The Oregon wrestling team traveled to California Sunday and churned out its first dual victory of the season as the Ducks won in dramatic fashion 21-19 over non-conference opponent Fresno State.
In the dual the Ducks once again found themselves trailing early to a talented Bulldog team that recorded four major decisions over Oregon. Senior Scott Barker and junior Shane Webster have wrestled strong all season and have had no trouble with consistency — Sunday was no exception. Barker shut-out Marcio Botelho in the 197-pound weight-class, recording a 9-0 major decision. Webster (174) faced Chris Gifford and hardly broke a sweat, notching a 20-5 technical fall.
Junior Martin Mitchell (133) gave Oregon its first lead of the day by pinning Joe Mavins in 2:44, bringing the score to 18-16 in favor of the Ducks. The advantage was short-lived, however, as Garrett Spooner of Fresno State narrowly defeated junior Skyler Woods (141) with an 8-7 decision. With the Bulldogs now leading 19-18, tension mounted for the decisive match of the day pitting Dan Cadwallader of Fresno State against Oregon’s Nick Cautrell (149), a freshman with only one match under his belt as a Duck. Despite his age, Cautrell wrestled remarkably well and surrendered no points in defeating Cadwallader 6-0, which gave Oregon the win. Cautrell recorded the first win of his collegiate career early in December, but it turned out not to be nearly as colorful as his clutch win over Cadwallader.
“Nick came through for us in a pressure match,” Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney said. “He competed hard and is going to be a great wrestler for us.”
The win provided a glimpse of Oregon’s potential should strong contribution from younger wrestlers and good health continue throughout the season.
The Ducks completed a double-header that day with a match against Cal State Bakersfield, where they fell victim to a late rally
by the Roadrunners who nabbed
a 26-19 win.
The Ducks found themselves in usual territory with having to protect an early lead against Cal State Bakersfield. Junior Joey Bracamonte (165) won a close match over nationally ranked Christian Arellano by way of a 6-5 decision to put Oregon on the board. The win was followed by a Webster tech fall win over Jason Carrasco, his second of the day. Webster, ranked third nationally by InterMat, has amassed an immaculate 15-0 season record.
The ensuing three matches saw the teams trade pins as the Roadrunners took a 15-14 lead following Eric Parker’s pinning of Duck Cody Parker (Hwt.) in 3:44. Prior to the match, Barker pinned Bryan Travers of Cal State Bakersfield in 35 seconds. Oregon’s final win of the day came with Joey Lucas (125) recording a 20-3 tech fall over Juan Rodas.
The Roadrunners proved better than the Ducks at defending a lead as they won the final three matches of the dual with two decisions and a tech fall. The decisions were credited to Matt Sanchez (133) and Roberto Vargas (141). Cautrell once again found himself playing the role of closer for the Ducks as he wrestled in the final match of the dual with another chance to seal a win for Oregon. This time Cautrell would see how the other side felt as he lost to junior Anthony Baza by a 17-0 tech fall.
“I felt we gave the match away,” Kearney said. “We were in control of a couple matches and couldn’t come up with the wins.”
Despite the loss, Kearney said that his squad had much to gain from both duals.
“Both Fresno and Bakersfield are top-25 caliber teams, so it was good for our wrestlers to face top competition,” he said.
The Ducks continue their season this Friday as they host the Oregon Classic in Redmond.

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