174 pounds this season and will likely wrestle at San Luis Obispo as a No. 2 or
No. 3 seed. Skyler Woods (141), Chet McBee (174) and Cody Parker (Hwt.) all aim to join the field as No. 5 seeds.
Portland State heads into today’s dual after a busy weekend that pitted it against three different teams in as many days. The three-dual set started on Friday, when the Vikings hosted and defeated Simon Fraser by a score of 27-15. Momentum couldn’t carry Portland State past Boise State the following day, as the Broncos stormed into the Stott Center in Portland and only surrendered one loss to the Vikings, which came by way of a forfeit in the 125-pound weight class. Things got worse for Portland State on Sunday when it traveled to Tempe, Ariz., to grapple with
No. 20 Arizona State. Like Boise State, the Sun Devils lost just one match en route to a 46-4 win. Eddie Dahlen (149) recorded Portland State’s sole win, a 16-8 major decision over Chris Frieje.
Oregon endured a similarly heartbreaking weekend after Oregon State stole a 21-18 win at McArthur Court on Sunday. Oregon has gone into a tailspin as of late, losing five of its past six duals. Prior to this late-season slide, the Ducks were on the rebound and riding a four-dual winning streak.
With a Pac-10 team title out of reach, both Oregon and Portland State will be looking to solidify different individual seedings for the championships. The biggest question posed this week is whether Lucas Hambleton (133) of Portland State will wrestle Oregon’s Martin Mitchell. Should the two meet, Mitchell will have a chance to nab Hambleton’s No. 4 seed. Mitchell is currently No. 6 in the conference.
The Vikings and Ducks take the mat at 7 p.m. at the State Fairgrounds
in Salem.

Scott J. Adams is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald