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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 28, 2005 Streak will be on the line when SOU faces Pacific By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings "The Streak" may be in jeopardy, but head coach Mike Ritchey's focus on getting his team ready for the big show is not. Orville Hector | The Associated Press SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY JUNIOR DAVID O'BRIEN (right) takes down a teammate during Tuesday's practice at McNeal Pavilion. O'Brien, the top-ranked 184-pounder in the nation, and the rest of the Raiders host Pacific University on Saturday. The ninth-ranked Southern Oregon University wrestling squad begins its annual march toward the NAIA National Championships on Saturday night with its first home dual in over a month. The 7 p.m. matchup has drama written all over it. The Raiders will face the 23rd-ranked team at the NCAA Division III level, Pacific University, with much more than regular season bragging rights on the line. SOU must win its three remaining duals in order to add to its streak of consecutive winning seasons, which stands at 34 - the longest such streak in the nation. Ritchey is well aware of the streak, is proud of it, but won't let it distract from what he says is his team's primary goal: preparing for nationals, March 4-5 at Sioux City, Iowa. "Streaks are streaks," Ritchey said prior to Thursday's practice. "They're going to end sometime. I don't know if this is the time or not. To me personally it's a sense of pride and I don't want to be the coach that has it break on him, but I plan on being here for a while. "I don't coach to have winning seasons. The point of the season is to win national championships and that's what our goal is, so we try to find the toughest competition we can to get ready for the national meet." SOU (3-4) will hit the mat against Pacific (7-5) with its usual surplus of nationally ranked title contenders. Leading the way is junior David O'Brien, who's been the nation's top-ranked 184-pounder all season after finishing as the national runner-up in 2004. O'Brien (16-4) is second on the team in wins and will likely face off against Pacific's Cory Van Steenwyk (11-8), unless the Raiders switch up their lineup. That's a possibility. Injuries may force O'Brien and other Raiders to wrestle up. Either way, his sights remain fixed on the big picture. "Pick up the intensity level, practice hard, work hard," said O'Brien, who is a perfect 7-0 in dual meets. "We only have another month left (before nationals) and every day in the room is critical. So, it's just important that everyone's here - try to stay healthy and come in every day ready to work and try to improve as much as you can." O'Brien would know. He came out of nowhere last year to contend for a national title, only to lose an 11-9 decision to Kyle Fisher of Montana State University-Northern in the championship match. Fisher has since graduated, leaving O'Brien as the odds-on favorite. That has not changed his outlook. "Who knows," said O'Brien, one of nine Raiders who have already qualified for nationals. "I came into the tournament pretty much unknown last year and ended up surprising people, so I don't take anything for granted. I still think of myself as an underdog." Other Raiders ranked in the top-10 are juniors Jimmy Grochowsky (fifth at 165), Rick Story (sixth at 174) and Grants Thompson (eighth at 197). Grochowsky (16-7) has won 11 of 14 decisions and is 5-2 overall in Raider dual meets. Story (15-7) has been dominant at times, earning a team-best eight major decision victories. He's slated to face Mick Davis (20-9) on Saturday. Thompson is 11-9 at 197 and lost his only heavyweight bout. Also for the Raiders, senior 157-pounder Rich Vigorito (19-6) leads the team in wins; each of his losses have been by decision. SOU's last dual was a 25-15 win at Menlo on Jan. 15 that snapped a four-dual losing skid. The next day, the Raiders won the seven-team Menlo College Invitational by placing nine wrestlers in the top four. Ritchey hopes his team can continue picking up steam. "We have been training pretty hard, we're just starting our peaking phase," he said. "We may wrestle a little bit tired, but they know they just have got to push through that. (The Boxers) wrestle tough and they match up with us well so it's going to be a pretty exciting dual. We're going to do whatever we can do to win, I'll tell you that." 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