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Crater's Reed has right stuff Helps Comets rule tourney By DON HUNT CENTRAL POINT -- Ever since Nathan Reed took up wrestling in the sixth grade, he had never won a big tournament. Until Saturday. The Crater High senior defeated North Valley standout Josh White 6-3 in the championship match of the 145-pound division at the eighth annual Crater Classic. Reed was one of 12 Crater wrestlers to win titles as the Comets amassed 420 points. Marshfield finished a distant second with 178 points, followed by South Medford (100), North Valley (94), South Umpqua (80 ) and Rogue River (59). Three schools -- Bend, Crook County and Enterprise High of Redding -- failed to make the tournament because of weather conditions. "Until this year, I've been a JV wrestler my whole career," Reed said. "It's a great feeling to win a tournament like this. It's been a long time coming." Reed has faced an uphill battle over the years, largely because of all the talented wrestlers he's had to go against at his own school. The Comets are regularly a top-10 team and, after having won the state championship a year ago, currently find themselves ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 8 in the country. Reed, who skipped the second grade, is also younger than most of his classmates. He doesn't turn 17 until Feb. 12. But stick-to-itiveness finally paid dividends for Reed Saturday. "I don't have pretty technique -- I don't win any style points," Reed said. "I basically just go hard for three rounds and try to wear the other guy out." That strategy worked against White, the defending Class 3A state runner-up at 145 pounds. Although Reed managed to build an early lead, his aggressive, non-stop approach seemed to wear out White, who won the 145-pound title at the Rogue Valley Wrestling Championships one week earlier. "This could be a breakthrough tournament for Nathan," Crater coach Greg Haga said. "He's been a solid wrestler for us the past two years, but has never quite reached the level some of our other kids have. "He got to the semifinals at district last year, but lost that match and wound up fifth and didn't get to the state tournament. He's got his goals set higher this time around." Crater won all but two of the weight classes Saturday, but Haga wasn't especially pleased with the overall effort. The Comets, 19-1 in dual meets and now the possessor of three tournament championships, will face a stiff test next week when they enter the Hillsboro tournament. Many of the state's top 4A teams will compete. "I think some of our kids may have been looking ahead to that tournament," Haga said. "And we do have a few kids out sick. "Still, some of our kids weren't very aggressive and that's something we just can't accept." Other champions for the Comets were Chad Griffin (112), Morgan Hawkins (119), Jayson Stratton (130), Justin Godley (135), Joe Green (140), Shane Webster (152), Matt Lee (160), Tanner Hillyer (171), Mike Whitehead (189), Anders Vetch (215) and Burk Thomas (275). South Medford's Jason Kurggel walked off with the 103-pound title, while Marshfield's Solomon Jones triumphed at 125. Kruggel pinned Rogue River's Nick Minard in the 103-pound championship match. The tournament was sponsored by Western Bank and Quality Fence. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford,