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Crater opens SOC in convincing style If there were doubts as to how Crater would respond to being ranked No. 1 in Oregon and fifth in the nation, the Comets answered them all Wednesday night. Using impressive determination, Crater won 12 of 14 weight divisions to top host North Medford, 54-9, in the Southern Oregon Conference opener for both squads. Black Tornado sophomore Brian Salinas earned a 9-3 decision over Comet senior Joey Morgan at 125 pounds for North's first victory. Shawn Backstrom was the only other Tornado to have his arm raised in victory, with the sophomore earning a forfeit at 160. Beyond those two weights, it was all Crater Wednesday night as the Comets used their advantage in experience to upend North. "They deserve to be ranked No. 1," said North coach Ken Thompson. "If they're only fifth in the nation, I don't want to wrestle the other four teams." "The good thing about this is we got it out of the way. There's nobody as tough as them in the rest of the conference. This will be long forgotten by the time February rolls around." Chad Griffin (112), Morgan Hawkins (119), Mike Whitehead (189) and Cameron Fjarli (215) each opened the SOC with a bang by earning falls in their respective divisions. To help the Crater cause, Joe Green (140), Nathan Reed (145) and Tanner Hillyer (171) each dominated the action in overwhelming decisions. In the most competitive match of the night, Crater's Shane Webster and North's John Whitaker battled tooth-and-nail before Webster finally escaped with an 11-10 decision. The score was tied late in the match before Webster finally took the decisive advantage with 16 seconds remaining in the match. Despite the resounding victory, Crater coach Greg Haga said his team has several areas in which they need to improve. "I'm happy with the win," he said. "I thought we didn't wrestle to our ability, but the first time out this year, we'll take it. "I think our kids have to really be ready this year because people want a piece of the defending state champions." 103 -- Andy Oman, C, d. Chris Jensen, NM, 7-3; 112 -- Chad Griffin, C, pinned Tim Schmidt, NM, first round; 119 -- Morgan Hawkins, C, pinned Josh Baker, NM, third round. 125 -- Brian Salinas, NM, d. Joey Morgan, C, 9-3; 130 -- Bob Pool, C, d. Andy Tow, NM, 7-2; 135 -- Jayson Stratton, C, won by forfeit; 140 -- Joe Green, C, d. Cory Sweet, NM, 14-3. 145 -- Nathan Reed, C, d. Joel Gibson, NM, 14-5; 152 -- Shane Webster, C, d. John Whitaker, NM, 11-10; 160 -- Shawn Backstrom, NM, won by forfeit; 171 -- Tanner Hillyer, C, d. Ramon Cortez, NM, 17-6. 189 -- Mike Whitehead, C, pinned Norris Bier, NM, second round; 215 -- Cameron Fjarli, C, pinned Brent Rhodes, NM, second round; HWT -- Burk Thomas, C, d. Brian Backstrom, NM, 8-2. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA