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Ex-Eagles mat coach Bergen to enter hall There was no question who was in charge of the Eagle Point High wrestling room during the latter half of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Bob Bergen, a short, stout man who ran practice with an iron fist and booming voice, produced 10 district titles, four state championships and three state runner-up finishes during his 15 seasons with the Eagles that ended in 1989. He also coached 12 individual state champions. Largely because of those efforts, Bergen has been inducted into the Oregon State Wrestling Hall of Fame. "I think the rapport I had with the kids was my biggest strength as a coach," says Bergen, who has been with the Eagle Point School District for 27 years, first as a P.E. teacher and for the past three years as athletic director. "Once I walked into the wrestling room it was like, 'Everybody shut up and do exactly what I say.' "My personality definitely changed when I was in that wrestling room." Bergen earned the nickname "Bad Bob" during his early years as a coach, and some of his practices were so grueling it hurt just to watch. But it didn't take long for him to gain his grapplers' respect, and off the mat, Bergen showed a deep caring for his kids. He took them to tournaments in the off-season, got them into summer camps and went on fund-raising trips, often spending entire weekends cutting wood with his wrestlers. And, as gruff and ill-tempered as he seemed in practice, Bergen showed a lighter side off the mat. "I worked as hard as I could to make them as good as I could, both on and off the mat," Bergen says. "Kids aren't stupid. If you ask them to run through a wall then you better be ready to run through it yourself." Bergen left the Eagle Point program following back-to-back state championships to coach at Southern Oregon University beginning in 1990. He served seven years as an assistant coach with the Raiders and two years as interim head coach when Bob Riehm went on sabbatical and later resigned. The head coaching job was Bergen's for the taking, but it would have entailed a pay cut from his teaching position at Eagle Point, and he declined. Bergen graduated from Canby High near Portland in 1968 and from Portland State University in 1972. He was a state runner-up in high school, a sixth-place finisher at the 1972 NCAA tournament and a runner-up at the national freestyle open tournament that same year. Bergen didn't quite make it to the top of the mountain as a wrestler. But as a coach, he owned the mountain. The Oregon State Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremony will be held May 3 at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville. SOUTH MEDFORD'S Eric Fiegi is expected to announce what college he's going to attend sometime this week. Fiegi has narrowed his choices to Western Baptist in Salem, Warner Pacific in Portland and Oregon Tech in Klamath Falls. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Fiegi averaged 20.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots per game while leading the South Medford High boys basketball team to a 24-3 record, including a 16-0 mark in the Southern Oregon Conference. Fiegi played in the Oregonian Northwest Shootout, a duel between the top high school players from Oregon and Washington, Saturday night at the Chiles Center in Portland. The Oregon all-stars eked out a 102-98 victory as Brandon Lincoln of Jefferson High scored 20 points, Shea Washington of Thurston 19 and Chris Rodgers of Wilson 18. CRATER HIGH'S Amy Denson has been voted the OregonLive.com girls basketball player of the year. Nearly 200 fans from across the state cast their ballots for the award. The 6-1 Denson, who is headed to Arizona State on scholarship, averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds in fueling the Comets to a 25-3 record this season. Denson played in the girls' version of the Oregon Northwest Shootout this weekend. She led the Oregon all-stars with 24 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to prevent Washington from emerging with a 78-73 victory. Sarah Pool, Denson's teammate at Crater, added 10 points. MEDFORD DISTRICT Athletic Director Bruce Howell recently received an excellence award from the Oregon Association for Central Office Administrator. Among other things, Howell is credited with implementing procedures and a handbook to help coaches, parents, community workers, administrators and maintenance workers work together more effectively. Howell has also gone beyond the scope of his daily duties to develop, coordinate and run the middle school cross country meet and has helped the community raise money to build new fields and tracks. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.