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Overstake makes triumphant return By Frank Silow CENTRAL POINT � Competing under four Class 4A state wrestling championship banners, including one he helped win, Tony Overstake made a victorious homecoming Friday at the Crater Comet gymnasium. Overstake, a 1998 Crater graduate, scored a takedown with 55 seconds left and rode out a 5-3 win as the University of Oregon defeated UC-Davis 31-9 in the Ducks� Pac-10 opener before a crowd of about 800. "The first round I had some jitters being back here," said Overstake. "I�ve been looking forward to this for a long time. "There�s a lot of good kids coming out of Crater. We�d like to keep bringing them to Oregon." As Overstake basked in the glory of mingling with home-town friends and fans at the conclusion of the match, another past Comet wrestling star, Doug Lee, experienced the disappointment of missing the dual meet because of an injury. Lee, an Oregon two-time Pac-10 champion and fourth-place finisher at the NCAA Tournament last year, had to forfeit the opening match of the night at 184-pounds due to a high ankle sprain suffered in practice about 3� weeks ago. The Duck senior has been getting treatments for the injury and just began workouts on Monday. "I was really looking forward to wrestling here earlier in the year," said Lee. "It would have been pretty cool. It�s very frustrating." Wrestling at a high school gym in Southern Oregon has been a goal of Oregon coach Chuck Kearney. This year, Kearney was able to arrange the Ducks schedule so it worked out. "The southern part of the state is an area we�ve put a lot of emphasis on recruiting," said Kearney. "We�ve wanted to come here and wrestle in front of people that love good wrestling. We want to promote our program and the sport. It�s something we hope to do again in the future." Crater coach Greg Haga was pleased to play host to the Ducks. "I thought it was awesome to have some of the best wrestlers on the West Coast at our place," said Haga. "I saw kids from other schools in the valley here. It gives them something to aspire to." After Lee�s forfeit in the night�s opener, the Ducks followed with pins by Chael Sonnen (197) and Eric Webb (285) and reeled off six consecutive decisions before dropping the final bout. Former Hidden Valley state champion and Oregon wrestler Dan Vidlak was in attendance. "I like exposing Division I caliber wrestlers to the high school kids in this area," said Vidlak, who runs a summer wrestling camp. Vidlak, a 1992 Oregon grad and an optometrist in Grants Pass, remembers wrestling in Ashland against Southern Oregon University. "Southern Oregon is a fun place to wrestle," said Vidlak. "It�s always special to wrestle in your hometown." Crater freshman wrestler Grant Petersen was taking in the action from the front row of the bleachers. He said the college match featuring two former Comet wrestlers was a hot topic of conversation at school. "This is pretty cool," said Petersen, who was disappointed Lee didn�t get an opportunity to perform. Overstake, who lost just three dual meets and posted a 19-10 record as a redshirt freshman last year, had his hands full with Aggie freshman Nick Davis. Davis got an initial takedown and led 2-1 at the end of the first period. The match was tied at 2 after the second period. Davis, who was making first contact and carrying the match, used an escape to take a 3-2 lead with 1:25 remaining. "Tony came back in his match in typical Overstake fashion," said Kearney. "I�m sure it�s happened before in this gym. He made a couple of technical mistakes we will have to work on, but Tony was able to stay in there and fight through it and get that big takedown." Ron Overstake, Tony�s father, had some anxiety watching his son rally for the victory: "At this level, coming from behind is a lot harder than people realize." Ron Overstake voiced a sentiment of appreciation of seeing the Ducks wrestle closer to his Sams Valley home than usual. "It was nice to see someone else getting the driving time for a change," he said. "There�s a lot of tradition here. The valley is filled with wrestling fans and it was nice of Oregon coming here so people could see them." 184 � Jeremy Black, UCD, forfeit over Doug Lee; 197 � Chael Sonnen, UO, pinned Brandon Arsenault, 3:13; 285 � Eric Webb, UO, pinned Mike Maben, 4:16; 125 � Shaun Williams, UO, dec. Tommy Schurkamp, 17-9; 133 � Brian Watson, UO, dec. Urijah Faber, 3-2. 141 � Casey Hunt, UO, dec. Kevin Jones, 8-3; 149 � Tony Overstake, UO, dec. Nick Davis, 5-3; 157 � Eugene Harris, UO, dec. Burt Pierson, 4-3; 165 � Luke Larwin, UO, dec. Jeremiah Jarvis, 6-4; 174 � Adrian Garcis, UCD, dec. Leif Williams, 6-2. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.