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Click Here 40 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 30, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend January 19, 2003 Crater�s Jeremy McLaughlin, left, rides North Medford�s Chris Platt en route to a 9-3 victory in the 140-pound title match at the Crater Classic. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Comets soar to title Gipson, McLaughlin have emerged as team leaders for top-ranked Crater By DON HUNT Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — Nate Gipson and Jeremy McLaughlin are the two undisputed senior leaders of the Crater High wrestling team. They are both defending conference champions, two-time state placers and determined to lead the Comets to their fourth state championship in the past six years. The 130-pound Gipson and the 140-pound McLaughlin joined six teammates atop the podium at the Crater Classic Saturday, powering the Central Point team to the championship of its own tournament. The Comets — ranked No. 1 among the state’s Class 4A schools in dual meets and No. 4 in tournaments — amassed 399 points. Sprague was a distant second with 230 points, followed by Lebanon (174), Culver (153), West Linn (146½ ), South Albany (142), North Medford (103), South Medford (96), Klamath Union (74), North Valley (69½ ), Sutherlin (13) and South Umpqua (5). Neither Gipson nor McLaughlin had a particularly noteworthy state tournament last year as the former finished sixth individually and the latter fifth. Never mind that both of McLaughlin’s losses at state came by a single point. It is precisely those types of narrow failures that inspires a wrestler to come back the next season loaded with motivation. "I’ve got no excuses for what happened last year," said McLaughlin, who ran his record to 25-2 Saturday with three victories, including a 9-3 decision over North Medford’s Chris Platt in the 140-pound final. "I lost two matches by one point but also won a couple by one point (at the state tournament). "All that did was make me want to work twice as hard when I got back on the mats. When you’re a senior, you realize this is your last shot, and my goal is to win a state championship." Ditto for Gipson, who improved his record to 23-3 Saturday and capped off his day by pinning Sprague’s Derick Bartlemay in 4:49. McLaughlin and Gipson have made each other better by going against one another in practice. "We pound on each other every day," McLaughlin said. "We’ve been doing that since we were freshmen." At the same time, the tenacious middleweights don’t think twice about chastising a teammate who isn’t working up to the high standards set by coach Greg Haga. "Me and Jeremy are always meeting with coach Haga to talk about the team and what needs to be done to make us better," Gipson said. "He’ll tell us who’s slacking off and what we can do to put an end to it. "This school has so much tradition in wrestling and our guys need to know how important it is to keep that going." Haga felt the Comets had been in a bit of a slump following their runner-up finish at the Clovis Classic in Fresno, Calif., last month when they knocked off the No. 3, No. 4, No. 7 and No. 8 teams in California before losing to top-ranked Clovis by six points. Nonetheless, Crater has won 11 of its 12 dual meets and Saturday marked its second tournament title in three weeks. "We gave the kids a week off over the holidays and I think that helped bring back some energy," Haga said. Crater had plenty of oomph Saturday as 11 of its wrestlers advanced to the finals, with eight claiming the top prize. Winning titles besides Gipson and McLaughlin were Tyler Weathers (103), Jeremy Firestone (112), Bryson Gutches (125), Chase Maloney (135), Zane Yarnell (171) and Taylor Wilkerson (275). For Weathers and Yarnell, Saturday marked their first tournament crowns. North Medford, meanwhile, received stellar performances from 152-pound Jimmy