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The ol' college try
In just six short weeks on the team, Marcus Myers has left a lasting impression on his teammates and coaches
by Doug Bonham | Sports Reporter
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"When Marcus wrestles, everyone on the team is on the edge of the mat," Oregon wrestling coach Chuck Kearney said of the senior. "It's about the competing. He's not out there wrestling to be a national champion, he's not wrestling to be a Pac-10 champion. He's out there wrestling because he saw a need and he wanted to contribute."
Wins don't matter and aren't expected of the senior from Beaverton who wrestled at Southridge High School; Myers walked on to the team because he figured he'd be better than a forfeit.
Since sophomore Brysen French has been unable to compete for the Ducks since December due to injury, Oregon was forced into one of two choices for dual meets: either forfeit French's 184-pound weight class, or shuffle the other Ducks around.
Sophomore Ron Lee wrestled at the 184-pound class twice, winning both matches; however, that wasn't an ideal situation for the rest of the season. Kearney asked his wrestlers to try and find anyone interested in stepping in at 184 pounds; junior Shaun Dee knew somebody to talk to - his roommate and close friend, Myers.
"After a while of not having a full lineup the team got down on itself," Dee said. "Finally the coach went around asking if anyone knew anyone, and I live with Marcus. I said 'Hey Marcus, do you want to wrestle for UO? Do you want to be a college wrestler?' and he had the balls to do it."
Myers wasn't quite re-thinking his decision after the first practice, but came away in awe of the dedication and level of fitness college wrestling required.
"I took three or four breaks," Myers said. "It was killer.
"Our first run was two or three miles sprinting around the top of Mac Court, and it's just a completely different level."
Myers said his family has been incredibly supportive of the decision, and that he has improved his stamina and technique leaps and bounds over the nearly six weeks he's been in the wrestling room.
Besides avoiding an automatic forfeit, Kearney said Myers has been a boon to the team's morale.
"He's been a real infusion of positive energy," Kearney said. "When he comes in and says he's better than a forfeit, there's a freshness to it from my perspective." Unlike somebody coming off the end of the bench in a football or basketball game, a wrestler is under intense scrutiny because of the one-on-one nature of the sport, Kearney said.
"Every time he steps out in front of the crowd to wrestle, he knows that he's against all odds. But he steps out and wrestles anyway," Kearney said.
Kearney said Myers was reluctant to be honored along with the other Oregon seniors at the final home match against Oklahoma State on Feb. 8. However, Kearney insisted - because what he's done has earned the coaches' and wrestlers' respect.
"I don't think he really realizes at this point in his life how much respect we in this program have for him," Kearney said.
"Marcus is a courageous dude," Dee said. "Regardless of what he did, he'll come out victorious."
dbonham@dailyemerald.com
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 13
mgard
posted 2/21/08 @ 7:32 AM PST
Good read. Typo on the picture caption. The word "six" was mispelled.
Nice timing on the article. A little PR campaigning?
Matt
posted 2/21/08 @ 7:32 AM PST
Great article. Thanks for writing it!
duck4change
posted 2/21/08 @ 8:10 AM PST
Thank you for a respectful article. It brings a little dignity to the emerald after yesterday's shameful piece.
Prebes
posted 2/21/08 @ 9:45 AM PST
Now THIS is the type of story that Dransfeldt should have written. The U of O wrestling team needs to be uplifted- not spit upon because of one writer's negative experience in the sport. (Continued…)
Gene Harris
posted 2/21/08 @ 9:47 AM PST
That's a nice story on this kid. I follow PAC 10 wrestling and I saw his name listed in the Oregon results for the last few weeks but I had no idea who he was. (Continued…)
Rob Arnett
posted 2/21/08 @ 11:21 AM PST
It's good to see a positive article like this, instead of the trash your seniors sports editor wrote. Maybe you can replace his sorry ass.
Jackson
posted 2/21/08 @ 11:23 AM PST
great read and a definite contrast to a rather poorly written article on wrestling published in the emerald lately
Hank Hosfield
posted 2/21/08 @ 12:29 PM PST
Way to go Marcus!
The great majority of wrestling team walk-ons spend their careers suffering their beatings in the anonymity of the practice room, giving their all to make their teammates better, working their way up the ladder in hopes of someday getting to start. (Continued…)
Jon Levenson
posted 2/21/08 @ 2:03 PM PST
This is the kind of positive article that we should be seeing, not trash written by Jeffy Dransfeldt. Fire that moron.
Alex
posted 2/21/08 @ 2:26 PM PST
Doug I would like to thank you for this good piece. In lieu of the recent trash that a fellow colleague of yours at the paper wrote, this is an uplifting and good look into Duck wrestling and what it is about and more so what the sport is about. (Continued…)
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