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SOU wrestling team claims third at NAIA Championships GREAT FALLS, Mont. - Southern Oregon's wrestling contingent went into the NAIA Championships with high hopes and still came away satisfied for the most part. The defending national champion Raiders had their title hopes dashed early Saturday but still held on to finish a solid third behind record-breaking performances from Lindenwood of Missouri and Montana State-Northern. "You've got to go in with high expectations," said seventh-year SOU coach Mike Ritchey, "but we knew in the morning the title was probably out of reach so we just tried to hang on to third." Lindenwood established a new tournament record with 180 points, while Montana State-Northern finished second at 167. SOU scored 131.5 points - the third-highest total in school history - to claim third. Embry-Riddle (107) and Wisconsin-Parkside (102.5) rounded out the top five teams. "You've got to be proud of a third-place finish in the nation," said Ritchey. "I'm proud of the way our guys wrestled." Juniors Jordan Ottow and Mike Sills paced the Raiders with runner-up finishes. Although unseeded, Ottow cruised to the championship final at 133 pounds before dropping a tough 5-0 decision to No. 2 seed Rob Jankowski of Wisconsin-Parkside. "Jordan was definitely one of the surprises of the tournament," said Ritchey. "He wrestled a great tournament. The kid he lost to in the finals was just real solid. Jordan lost a couple scrambles and came up short. If those two wrestled any other night it could've been different, but tonight wasn't his night." Sills, a No. 4 seed, dominated his way to the championship finals, only to fall short for the second time in five weeks to Emmett Wilson of Montana State-Northern, 8-3. "Mike had a severe nosebleed in his match and I think that messed with his concentration," said Ritchey. No. 2 seed Mike Whitehead had his goal of a championship snuffed out in the 285-pound semifinals when No. 3 seed Dan Maynard of Embry-Riddle scored a 6-1 decision. Undaunted, the sophomore transfer from North Idaho Junior College bounced back in Saturday's consolation rounds with a fall in 1:23 over Lindenwood's Roger Miller and a 6-2 decision over No. 5 seed Matt Carter of Montana State-Northern in the third-place final. Top-seeded Ken Kobes of Embry-Riddle went on to beat Maynard, 3-2, for the title. "Mike just didn't get started in that semifinal match," said Ritchey. "For whatever reason, he just didn't have his motor running like usual. I'm sure he's disappointed with a third-place finish but he'll be the highest returning place-winner at that weight next year and I'm sure it'll be different." In all, Southern Oregon notched eight placers out of its 12 wrestlers who qualified for the national championships. With Abe Haddon's sixth-place finish at 184, the senior became only the second Raider in school history to be a four-time All-American. Haddon joins Ritchey as the only SOU wrestlers to accomplish that feat. Wrestlers who finish among the top eight spots earn All-American honors. "I'm happy for Abe," said Ritchey. "He had a little bit of a rough year with his injuries so it's nice to add him to the club. I'm going to give him the presidency for now. Maybe he can recruit some new members." Haddon secured All-American status Friday by making it into Saturday's semifinals, only to be pinned in 1:37 by top-ranked Tyson Thivierge of Montana State-Northern. The No. 5 seed subsequently dropped his only two consolation matches to finish sixth. Also at 184, teammate Devin Parks claimed seventh after winning two of his three consolation matches Saturday. Parks, a sixth-seeded junior, beat No. 4 seed Nathan James of Lindenwood, 7-2, in the seventh-place final. Redshirt junior Chris Huntley forged his way through the consolation bracket to finish fourth at 165 pounds, losing a tough 2-0 decision to No. 1 seed Jason Labrie of Mary. Shannon Slover proved to be the biggest warrior for the Raiders in the consolation bracket after losing in the second round on Friday. Slover, a junior, won four of his five matches in the bottom bracket to place fifth at 149. "He just kept going and kept wrestling and finished up solid," Ritchey said of Slover, who joined Sills, Huntley and senior Jason Chao as academic All-Americans for SOU. After losing his quarterfinals matchup Friday, No. 4 seed Colin Murphy added two more wins in the consolation bracket to place seventh at 141. Murphy, a sophomore, also earned All-American status last year and is on pace to join Ritchey and Haddon's exclusive club. Nolan Harris, who was sixth last year, missed out on placing for the second straight season when No. 7 seed Tony Churchill of Simon Fraser posted a 5-2 decision in Saturday's 125-pound consolation opener. No. 2 seed Wes Balensifer failed to rebound from Friday's upset loss in the 197-pound quarterfinals, losing his first match in the bottom bracket, 5-4, to Robert Buggs of Huron. Balensifer, who was a runner-up last year as a freshman and entered nationals ranked No. 1, had an 11-match winning streak snapped in the championship quarterfinals by Wayne James of Lindenwood. "He had kind of a tough draw and I think might have overlooked (James) a little bit," said Ritchey. "After that, it's just hard to come back. Wes doesn't lose a whole lot so that's just something he's not used to." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.