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Prep Notebook Bergen renews career at E.P. By GREG STILES Bob Bergen insists he's mellowed since he last put an Eagle Point team through a wrestling workout. Chances are the present cadre of Eagles, who experienced one of Bergen's practices for the first time Monday afternoon, might already disagree. "I only know how to coach one way," says the 48-year-old Bergen. "I have a system where I have to have certain things in place, certain things have to be taught. Practice starts at a certain time, kids have to listen. I have to have an intense room and winning has to be important." Bergen's 14-year stint that ended in 1989 not only won a lot, but produced some rather intriguing tales as well. The Eagles won four state championships and 10 district crowns under Bergen. His teams were 240-24-1 in duals and went undefeated six times. The 1988 team set a state tournament scoring record and propelled the program into the national rankings. After winning three Class 4A championships in the 1980s, Bergen wanted to try his hand at the collegiate level. He served as an interim coach during the 1990-91 season when Bob Riehm took a sabbatical at Southern Oregon. Riehm was ready to turn the program over to Bergen for good in 1994, but economic realities prompted Bergen to not make the move. He stayed as an assistant to Mike Ritchey, while continuing to teach at Eagle Point. In the 1990s Nathan Winner, Jim Mannenbach and Chris Lucas took turns coaching the Eagles, who have been eclipsed by Crater as the Southern Oregon Conference's premier program. When Lucas departed to become athletic director at Mazama High in Klamath Falls in July, Eagle Point principal Mari Brabbin turned to Bergen for help. "The administration was in a real bind," Bergen says. "They had already filled all the teaching jobs." It didn't take long for local wrestling boosters to start twisting arms. "I had already committed to Southern Oregon for this year and that left Mike Ritchey in a bad predicament," Bergen says. "It was a hard decision of deciding what way to go." Ultimately, Bergen elected to dust off the interim title once again. "I was trying to decide what was best for the Eagle Point program," he says. After nearly a 10-year absence, Bergen is back upstairs in the EP wrestling room. "When I first took the job, I was 23 years old and right out of college," Bergen recalls. "I thought I was going to show them all of this great stuff. I got into the room for a week and I figured out I had better go back to the basics. I had been a graduate assistant at Portland State and I found out coaching in college and high school were two different things." Still, it didn't take long for Bergen to hit his stride as Eagle Point won the Class 3A title in 1978. Many of the current Eagles' dads or uncles wrestled for Bergen. "A lot of these kids have heard stories from their parents, uncles and cousins," Bergen says. "I don't know if the stories are true, but I wish I would've done a lot of those things in the 24 years I've been here." Rumor gave way to reality on Monday when practice began. "It's going to be harder for the kids to handle me than for me to handle them," Bergen says. "They'll have to adjust to a little different style of coaching." Bergen says this is a rebuilding year, but he is more than a little excited about the freshmen and sophomore classes that were helped along by the kid wrestling program he helped launched more than 20 years ago. Armed with a list of last year's eighth-grade wrestlers, Bergen made his rounds after school started. "This time of year, the No. 1 thing for coaches is to clear the halls," Bergen says. "You want to get every possible kid who can score points for the team out." The fruits of past success will aid Bergen this season. Mannenbach, who was a member of Bergen's old staff, is back. Also on staff are Chip Emigh, Robbie Cowden and Tony McDougal, who each wrestled for him at Eagle Point, and Aaron Schaad, who was on the Raider teams he coached. "That should give us continuity and a fairly smooth transition," Bergen says. "But there's going to be an adjustment period." WHO'S WHO R.I.P.?: Roger Shaffer, co-founder and long-time editor of Who's Who in Oregon Track Field, dropped a bombshell on sports writers during Saturday's state cross country meet at Lane Community College in Eugene. Shaffer was talking to reporters after having his picture taken with the Canyonville Bible Academy/New Hope girls team. A writer asked if he was going to do a biography on himself as he commonly does with championship coaches. "There will be no more `Who's Who,"' Shaffer said matter of factly. Shaffer went on to explain that he had taken over the principal duties on an interim basis and simply didn't have time to produce what has grown into an invaluable 240-page book. Shaffer and Jim Crumpton started the labor-of-love publication 33 years ago. Shaffer went solo for a couple decades then enlisted the help of his mother, Esther, in later years. For a while, he sold advertising but ads proved more work than their worth. Generally, the goal was to break even. The questionnaires for what would have been the 1999 edition went out last summer. But a few weeks later, Shaffer was asked to lead the boarding school of 125 students. "If there's someone out there that would like to continue it, I'd be happy to hand it over to them, give them all the back issues and lists," he says. (Greg Stiles is a Mail Tribune sports writer. He can be reached at 776-4483.) Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,