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North is in the swing of things MT photo by Bob Pennell Led by Tyler Wilson, who is ranked No. 1 in the Northwest, the Tornado readies for district play By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune Standing 5-foot-10, 135 pounds, Tyler Wilson isn't exactly the type to leave you shaking in your boots. Fortunately for the 16-year-old North Medford sophomore, size has very little to do with success on the tennis court. On that surface, Wilson has mammoth skills, sporting a No. 1 ranking in the Pacific Northwest for 16-year-old boys and No. 4 for those 18-and-under. "Tyler's just got great consistency," says first-year North coach Larry Fields. "He hits his serve a ton but hits it consistently. It's incredible how mature his game is for someone so young." Wilson, however, is a little less impressed with his tennis skills. "I have to focus on trying to play my best each and every match," he says. "There are a lot of good players out there." Few quite as polished as Wilson. As a freshman, Wilson lost a grueling three-set match to Roseburg's Ryan Felker in the semifinals of last year's Southern Oregon Conference district tournament. Wilson went on to take third and advanced to the second round at the state tourney. This season, Wilson already has posted a 2-2 record in 16s at the prestigious Easter Bowl tennis tournament in Palm Springs, Calif., barely missing out on upsetting the No. 10 player in the country in a 6-3, 6-3 match. "I think I could have realistically won that first match even against someone that's ranked so high in the country," says Wilson. "There were just a few points here and there that didn't go my way." Wilson has also yet to lose a match at No. 1 singles for the Black Tornado this season, with his only real test coming against Ashland's Ari Zaslow, who extended his match with Wilson to 6-3, 7-5. "Ari Zaslow is pretty tough," Wilson says in handicapping the singles field for this week's district tournament, "but every match is tough. You always have to go out and do your best." Klamath Union's Reid Arthur is the defending SOC singles champion, but a recent back injury may keep him sidelined for the boys district slated Thursday and Saturday at Hunter Park in Ashland. The SOC girls district tournament will be Thursday and Saturday at Varsity Courts at North Medford High. If Arthur is unable to go, Wilson could find his chief opposition coming from Zaslow and teammate John Falath, a junior exchange student from Slovakia. "On any other team, John would be a No. 1," says Fields. "He just doesn't lose any games." Falath has split time at No. 1 and 2 this season for North, with his closest match a win over Ashland's Evan Schleining in which Falath dropped a total of three games. With singles players Brady Inn and David Heyerman and doubles teams of Andrew Theen and David Mostue and Clint Russell and Dru Philips, Wilson says North has an excellent chance of defending its SOC team title. "I think we're going to do pretty well," says Wilson. "We're pretty deep and have a lot of players who can win a lot of matches. They just have to play consistent and play their games and we should be fine." Ashland and Roseburg provide the biggest challenge for the Tornado. Both schools toppled North during the regular season, although the Tornado didn't have its full complement of players in each loss. Besides Zaslow and the doubles team of Schleining and Kevin Spears, Ashland is led by Shane Lloyd, Jonathon Willing, Brendan Curry and Corey Lescher. Roseburg is led by its No. 1 doubles team of Jared Schricker and Stewart Westmore, who took second at last year's district. "We didn't have a lot of our players when we played (Ashland and Roseburg), but that's not their fault," says Wilson, "so who's to say how it would turn out? I guess we'll find out this week." Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.