Men's Wrestling: Four Ducks Wrestlers Reach Finals in Best of The West Classic

The Ducks next head to the Hoosier Duals in Bloomington, Ind. where they will participate in a series of dual meets against the likes of Indiana, Appalachian State, Bucknell, Cumberland, and Ohio.

Ryan Dunn was one of four Ducks to reach a finals match at the Beat of The West Tournament. Photo: goducks.com

MEDFORD - Ryan Dunn, Ronnie Lee, Jake McCoy and Justin Pearch all made the finals matches of their respective weight classes and finished second during the Best of the West Classic, held over the weekend in Medford, Oregon and hosted by Southern Oregon University.

“We saw a lot of improvements in our wrestlers this weekend,” head coach Chuck Kearney said, “Our goal is to get better every time that we take the mat and we did that, but to make four final matches and not take home any titles is a bit frustrating.”

Lee, wrestling in front of his hometown crowd, won the majority of his matches during the tournament by comfortable margins, recording two technical falls and one major decision before falling 8-2 in the championship match the Mike Kummer of Great Falls.

Estacada, Ore. native Dunn recorded a pin, a tech fall, a major decision, and a decision on route to finishing second in the 125 lbs. bracket, where he was pinned in the final by Southern Oregon’s Trevor Lofstedt.

Pearch recorded two pins and one decision on his path to the championship match before losing the decision in an extremely tight match against Great Falls' Heinrich Barnes, 3-2.

At 165 lbs., McCoy, the freshman from Eagle Point, Ore., recorded three decisions in low scoring matches before reaching the final, where he lost by major decision to Boise State’s Luke Smith.

While many Ducks advanced to the late stages of the tournament, the team found much of it’s success after feeling the adversity of a loss.

Elliot Tracy, after losing in his second round match, rolled through the consolation bracket recording four wins before losing a major decision to Jeff Newby of Boise State, who had dropped into the consolation after losing in the semifinals of the main draw.

Freshman Brysen French also lost in the first round of the main draw, but he would not lose again on the day, cruising through the consolation bracket recording a tech fall, a major decision and four decisions, including his 7-5 overtime win over Great Fall’s Alex Calvi to capture third place in the 184 lbs. bracket.

Sophomore Beau Malia also had an impressive showing for the Ducks, making the semifinals of the main draw before being pinned by Southern Oregon’s Trevor Lofstedt. The Billings, Mont. native would rebound in his consolation matches to finish fourth.

“We are looking forward to getting a lot of matches in on Saturday,” Kearney said.

“Dual meet intensity is a different level of competition than tournaments and we are looking forward to getting out there and competing in that format.”

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