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Panthers scrap past Black Tornado Photo by Roy Musitelli / Mail Tribune North Medford's Kyle Wells, top, takes down South Medford's Alex Brummer in the 160-pound match in Thursday's dual meet. Wells won a 10-4 decision. South Medford prevails over rival North Medford on the strength of seven pins By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune A killer instinct is one of those athletic intangibles about which coaches often gush. The South Medford wrestling team's killer instinct made all the difference in a 42-30 dual-match victory over visiting North Medford Thursday. The Panthers and Black Tornado each claimed seven victories, but it was South that prevailed on the strength of seven pins to North's one. "They just pinned us, plain and simple," said second-year Tornado head coach Kacey McNulty. Improving to 2-0 in Southern Oregon Conference dual matches, the Panthers stormed to an 18-3 lead, gave up 18 straight points to fall behind 21-18, then wrapped it up with three consecutive pins. First-year South head coach Ken Thompson was particularly pleased with the work of some of his less-experienced wrestlers. He singled out 135-pounder Jay Ryan, 140-pounder Mike Parsley and 275-pounder Joe Ramirez for decisive pins. Ryan, a senior who missed all of last season with an injury, took down John Aiello in 1 minute, 15 seconds. Parsley, a freshman, pinned Dana Sword in 59 seconds. And Ramirez, a junior, got the best of Lorenzo Arenas in the third period, at 4:46 overall. "Our young kids won the match for us tonight," said Thompson, who used to coach the Tornado and still works at North. "I was telling them that it was up to them to kind of keep us in the match. I didn't realize that they were actually gonna get it done for us." Ben Vandagrift, a 215-pound senior whom Thompson called the Panthers' "best wrestler," recorded the night's fastest pin. He needed just 42 seconds to defeat David Valiente and give South a 30-21 edge with four matches remaining. Before Vandagrift, Jordan Fischer's pin at 189 of Frank Clifton in 2:52 pushed the Panthers on top for good, 24-21. In the 171 showdown, North's Rob Folsom earned a hard-fought, 8-4 decision over Kevin O'Shea to complete the Tornado's 18-point run over four matches. Although he wasn't happy with the overall result, McNulty was encouraged by many of the Tornado's individual showings. "We had a lot of kids perform well," he said. "We won matches that we lost last year. "Jimmy Ulrey (at 145) beat a kid (Matt McCoy) that he lost to last year. Rob Folsom (at 171) beat a kid (O'Shea) that he lost to last year. John Penney (at 125) beat a kid (Ian Rasmussen) that he lost to last year. Chris Oetinger (at 119) beat a kid (Evan Norris) that he lost to last year. "All of our returners won." On the other side of the mat, Thompson found South's team victory gratifying. "I work security over (at North)," said Thompson, who was the Tornado head coach from 1997-98 through 1999-2000. "I know those kids real well. I thought they did a really good job. "It's a little weird for me. But at the same time, you don't show up to these things to lose to kids you like." TEAM SCORE - South Medford 42, North Medford 30. 103 - Jeff Brabham, NM, won by forfeit; 112 - Jerry DeBoer, SM, pinned Bryan Dollarhide, 3:21; 119 - Chris Oetinger, NM, dec. Evan Norris, 6-3; *125 - John Penney, NM, dec. Ian Rasmussen, 4-3; 130 - Travis Harvey, SM, pinned Anthony Russell, 4:31. 135 - Jay Ryan, SM, pinned John Aiello, 1:15; 140 - Mike Parsley, SM, pinned Dana Sword, 0:59; 145 - Jimmy Ulrey, NM, won by default over Matt McCoy; 152 - Novie Bier, NM, pinned Shane Krische, 0:45. 160 - Kyle Wells, NM, dec. Alex Brummer, 10-4; 171 - Rob Folsom, NM, dec. Kevin O'Shea, 8-4; 189 - Jordan Fischer, SM, pinned Frank Clifton, 2:52; 215 - Ben Vandagrift, SM, pinned David Valiente, 0:42; 275 - Joe Ramirez, SM, pinned Lorenzo Arenas, 4:46. * starting weight Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.