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Phoenix mat fortunes dim as district nears By GREG STILES Prep Notebook Few things come as a surprise if you've coached high school wrestling as long as Harry Mondale has at Phoenix High. Rules and weight classes come and go, as do the opponents. Destinations and drive times change, and the officials are simply the guys that used to be out on the mat wrestling. As has been his custom for 31 years, Mondale will show up at the Skyline Conference district tournament Friday and Saturday at Mazama High in Klamath Falls full of enthusiasm. Phoenix has won 17 of the past 19 Skyline championships and 18 overall and has gone on to win five Class 3A state titles under Mondale. But for one of the rare times in the past 20 seasons, his Pirates won't necessarily be the favorite. South Umpqua, the school that interrupted the Pirates' Skyline reign in 1989 and 1990, is no longer a threat. The Lancers moved to the Far West League this year. Mazama was converted from a two-year mid-high to a senior high the same year Phoenix began its Skyline domination. Mazama never won a district championship in 19 years as a member of the Southern Oregon Conference. However, it's possible the Vikings could walk away with a Skyline title on their first crack. "Mazama's got a load of kids, and they beat us in a dual," Mondale says. There have been good years and bad for the Pirates, but the fruitful seasons have far outweighed the lean. There are only one senior and one junior on this year's squad. "I think we have a senior class that has more or less been inactive," Mondale says. "A few years back, we used to get 60 or 80 kids in the old gym. But the numbers have been steadily on the decline, and this is one of the thinnest years. It's just harder to find wrestlers who want to get the job done." To date, that hasn't deterred the Pirates from winning Skyline titles. But the numbers won't be in their favor this weekend. Junior Brian Monical is Phoenix's lone returning Skyline champion. "This is kind of what I would call a mediocre year," admits Mondale. "We're a little bit down. "We're working with a lot of young kids. But one of these days, this is going to be a pretty good outfit. They're just going to have to keep doing what they're doing and take their lumps." In his 44 years of coaching, Mondale has had his ups and downs. "One year in the early 1970s, we went to district with six or seven kids," Mondale says. "It's just the cycle you go through in athletics." He's quick to point out that help is on the way. There are 35 wrestlers in the Talent Middle School program. "There are good prospects in both the seventh and eighth grades," Mondale says. "It looks like we'll get most of those people down there. It's obvious that there are better classes coming along." But that might not be soon enough for the Pirates to record their 10th straight district championship. "It's going to be a real interesting battle this year," Mondale says. "At least I hope we don't get blown out." CORRECTION -- It was written here last week and repeated thereafter that North Medford would gain the No. 1 berth to the Class 4A girls state basketball tournament if it and Ashland tied for first place. The SOC tiebreaker, however, simply designates which team gets home-court advantage for a league playoff. Heading into tonight's Southern Oregon Conference finales, Ashland is 12-1 and North Medford 11-2. If Crater was to upset Ashland and North Medford was to beat Roseburg tonight, Ashland would play at North for the SOC's No. 1 berth and Crater would travel to Klamath Union for the No. 3 spot. (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 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.