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SOU athletics prepares for big weekend By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune Super Bowl XXXVI can have Sunday, but Southern Oregon athletics have staked a solid claim to the region's sports focus for tonight and Saturday. The Raider wrestling and men's and women's basketball teams are all to be engaged in intriguing competitions, starting with the SOU wrestlers grappling with Pacific Lutheran inside McNeal Pavilion at 7:30 tonight. Mike Ritchey's defending NAIA national champions are also set to host a pair of top-10 opponents Saturday. The No. 3-ranked Raiders wrestle No. 9 Pacific at 1 p.m., then grapple with No. 4 Montana State-Northern at 8 p.m. The SOU women's basketball squad aims to further its postseason push when it tangles with Evergreen State at 7:30 Saturday night in Ashland. And the Raider men's basketball team will try to deny Oregon Tech head coach Dan Miles a landmark 675th victory when SOU and OIT renew their rivalry at 7:30 Saturday night in Klamath Falls. Miles, a Medford native, is currently tied with former Oregon State coach Ralph Miller for the most wins in the history of Pacific Northwest college basketball. All of Miles' victories have come in his 31 years with the Fighting Owls, while Miller's were between Wichita State, Iowa and Oregon State. In Ashland, however, the story is the SOU wrestling team. The Raiders are in the homestretch of their season, with the NAIA Western Regional scheduled for Feb. 9 in Tacoma, Wash., and the NAIA Championships to be held March 1-2 in Great Falls, Mont. Ritchey said this weekend's challenge is one SOU has been looking forward to and should show just where the Raiders stand in their quest for a title repeat. "It's gonna be a big day for our guys," Ritchey said of Saturday. "Things are starting to come together. So it's just a matter of wrestling well." The marquee dual match of the tripleheader is undoubtedly the visit from Montana State-Northern. The Lights had their streak of three consecutive national titles broken by SOU last year, and MSU-Northern has five NAIA crowns to its credit overall, all since 1991. The Raiders, who have won four national championships (1978, '83, '94 and 2001), own a home dual-match winning streak that dates back to 1973. "They (Lights) know that," Ritchey said. "They've been talking it up. They're aiming to stop that streak." For the SOU women's basketball team, Saturday night is an opportunity for a fourth straight win and sixth in seven outings. The Raiders (11-9 overall, 7-3 Cascade Conference) are in fourth place in the Cascade and trounced Evergreen (2-22, 0-10), 94-55, on the road on Dec. 15. The SOU men have fought their way back into the Cascade race after an ignominious start. Beginning with a 61-54 upset of OIT in Ashland on Jan. 5, the Raiders (10-13, 6-7) have won six of nine to bury an 0-4 start in conference play and climb to sixth in the standings. The Fighting Owls (19-7, 9-4) are in third and have claimed 10 of their last 11 at home against SOU. The Raiders are 1-10 on the road this season. 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.