Civil War Reigns In Oregon
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Andre J. Gibson (USA Wrestling)
12/12/2000
For those history buffs out there who thought the Civil War era was over, think again. This Civil War is on the west coast of the United States in the quiet, serene state of Oregon, not the place most would look to find an all-out battle between Beavers and Ducks. The "Civil War Dual Meet" pitting No. 14 ranked Oregon State and No. 17 ranked Oregon promises to be a thriller. You thought the in-state rivalries were over last week. The "Generals" of these teams see a close, hard fought match, due to the early-season success of both teams. "We're really excited about the matchup," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "Oregon has a very good team; we're both ranked in the same area nationally. We're really looking forward to wrestling tough, filling up the seven minutes of each match and making them work hard." "We've both got five or six ranked guys," Wells said. "It's going to be a fight, and that's great. We've got to engage them, wrestle aggressively and set the tempo. We can't stand around and wait." Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney hopes his wrestlers will feed off the tradition of this in state rivalry. "This is such an emotional dual with both teams being made up of Oregonians," Kearney said. "They have grown up with each other and have competed against each other for years. In those surroundings, anything can happen. We need to do the things we have been working on in practice to attack the legs and control the mat area." To add intrigue to drama, there are threee matches that will pair ranked wrestlers. 125 pounds will feature OSU's Nathan Navarro (No. 5 AWN/TheMat.com) and Oregon's Shawn Williams (No. 5 AWN/TheMat.com); 157 pounds, with OSU's Eric Jorgensen (No. 5 AWN/TheMat.com) and Oregon's Eugene Harris (No. 19 AWN/TheMat.com); and 184 pounds , with OSU's Isaac Weber (No. 17 AWN/TheMat.com) and Oregon's Doug Lee (No. 4 AWN/TheMat.com). Oregon State will also feature three other ranked wrestlers in 141 pounder Shane Cunanan (No. 18 AWN/TheMat.com); 174 pounder Nathan Coy (No. 10 AWN/TheMat.com) and heavyweight Jason Cooley (No. 5 AWN/TheMat.com). The Ducks will also feature ranked wrestlers at 133 pounds in Brian Watson (No. 8 AWN/TheMat.com) and 197 pounder Chael Sonnen (No. 6 AWN/TheMat.com). Both the Beavers and the Ducks wrestled in the Las Vegas Invitational recently on Dec. 1-2. OSU finished fifth and Oregon seventh in the 52-team field. The Civil War series dates back to 1915, with the Beavers on a four meet winning streak. OSU holds the advantage overall in the series, 94-21-4. Last season, Oregon State recorded a 24-13 victory in Eugene and a 27-12 victory in Corvallis. Oregon's last victory came in 1998, posting a 22-15 victory in Eugene. Those in the area can see the match on Fox Sports Northwest, shown via tape delay on Dec. 15th at 7:30 p.m. and Dec 16th at noon. Here are the potential starting line-ups for the meet:
| Oregon State | Oregon |
125 | Nathan Navarro | Shawn Williams |
133 | Ben Richards | Brian Watson |
141 | Shane Cunanan | Casey Hunt |
149 | Casey Horn | Tony Overstake |
157 | Eric Jorgensen | Eugene Harris |
165 | Jed Pennell | Leif Williams or Luke Larkin |
174 | Nathan Coy | Leif Williams or Luke Larkin |
184 | Isaac Weber | Doug Lee |
197 | Jason Lovell | Chael Sonnen |
Hwt. | Jason Cooley | Eric Webb |