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49 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, December 9, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 3, 2004 South Medford�s Michael Pacheco, left, battles North Medford�s Henry Olsen in the 145-pound match. Pacheco rallied to beat Olsen, 14-9 Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Lang’s fall fuels Panthers over Tornado By DON HUNT Mail Tribune South Medford High senior wrestler Jon Lang had just two practices under his belt but he had no qualms about taking the mat Thursday when the Panthers opened their season with a dual meet against archrival North Medford. Lang, a linebacker on the South Medford football team that played in the Class 4A state quarterfinals last Friday, showed no rust on the mat as he registered an important fall at 189 pounds to fuel the Panthers to a 39-30 victory over the Black Tornado in the North gym. Juan Aguilar (103), Chris Helman (135) and Travis Harvey (140) also had falls for South Medford. With the score tied at 30, Lang pinned North Medford’s Chris Kerry to give the Panthers a 36-30 lead. Brian Heinrichs followed with a 5-4 victory over Jon Volgarino in the final match of the night at 215 pounds to provide South Medford its final margin of victory. "Wrestling is like riding a bike — you don’t forget how it’s done after a long layoff," said Lang, who logged his first wrestling practice of the fall on Tuesday and got in a short workout the following day. "I was in decent shape from football and so it really wasn’t a big deal." Advertisement Lang probably wouldn’t have wrestled Thursday, however, had one of his teammates in his weight class not turned up ineligible. "It’s sure nice to be able to plug in a kid like Lang into your lineup," South Medford coach Ken Thompson said. "You know he’s going to go out there and compete." Lang’s win stole the momentum from the Black Tornado, which moments before had tied the match when its standout 171-pounder, Chris Platt, posted a pin over Corey Oxford. But as vital as Lang’s victory was, South Medford got equally meaningful wins from the middle of its lineup. The Panthers trailed 18-15 after six matches when Helman and Harvey picked up back-to-back falls over Tyson Weston and Lee Seeley, respectively. Michael Pacheco followed with a come-from-behind 14-9 victory over Henry Olsen at 145 pounds. The three straight wins gave the Panthers a 30-18 advantage and allowed them to withstand falls by the Tornado’s Ryan Folsom at 160 pounds and Platt at 171. Pacheco, a senior who missed most of last season with a dislocated elbow, trailed Olsen 6-0 after one period. Pacheco toughened up defensively and got a takedown in the second period to close the gap to 6-2, then dominated the final two minutes with three takedowns and a pair of near falls to win going away. "I started to shoot, got a couple of takedowns and my confidence went way up," Pacheco explained. "I should have been more aggressive earlier." South Medford obtained another comeback win from 125-pound Ace Snyder, who overcame an early 3-1 deficit to post a 9-3 win over Joey Marroletti. Along with Platt, North Medford also got falls from Jon Ulrey (119), Colton Major (130) and Tim Endecott (275). Ulrey trailed the Panthers’ Jerry DeBoer 9-3 when he muscled his way in for a second-round pin. The Tornado won six of the 13 matches contested but had to forfeit at 112 pounds. "I think the teams were pretty even, but they won most of the key matches," first-year North Medford coach Bill Jones said. "We’ve only got two seniors and maybe that (lack of maturity) had an effect on us. "But we’ll be OK. I liked our effort and we’re going to get better." Both teams wrestle at a tournament in Del Norte, Calif., on Saturday. 103 — Juan Aguilar, SM, pinned Tyson Scott, 3:29; 112 — David Thompson, SM, won by forfeit; 119 — Jon Ulrey, NM, pinned Jerry DeBoer, 3:20; 125 — Ace Snyder, SM, d. Joey Marroletti, 9-3; 130 — Colton Major, NM, pinned Alex Cortez, 4:54. 135 — Chris Helman, SM, pinned Tyson Weston, 5:47; 140 — Travis Harvey, SM, pinned Lee Seeley, :55; 145 — Michael Pacheco, SM, d. Henry Olsen, 14-9; 152 — Josh Smith, NM, d. Dan Swift, 8-5; 160 — Ryan Folsom, NM, d. Kenny Licea, 9-3. 171 — Chris Platt, NM, pinned Corey Oxford, SM, 1:40; 189 — Jon Lang, SM, pinned Chris Kerry, 1:50; 215 — Brian Heinrichs, SM, d. Jon Volgarino, 5-4; 275 — Tim Endecott, NM, pinned Charlie Gitzen, 2:43. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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