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Phoenix grabs reins at district By Don Hunt MURPHY � Each weekday morning during December, Nick Acord would hop in his pickup, drive to Phoenix High School and meet up with several of his teammates for a 2�-mile run on the school�s track. Acord was bound and determined to emerge as one of the top wrestlers at Phoenix this winter, and he knew it wouldn�t happen without sacrifice. He had already been to a wrestling camp at Southern Oregon University a few months earlier, exchanging grapevines, cradles and fireman�s carries with some of the state�s top high school grapplers. The extra work has paid dividends for the 160-pound junior, who charged into the championship semifinal round at the Skyline Conference district tournament Friday at Hidden Valley High. The heavily-favored Pirates advanced 16 competitors into today�s semifinals, which kicks off at noon. The championship finals are scheduled for 6 p.m. Phoenix racked up 192 points Friday to grab a 46-point lead over Illinois Valley, which totaled 146. Rounding out the field were Mazama (123), Hidden Valley (90), North Valley (74), Lakeview (62), Rogue River (41) and Henley (35). Until this season, Acord had an undistinguished career at Phoenix. He broke his arm three weeks into his freshman year, and last year he managed only a fourth-place finish at the district tournament. "I didn�t put the time into it that I needed to, and I didn�t wrestle as hard as I could have when I was on the mat," Acord said. "But I�m a lot different wrestler now." Acord, the top seed at 160, showcased his improvement Friday by pinning Hidden Valley�s Mark Dutton in his opening match and rolling to a 10-0 victory over Nick Singleton in the second round. "I feel like I�m 100 percent better than last year," Acord said. "I�ve won a lot of matches in the third round by being in better shape than the other guy, and I�m just a lot more confident than I�ve ever been." That self-assurance got a big boost early this season when Acord beat Roseburg�s Levi Thomas and pinned teammate Forest Jacobs at the Phoenix Invitational. At the times of those matches, Thomas was No. 2 in the Class 4A 160-pound rankings and Jacobs No. 2 in the 3A rankings. "Both of those guys are great wrestlers and beating them gave me a big boost of confidence," Acord said. "I knew if I could beat them, there weren�t too many guys around that I couldn�t beat." Phoenix stubbed its toe a couple of times early Friday but steamrolled through the rest of the day to take a commanding lead and begin to zero in on its 17th district title in the past 19 years. Two of the Pirates� No. 4 seeds � 125-pound Ben Workman and 130-pound Phil Gibson � lost second-round matches, although both remain alive in consolation action. Gibson dropped an 8-7 decision to North Valley�s Josh Cutino when referee Jerry Hull called him for an illegal headlock. The call infuriated Phoenix coach Harry Mondale. "That was a legal hold," Mondale said. "It�s called a figure-four, around-the-head and it�s legal. He (Hull) doesn�t know the rule." Besides Acord, other Pirates who advanced into the semifinals were Kevin Cowley and Jesse Mitchell at 103, Chris Vote at 119, Jesse Clark at 125, Tyler McCarty at 135, George Pearce and Zach Henry at 140, Brandon Sousa and Ryan Staten at 145, Jacobs and Kyle Kaufman at 152, Brian Murphy and Shawn Farrell at 171, Greg Brown at 189 and Keanon Ferguson at 215. Illinois Valley, meanwhile, advanced 12 into the semifinals, including top seeds Matt Britt (125), Eddie Middleton (130), Jesse Camp (140) and Ryan Emery (171). "We�re doing about as well as we could hope for," Illinois Valley coach Jay Miller said. "Phoenix has too much depth for us to contend with, but our kids are doing a great job. "Getting 12 kids into the semifinals was great." The Cougars suffered one setback when 140-pound Jason Smith injured his knee and was taken to a Grants Pass hospital. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.