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Click Here 60 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, March 6, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend February 22, 2004 Crater�s Bryson Gutches, right, reaches around for a reverse on Woodburn�s Chris Karsseboom in the 135-pound championship match at the Class 4A wrestling tournament. Gutches won, 3- 2. Repeat performance Paced by three individual state champions, Crater easily wins its second straight Class 4A crown By DON HUNT Mail Tribune PORTLAND — Two days after Chase Maloney and Ron Lee lost their title matches at the Class 4A state wrestling tournament last year, the Crater High standouts returned to the practice room. For the better part of 12 months, the twosome toiled on the mats, determined to make each other better and vowing to return to Memorial Coliseum and whip the field. Saturday night, the juniors achieved that goal. Not coincidentally, they helped the Comets to their second straight team title and their fifth in the past seven years. Junior Bryson Gutches also claimed an individual title for the Comets, who piled up 165.5 points to run away with the team championship. West Linn, which briefly passed the Comets during Friday morning’s consolation rounds, finished second with 140.5 points, while Roseburg was third with 133.5 and Crook County fourth with 127. Advertisement "Chase and I weren’t happy about what happened last year," said Lee, who registered a hard-earned 4-2 victory over Tigard’s Joey Nobriga in Saturday’s 171-pound final. "We knew we had to bust our butts 100 percent in order to get back here and win it. "Tonight, all that work paid off for both of us." Lee scored a first-period takedown and escape to build an early 3-0 lead over Nobriga, but led just 4-2 after the second period. With Lee on top to start the third, he had to ride the strong, muscular Nobriga for the final two minutes. It was not an easy task. "I had to stay on him during the tight scrambles," said Lee, who finished the season with a 36-2 record. "He’s a great athlete, but I wasn’t going to get reversed or let him go. I had worked too hard for this." Maloney, meanwhile, rolled to a 13-6 victory over Marshfield’s Brady Hampton in the 152-pound final, while Gutches eked out a 3-2 victory over Woodburn’s Chris Karsseboom at 135 pounds. Crater’s other competitor in the finals — heavyweight Taylor Wilkerson — dropped a 5-1 decision to Gresham’s Charles Beasley. "I knew walking out here tonight that the other guy (Hampton) hadn’t trained as hard as me," said Maloney, who wound up with a 37-4 record. "This is the greatest feeling in the world." Like Lee, Gutches had a grueling match. He took a 1-0 lead into the third period, but Karsseboom scooted in for a two-point reversal with 1:18 left in the match. Not to be outdone, Gutches got his own reversal with 46 seconds remaining and held it to the end. The victory avenged Gutches’ only loss of the season; Karsseboom beat him at the Crater Classic last month. "We wrestled a lot of times when we were younger, and I’d always beaten him until that last match," said Gutches, who finished 41-1. "In a way, it might have been a good thing when I lost to him. It made me more motivated to win tonight." Gutches won the 103-pound state title as a freshman but lost in the semifinals last year and settled for third place. This season, he spent more than a month with his jaw wired shut after breaking it in a tournament in California. "It was a tough break and just something I had to overcome," Gutches said. "It feels nice to have the title back." Crater had the team crown wrapped up before its four competitors in the finals took the mat, but 16th-year head coach Greg Haga was happy to add a few exclamation points to the cause. "Our style of always attacking puts the kids in a position to win matches," he said. "I thought all four kids had a shot." Tyler Weathers (119) and Cody Clark (171) each added fifth-place showings for the Comets. Trevor Lofstedt (112) won Roseburg’s lone individual title as he beat Centennial’s Bee Yang, 6-4. North Medford finished in 13th place with 58 points — its best showing in years — but Black Tornado standout Rob Folsom (160) saw his hopes of a state title and an unbeaten season go awry when he lost 9-7 to Thurston’s Brett Arand. Folsom had beaten Arand twice earlier this season. Both are headed to Oregon State — Arand on a wrestling scholarship, and Folsom on a baseball scholarship. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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