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Photos by Jim Craven North's Josh Tarolli, top, nips Kirk Case at 112, 14-12. North wrestlers edge by South South Medford's wrestling program has not encountered much success in the past couple of years. So Panthers first-year coach Ken Wharry was looking for a breakthrough performance Thursday in a Southern Oregon Conference dual against archrival North Medford. But the Black Tornado didn't provide the Panthers with that uplifting experience. North Medford kept South winless in the SOC this season with a 38-28 victory. "This is one we thought we could win," said Wharry. "We lost one match in overtime and lost another in the last second and those two matches made the difference. If those two matches go the other way, you have a different outcome." North Medford coach Ken Thompson was concerned about his team's chances going into dual meet at the South Medford gym. "We didn't want to take them for granted," said Thompson. "This is my seventh year at North and this is the best South team we've faced. I knew it would be difficult. It wasn't going to be a blowout like it's been in the past." The Panthers got off to a successful start with junior Jason Kruggel's 12-0 decision over Chris Jensen at 103. North Medford coach Ken Thompson wears his emotions on his sleeves during the match. "That was a big win from Jason," said Wharry. "He took his kid down, turned him and did a little bit of everything in that match." North answered back with three straight victories, including close decisions by Josh Tarolli (112) and Josh Baker (119). But the Panthers responded and held a 13-12 lead entering the 140-pound match, where North's Cory Sweet won a hard-fought 7-4 decision over Dave Alonzo. "Cory didn't wrestle his best match, but he hung on for the win," said Thompson. "That might have taken some air out of them because they thought Alonzo could win." If that match didn't deflate South, the next two did. North came up with consecutive pins by Joel Gibson and John Whitaker to take a 27-13 lead. "They're the two kids that have stepped up, leadership-wise," said Thompson. "They have taken over the team and the other kids have really followed. I didn't know who would step up, but both those juniors have. I've been pleasantly surprised." The Black Tornado clinched victory when Norris Bier pinned freshman Ben Vandergraft at 189. "It was a see-saw match until Bier caught him in a move and he couldn't fight it off," said Wharry. "What's big for us is that our freshmen and sophomores are stepping up and wrestling tough." 103 -- Jason Kruggel, SM, dec. Chris Jensen, 12-0; 112 -- Josh Tarolli, NM, dec. Kirk Case, 14-12; 119 -- Josh Baker, NM, dec. Steve Himmelman, 8-6, OT; 125 -- Ryan Statten, NM, pinned Chris Mellema, 1:38; 130 -- Jacob Bean, SM, dec. Adam Bancroft, 7-6. 135 -- Brian Govi, SM, forfeit; 140 -- Cory Sweet, NM, dec. Dave Alonzo, 7-4; 145 -- Joel Gibson, NM, pinned Scott Meeds, 3:04; 152 -- John Whitaker, NM, pinned Kevin O'Shea, :56. 160 -- Dave Jennings, SM, dec. Shawn Backstrom, 12-10; 171 -- Mike Murphy, SM, pinned Mike Miles, 2:49; 189 -- Norris Bier, NM, pinned Ben Vandergraft, 3:06; 215 -- Ian Taylor, SM, pinned Brent Rhodes, 1:44; HWT -- Matt Haight, NM, forfeit. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford,