In front of 620 fans Friday evening, sophomore Martin Mitchell stood up in the middle of the mat with his California-Davis opponent Tommy Schurkamp rolled into a ball on his shoulders.
Mitchell said later that Schurkamp had his wrists pretty well controlled and there wasn’t too much Mitchell could do with him.
Except set him down.
And pin him in the same period to win the six points for Oregon.
“It was good for him to go out tonight and get a fall and dominate somebody,” head coach Chuck Kearney said.
Mitchell lost his first match Friday, 10-5, in overtime against Stanford’s Nathan Peterson before coming back to pin Schurkamp at the 2:47 mark.
Mitchell, who is 10-6, has earned exactly half of his victories by pinning his opponent.
The Tonaskit, Wash., native had two pins in nine victories last season, when he wrestled in the 133 weight class. Like two of his teammates, seniors Casey Hunt and Tony Overstake, Mitchell has dropped a weight class and currently wrestles at 125.
While Mitchell has definitely improved since last season, Kearney still expects more of him.
“There are some things he’s got to do better,” Kearney said. “And he’s going to.
“Athletically and technically, he’s got all of it. He’s a guy that’s going to contend for a conference championship.”
For Mitchell, the pin Friday was his second in front of the Ducks’
home crowd.
During the Dec. 13 Civil War battle against Oregon State, Mitchell pinned his opponent at the 2:28 mark. Oregon had been down 15-3 entering Mitchell’s 125 matchup, and his pin turned the Ducks around. Oregon won the rest of the matches and the meet 18-15.

Ranked Ducks
With only one of three wrestling polls released early Tuesday, two of Oregon’s ranked wrestlers appeared.
In The Wrestling Mall’s poll, sophomore Shane Webster stayed at No. 14 in the 174 weight class. Webster is 18-2 this season in his matchups. Only one Pacific-10 Conference wrestler is ranked above Webster in 174 — Arizona State’s Curtis Owen at No. 7.
In the same poll, Hunt moved up to No. 18 at the 141 weight class. Hunt won both his matches Friday by pinning his opponent. He moved up from No. 20 after being ranked there for two weeks.

Pac-10 fun
This isn’t your normal Pac-10. This isn’t the Pac-10 with Huskies and Cougars, Bruins and Trojans, or even Wildcats and Golden Bears. Instead, there are Aggies and Vikings, Titans and Broncos, and even Mustangs and Roadrunners.
The Pac-10 currently has two teams in the Top 25. Arizona State leads the way at No. 9, while Boise State, the defending conference champion, is No. 23 nationally.

Oklahoma

is the place to be
In the latest national rankings released by The Wrestling Mall on Tuesday, Oklahoma State — Oregon’s Sunday opponent — is ranked No. 1 in the country. Oklahoma, which Oregon wrestles on Friday, moved up from No. 9 last week to No. 2, right behind its in-state rival.