Although Pacific and Central Washington aren’t quite the caliber of opponents Oregon is used to facing, the Ducks came away from McArthur Court with two wins Friday night to improve their record to 5-4 overall.
The Pacific Boxers, a Division III school, dropped its record to 9-9, while the Division II Central Washington Wildcats fell to 7-7.
Oregon has been plagued with injuries to key wrestlers most of the season, but only Eric Webb’s toe injury remains unhealed. The Ducks forfeited the heavyweight class in both of Friday’s meets because of Webb’s injury.
Jason Harless, Shane Webster and Tony Overstake all returned to the mat from long layoffs and senior Shaun Williams is continuing to grow stronger after battling with an ankle injury.
Williams (125 pounds), who is ranked No. 13 by Intermat, recorded a 17-6 major decision against Pacific’s Kahaa Rezantes, and then pinned Jaime Garza of Central Washington at 3:51.
“(Williams) is still having some discomfort in the ankle, but he went out and did some good things,” head coach Chuck Kearney said. “For the first time this year, he really opened up and put some points on the board. That is what is going to be Shaun’s key when it comes time for the conference and national tournaments — his ability to put on points.”
In the 133-pound class, Harless made his debut after an ankle injury against Pacific’s Garrett Miyake. Harless came away with a 20-4 technical fall to earn the Ducks five points.
Against Central Washington, Martin Mitchell, who had been filling in for the injured Harless, won a 14-6 decision against Ross Kondo. Near the end of the first period of the match, Mitchell was nearly pinned by Kondo but was saved by the period-ending buzzer. Mitchell, a redshirt freshman, countered in the next two periods with three nearfalls to secure the win.
Brian Watson wrestled in his traditional spot at 141 pounds for Oregon and earned two wins improving his record on the season to 16-6. Against Pacific, Watson earned a 21-8 major decision and won a 12-3 matchup in the nightcap of the doubleheader.

Kearney said he was pleased with certain aspects of Watson’s wrestling and said that the veteran junior is “going to be awful hard to beat” if he brings all that he has learned into the rest of the season.
The Oregon head coach has put Watson and the rest of the team through a strict training schedule throughout the season but especially these past few weeks, and the results are showing.
“We went out and were obviously able to fatigue both teams tonight and we scored a lot of points in the third round,” Kearney said. “What we want our guys to take from these matches is that these two teams that we wrestled tonight may not be the top teams in our conference or at nationals, but fatiguing an opponent and putting pressure on them it doesn’t make any difference what level it is you are wrestling against.
“You got to push the tempo and get that taste of blood in your mouth and then you can go for the kill. That’s what our team kind of did tonight, and we want them to apply it next Friday night against Boise State and then at Arizona State and throughout the season.”
Clear examples of the results of Kearney’s conditioning program were the wins by Overstake and Webster. Knee injuries had sidelined both Overstake and Webster, but little rust showed in their returns. Webster, who competed at 184 pounds but typically holds the 174-pound slot, earned a 19-7 major decision against Pacific and scored a 24-8 technical fall over the Wildcats’ Franco Santiago, who was clearly the more battle weary in the dual.
“It was good seeing Webster out there wrestling again,” Kearney said. “He gives our team a real emotional lift, just because they know he is going to go out there and hoof it up for the full seven minutes.”
Overstake won points for the Ducks at 165 pounds against Pacific when his opponent dropped out early into the match due to an injury. Against Central Washington, the junior wrestled in the 157-pound weight class and pinned Jared Novak at 4:14.
Up one weight class from his usual 165 pounds, Eugene Harris wrestled at 174 pounds and came away with a pin and a technical fall, improving his overall record to 20-2.
The Ducks next wrestle at Boise State on Friday.