Ulrey and 160-pound Rob Folsom, who both walked off with titles. Ulrey stunned the Crater faithful when he built a quick 5-0 lead over Ron Lee and went on to post a 10-4 victory over the Comets’ sophomore standout. Ulrey eked out a 6-5 victory over Lee at the Rogue Valley Classic on Jan. 4, but this time it wasn’t close. "He’s an aggressive wrestler and I knew he’d come after me right way," said Ulrey, the state’s No. 2-ranked wrestler at 152. "He came at me with a double (leg takedown) and I countered with an over-under that got me a takedown and near-fall." Folsom bagged the 160-pound title with a 10-4 victory over Lebanon’s Michael Rieke. The team that perhaps earned the most respect Saturday was Culver, a Class 2A school north of Bend that walked off with fourth place. Coached by former Southern Oregon University star J.D. Alley, the Bulldogs moved five wrestlers to the finals. All five lost, but Alley was tickled with his team’s effort. "A lot of people don’t think 2A kids can compete at a 4A venue, but we beg to differ," said Alley, whose Bulldogs were the state runner-up last year and emerged as the Oregon Classic champion last month. "We came here to get a little more battle-tested, and we got our money’s worth." Saturday’s Results TEAM SCORES — Crater 399, Sprague 230, Lebanon 174, Culver 153, West Linn 146.5, South Albany 142, North Medford 103, South Medford 96, Klamath Union 74, North Valley 69.5, Sutherlin 13, South Umpqua 5. CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL 103 — Tyler Weathers, Cra, dec. James Moyes, Cul, 7-4; 112 — Jeremy Firestone, Cra, pinned Jerry DeBoer, SM, 1:37; 119 — Matt Kim, WL, dec. Adam Kimley, Cul, 13-10; 125 — Bryson Gutches, Cra, dec. Jr. Baltazar, Cul, 9-3; 130 — Nate Gipson, Cra, pinned Derick Bartlemay, Spr, 4:49. 135 — Chase Maloney, Cra, pinned Danny Loredo, Cul, :35; 140 — Jeremy McLaughlin, Cra, dec. Chris Platt, NM, 9-3; 145 — Keegan Davis, Spr, dec. Clayton Tankersly, Cra, 5-1; 152 — Jimmy Ulrey, NM, dec. Ron Lee, Cra, 10-4. 160 — Rob Folsom, NM, dec. Michael Rieke, Leb, 10-4; 171 — Zane Yarnell, Cra, pinned Cody Clark, Cra, 3:09; 189 — John Von Ruden, Leb, dec. Robert Kincaid, KU, 7-3; 215 — Todd Granum, Spr, won by injury default over Trey McLean, NV; 275 — Taylor Wilkerson, Cra, pinned Zack Henson, Cul, 1:47. THIRD-FOURTH FINAL 103 — Jon Ulrey, NM, dec. Justin Sabin, SA, 7-5; 112 — Byron Kezer, Cra, dec. Billie Christy, SA, 9-7; 119 — Jon Bernhardt, Cra, dec. Chris Utter, Leb, 5-3; 125 — Zack Giesen, NV, dec. Jon Penney, NM, 11-3; 130 — Chris Trask, Leb, pinned Kris Armstrong, KU, 3:20. 135 — Nate Pricer, WL, dec. Josh Smith, NM, 4-1; 140 — Ryan Hogan, SA, dec. Brian Stills, Cul, 6-4; 145 — Ryan Drummond, Leb, dec. Ross Miller, Cul, 7-3; 152 — Jon Barnes, Leb, dec. Jon Lang, SM, 4-0. 160 — Chase Locke, WL, won by forfeit over Andrew Peterson, SA; 171 — Nick Locke, WL, dec. Adam Shurtz, Spr, 7-3; 189 — Casey Sorenson, Spr, dec. Dan Druliner, Spr, 4-0; 215 — Brandon Rauls, Cra, dec. Aaron Lindsay, NV, 3-1 OT; 275 — Paul Salo, WL, pinned Willy Schlitt, WL, 1:49. FIFTH-SIXTH FINAL 103 — Steve Renard, Spr, dec. Steve Garrett, Spr, 4-2; 112 — Jon Brandsness, KU, pinned Colin Caron, Spr, 2:58; 119 — Tyler Borsbery, Spr, dec. David Smith, SA, 11-3; 125 — Gabe Rao, WL, pinned Seth Hernandez, SM, :58; 130 — Josh Stratton, Cra, pinned Travis Harvey, SM, 1:55. 135 — Harland Allen, Leb, dec. Eric McVey, Spr, 4-2; 140 — Steen Aranda, Leb, pinned Alex Gilmore, SM, :58; 145 — Shawn Plumb, SA, dec. Jordan Godley, Cra, 10- 4; 152 — Manny Guerrero, Spr, dec. Nathan Harlow, SA, 6-2. 160 — Nick Suing, Leb, tech. fall Noah Olson, Spr, 16-1; 171 — Mica Cabrera, Leb, dec. Mike Church, Spr, 3-1; 189 — Brandon Rankin, NV, pinned Matt Keefer, SA, :50; 215 — Mike Keefer, SA, dec. Jacob Cole, Cra, 14-5; 275 — Tyson Keene, SA, dec. Delvon Frye, Spr, 9-4. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. 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