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SUNNY Temp: 101 °F Wind: WNW at 8 mph Saturday, June 28, 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 January 9, 2003 Crater�s Nate Gipson, front, tries to break Eagle Point's Matthew Leonardo�s hold in the 130-pound match in Wednesday�s SOC dual meet. Comets escape Eagles’ clutches Crater comes out on top in battle of the state’s top two wrestling dual teams By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — Crater took back a little something it lost a few years ago, and in the process added another chapter in the storied history of its wrestling rivalry with Eagle Point. The main matchup for Rogue Valley wrestling fans for more than a decade, Wednesday night’s dual meet lived up to all expectations, except maybe those for the hopeful second-ranked Eagles, as top-ranked Crater churned out a 26-22 victory. Depending on your team allegiance, the Comets’ win snapped a two-year losing streak to Eagle Point, or the Eagles lost to their Southern Oregon Conference rivals for the first time since 1998. A win on the mat by Crater in 1999 was later overturned due to a technicality on Crater participants having gone over their match limit. Either way, Wednesday’s triumph at Crater High was a long time coming for most Comets. "That was a very, very, very big match to me," said Crater senior Jeremy McLaughlin. "I’m really proud of the way our guys wrestled. It was nice to come out on top." And to hear McLaughlin tell it, the Comets would make do with no other outcome. "We made it perfectly clear going into this dual what we expected of everyone and what we expected to come out with," said the senior leader. Despite a lineup that included four freshmen and three sophomores in the 14 weights, Crater wrestled with poise throughout the night in a match that featured only one pin and three major decisions. "That was definitely a sweater," said Crater coach Greg Haga. "It would have been nicer if we could’ve made it easier on ourselves, but that’s Crater and Eagle Point. It’s never easy." Eagle Point held its own early in the dual, but Crater carried its advantage in the middle weights to build a 26-12 lead with only three matches to go. The Eagles prevailed in those final matches, but not by enough of a margin to turn the tide. "You’ve got to give Crater credit," said Eagle Point coach Brad McBee. "We didn’t give it to them, they took it." The biggest momentum shift came following two close victories for the Eagles by Chris Doran at 103 pounds and Jake McCoy at 112. J.P. Sheile brought Eagle Point’s fans to the edge of their seats at 119 with an early takedown of top-ranked Bryson Gutches. Undaunted, Gutches answered with an escape, a takedown and a pair of two-point near falls to take a 7-2 advantage and ultimate control of the match. The Crater sophomore went on to score a 12-2 major decision. "I don’t think Bryson getting taken down is ever going to shake him," says Haga. "He’s tough enough to know that he can score, so none of that really bothers him." After Nick Alexander scored a 5-3 decision over Jon Bernhardt at 125 to put the Eagles ahead 12-10, Crater won the next five matches to gradually pull away from Eagle Point. Fueling the big run were decisions by Crater’s Nate Gipson over Matt Leonardo (130), Chase Maloney over Andrew Larsen (135), McLaughlin over Stephen Price (140) and a dramatic rally by Clayton Tankersley over Daniel Rullamas at 145. Tankersley trailed Rullamas 4-1 at one point before the senior Comet, who has lesser match experience than most of his sophomore mates, rallied with six unanswered points. "Tankersley’s pretty tough for a kid who is only in his second year of wrestling," said Haga. "And even that’s not much time when you realize he only wrestled about three months last year." 103 — Chris Doran, EP, dec. Tyler Weathers, 6-4; 112 — Jake McCoy, EP, dec. Jeremy Firestone, 4-0; 119 — Bryson Gutches, C, major dec. J.P. Sheile, 12-2; 125 — Nick Alexander, EP, dec. Jon Bernhardt, 5-3; 130 — Nate Gipson, C, dec. Matt Leonardo, 5-2. 135 — Chase Maloney, C, dec. Andrew Larsen, 4-1; 140 — Jeremy McLaughlin, C, dec. Stephen Price, 13-6; 145 — Clayton Tankersley, C, dec. Daniel Rullamas, 7-4; 152 — Ron Lee, C, major dec. Robbie Johnston, 9-1. 160 — Christian Mannenbach, EP, major dec. Collin Brooks, 13-1; 171 — Kevin Miers, EP, dec. Zane Yarnell, 8-4; 189 — Tyson Nelson, EP, dec. Cody Clark, 10-4; *215 — Nick Smith, EP, dec. Jacob Cole, 5-1; 275 — Taylor Wilkerson, C, pinned Tyler Cam, 2:35. JV score — Crater 60, Eagle Point 21. * starting weight Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search 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. 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