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South jockeys to win over North Photo by Drew Fleming South Medford's Ian Taylor, top, defeats North Medford's Norris Bier at 215 pounds, aiding the Panthers' team win. Panthers beat rivals for first time in 8 years By KRIS HENRY Wrestling fans were afforded a double treat Thursday night thanks to the chess match between the coaches from South Medford and North Medford. Second-year Panther coach Ken Wharry and first-year Black Tornado coach Mike Schaan discarded their initial lineups in favor of a more counterattacking style, using the ebb and flow of the night to determine which wrestlers would be sent out to the mat. Mike Murphy, left, duels Josh Whitaker. In the end, Wharry's maneuvers were more successful thanks to a determined South Medford crew, and the Panthers escaped North's gym with a 40-31 Southern Oregon Conference dual-meet victory. "This is the first time we've beaten North in eight years," an elated Wharry said. "I think this rivalry is back, and we're going to start going at it again." Schaan agreed. "It's good for the sport of wrestling for people to see those kinds of matches," he said. "That was pretty exciting for everyone." North Medford actually gained the initial upper hand by winning the coin toss that determines when each team would have to send out their respective wrestler first. With an eye on the 140-pound weight class, Schaan won the toss and opted for the even matches, putting South on the spot at 140. "We knew there was going to be some jockeying in the lineup so we chose the even matches so they would have to show their hand first," said Schaan, conceding that North had planned to forfeit at 140 instead of facing South's Cory Sweet. North Medford's Josh Tarolli, top, eyes his next move against South's Matt McCoy. South struggled to gain an 18-15 lead by the time 140 rolled around. The Panthers, who had penciled Sweet in at 140, instead sent out freshman Ken Meyers. North hadn't penciled anyone into the lineup at 140, but hustled freshman Novie Bier out on the mat moments after Meyers' hand was being raised for an announced forfeit. After a spirited exchange between the referee, Wharry and Schaan, the forfeit was reneged and Meyers and Bier were sent out at 140. "I just didn't make it known to the table early on," Schaan said in explaining the mixup. "That was part of our strategy to wait and see who they put out there and then wrestle where we thought we had a chance." Wharry had an alternate view, saying he believed North had to send its man out first and that his wrestler had already walked off the mat after his hand was raised for the supposed forfeit. Wharry found no support from the ref for his debate, but gained enough backing from Meyers as the freshman overcame a 4-3 deficit in the third period to gain a 10-5 decision. "That was big for a freshman," said Wharry. "He's been wrestling tough and he's going to do some good things for us. I just told him after (the ref's decision) he just had to go out and wrestle. He did a good job." After Sweet received a forfeit at 145 to give South a 27-15 advantage, North rallied behind a pin by Joel Gibson at 152 and a 12-3 decision by Shad Thomas over Robert Swearingen at 160. With his team's lead whittled down to 27-25, South sophomore Kevin O'Shea set the tone for the final few weights with an aggressive effort against Brock Smith at 171. O'Shea shrugged off two unnecessary roughness penalties and a 5-2 deficit in the third period to earn a pin at 4:28. Mike Murphy picked up the gauntlet for the Panthers at 189 with a dominating 15-7 win over Josh Whitaker, while Ian Taylor eliminated any hopes North had of a potential tie with a 10-3 decision over Norris Bier at 215. North's Scott Myers closed out the match with a pin over Curt Snow to trim the final deficit. "For the guys to all bump up a weight class from 125 on up and wrestle so tough, I'm really proud of them," Wharry said. "It came out the way we wanted." South looked to separate itself from North early in the lower weights but couldn't do it thanks to the rallying efforts of Tornado senior Josh Tarolli at 119 and freshman Jim Ulray at 130. Sophomore Matt McCoy stormed out to a 6-1 lead on Tarolli, only to have the North senior answer to tie the match at 6-all. McCoy earned a reversal to close out the second period, but Tarolli used a cradle to tie the match and then took the advantage with a three-point near fall. He gained a pin with 22 seconds remaining in the match. Ulray trailed South junior Donnie Jackson 12-4 before mounting an amazing comeback. The North freshman took a 14-12 advantage after a takedown and two-point near fall with 25 seconds to go in the match. "We were looking at trying to get on a roll and blow them out, but some matches went the other way," said Wharry. "We'll learn from that." Despite the surprising turn of events in the lower weights, North's plan to overcome South went awry when the Panthers controlled the upper weights. "We had a chance and that's all we ask," said Schaan. "We came into this as what I believe to be the underdogs. Anytime you're dealing with a crosstown rival, anything can happen. Our kids wrestled hard, we just didn't get some breaks here and there and we gave up some pins we can't be giving up at this point in the season." TEAM SCORE -- South Medford 40, North Medford 31. INDIVIDUAL -- 103 -- Brandon Bruce, NM, won by forfeit; 112 -- Ian Rasmussen, SM, pinned H.dec. Bragg, 4:30; 119 -- Josh Tarolli, NM, pinned Matt McCoy, 5:38; 125 -- Robert Glueck, SM, pinned Tim Schmidt, 1:26; 130 -- Jim Ulray, NM, dec. Donnie Jackson, 14-12. 135 -- Jacob Bean, SM, pinned Zach Macormic, 1:38; 140 -- Ken Meyers, SM, dec. Novie Bier, 10-5; 145 -- Corey Sweet, SM, win by forfeit; 152 -- Joel Gibson, NM, pinned J.J. Long, 3:58. 160 -- Shad Thomas, NM, dec. Robert Swearingen, 12-3; 171 -- Kevin O'Shea, SM, pinned Brock Smith, 4:28; 189 -- Mike Murphy, SM, dec. Josh Whitaker, 15-7; 215 -- Ian Taylor, SM, dec. Norris Bier, 10-3; HWT -- Scott Myers, NM, pinned Curt Snow, 1:43. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA