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CLOUDY Temp: 47 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Wednesday, February 26, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend February 18, 2003 Kaufman throws weight around By this time next year, Kris Kaufman will finally be taking on guys his own size. Different weight classes are designed to level the playing field for wrestlers, but Kaufman has always been the flea next to the cockroach. He weighed 66 pounds as a seventh-grader when the lightest weight class was 77. He tipped the scales at 70 pounds the following year when the smallest division was 82. As a freshman at Phoenix High last year, he came in at 85 pounds, some 18 pounds under the minutest class of 103. Now that Kaufman has fattened up to an even 100, the technically-sound grappler isn’t getting pushed around. He’s posted a 25-6 record, finished second to teammate David May at last Saturday’s Skyline Conference district tournament and will test his skills at the Class 3A state meet Thursday through Saturday at Memorial Coliseum in Portland. "He’s an excellent clinician," Phoenix coach Harry Mondale says. "He still gets mashed around by some of the bigger 103-pounders, but he knows how to wrestle. "I figured he’d make it to the state meet." Kaufman wrestled behind May and Anthony Broskey, who won the 112-pound district title Saturday, last season. He bided his time wrestling at novice and JV tournaments, all the while sharpening skills that he first began learning at the age of 4. "I’ve never gotten discouraged," says Kaufman, whose mother is a sister of former Southern Oregon University national champion Steve Tekander. "Those guys (May and Broskey) have been great wrestling partners, and I knew my time would come." Kaufman pinned Hidden Valley’s Joe Williams and earned a 4-0 victory over Mazama’s Jimmy Linenberger at the district tournament before dropping a 19-6 decision to May. "When he gets after people, he’s one of the better (103-pound) wrestlers in the state," May says. "I look for him to win some matches up there." THE PHOENIX wrestlers give a "piggy award" to the team member who, once the season concludes, can gain the most weight by March 1. The winner gets a piggy bank filled with candy. May, who must cut eight to 10 pounds to make 103, plans on winning it. "My goal is to weigh 130 pounds by March 1," May says. "I’m going to take the art of eating to new limits." PHIL GIBSON PAID $29 for a pair of adidas wrestling shoes in the fall of 1983 and had them strapped on tight when he won a state championship for Phoenix the following February. A senior at the time, Gibson donated his shoes to coach Harry Mondale after the season, hoping that someone else might use them. The leather sneakers sat in storage for 19 years until the Pirates’ 160-pound freshman, Riley Gibson — and Phil’s son — tried them on this season and decided he liked them better than the $129 Nikes his father had purchased for him. "He found them in Harry’s office and started wearing them in January," the elder Gibson says. "They’re Dan Gable shoes. They were a pretty big deal back in my day." Riley Gibson made it to the 160-pound consolation semifinals before being eliminated. No word on what happened to the $129 Nikes. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S