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Mat season starts out with a bang By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune At Eagle Point, it's all about jumping from out of the frying pan and into the fire. Win the Newberg wrestling tournament in grand fashion last Friday, then play host to rival Crater at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Southern Oregon Conference opener for both teams. If anything, the Eagles will know where they rate right off the bat this season. "Crater's one of the best in the state," says third-year Eagle Point coach Brad McBee, "and after Wednesday night, we'll have seen all the usual top teams at state but Hermiston." Eagle Point entered this past weekend ranked fifth among dual meet squads, one spot ahead of Crater. That number stands to rise after the Eagles stunned top-ranked Newberg, 39-29, on its own mat and had a convincing 47-17 win over ninth-ranked West Linn and a 34-24 win over Crook County. Still, there will be no rest for the weary when the Comets come to town in a dual that shapes up each year as intense as any state championship final. "It's bragging rights, if nothing else," says McBee. "And it's a good gauge to see where you're at. Don't get me wrong, though, we'd like to beat them. We sure don't want them beating us at our place." Crater suffered that indignation last season when the Eagles came to Central Point and pinned a 37-18 defeat on the Comets. "We still have the crying towels out from last year," says 14th-year Crater coach Greg Haga. Those towels mopped up only tears of joy for the rest of the season, however. Crater went on to win the Rogue Valley Classic, earn its fifth straight district title and finish second at the state meet - all one spot ahead of Eagle Point. "I'll trade three for one," says Haga. The Eagles are undefeated in SOC dual meets under McBee, the lone asterisk coming two years ago. Crater won at Eagle Point in 1999 but had to forfeit later when it was learned the Comets used wrestlers who were over their match limit. That meeting also featured an elbow-to-elbow crowd overflowing from the Eagle Point gymnasium. "That was unbelievable," recalls McBee. "I've never seen anything like that before." The same should be expected Wednesday. "If you show up at 7:30, you better have X-ray vision or someone to tell you what's happening because you aren't going to get in to see anything," says McBee. "Our JV will wrestle in front of a bigger crowd Wednesday than most varsity wrestlers will all season." Those who do get in the gym will see two teams that stack up well against one another. Both schools return seven state qualifiers, although neither has the two or three guaranteed winners they've had in the past. Fresh off a team title at the six-team Phoenix Tournament last Friday, Crater is short in the tooth but long on talent. At Phoenix, the Comets came away with nine individual champions in the 14 weight classes. Leading the charge were five who qualified for state last year: Nate Gipson at 130 pounds, Jeremy McLaughlin (140), Josh King (145), Rudy Ramirez (152) and Chris Dearmon (275). The list also included freshmen Bryson Gutches (103), Chase Maloney (135) and Ron Lee (160). Eagle Point will counter with state qualifiers Joe Lewis (119), Morgan Edenstrom (145) and Jason Adams (152), who each went undefeated at the Newberg Tournament. Others to watch will be Jake Phillips (189), Andrew Larsen (125), Justin Sheile (112), Victor Shelton (160), Juan Knapp (215) and Nick Smith (275). An interesting twist to the high school season will be a change in the order in which wrestlers compete. Instead of starting at 103 pounds and working up to heavyweight, a weight class will be drawn during the weigh-in process and that weight will open the night's action for varsity and junior varsity. From that point, the usual progression of weights will be followed until all 14 classes have competed. "Now it's going to put the heat on some of the other guys because you can't rely on those upper weights to bail you out," says Haga. "It could come down to anybody this way." Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.