Document text
Phoenix slips, but still in the running By Don Hunt PORTLAND � Phoenix High wrestling coach Harry Mondale has been to enough state tournaments to know that unpredictability is almost as common as takedowns, reversals and near falls. Mondale watched his Pirates labor through a miserable quarterfinal round at the Class 3A tournament Friday morning and then regroup during the consolation and semifinal rounds later in the day. When the dust settled at Memorial Coliseum, the Pirates, who held the first-day lead, found themselves trailing Sweet Home in the team standings. "It�s going to be a dogfight from here on out," Mondale said. "We stubbed our toe this morning, but we�re not dead by any means." Sweet Home, which had a rough go of its own Thursday, advanced five wrestlers into today�s championship finals while racking up 153.5 points. Phoenix moved three competitors into the finals while scoring 141.5. But the Pirates have six grapplers still alive in the consolation rounds to Sweet Home�s two. Coquille stands in third place with 118 points, followed by defending champion Cascade with 94 and Estacada with 89. Skyline Conference runner-up Illinois Valley is in ninth place with 63 points. A frustrated Mondale watched the Pirates lose six of 10 matches during Friday�s quarterfinal round, including two-point losses by Kyle Kaufman (152), Forest Jacobs (152), Nick Acord (160) and Brian Murphy (171). "The worst part about it was that all of those kids had the lead," Mondale said. "But they couldn�t finish what they started." The sting was somewhat softened when all but Acord remained alive in the consolation bracket. And it was softened a bit more Friday night when Tyler McCarty (135), Brandon Sousa (145) and Greg Brown (189) moved into the championship finals. Brown, a junior seeing his first action at state, provided a pleasant surprise for the Pirates as he upset No. 1-seeded Josh Ness of Astoria, 7-6, in the quarterfinals and then edged Estacada�s Sean Doran 3-2 in the semis. "I�m just wrestling hard and having fun," Brown said. "Everyone says I�m supposed to be nervous since it�s my first time up here, but I�m not. I�m just wrestling like it�s any other tournament." Brown snapped a 1-1 tie by using a high-crotch move for a takedown in the third period. He later gave up an escape but held on for the win. "I work on that (high-crotch move) every day in practice," Brown said. "And it paid off tonight." McCarty breezed into the finals with a 12-1 victory over LaGrande�s Josh Bradshaw, while Sousa advanced with a 7-4 win over LaGrande�s Adam Kleck. McCarty and Sousa both took second at state last year. "That guy (Kleck) was wrestling defensively and waiting for me to make a mistake," Sousa said. "But I just kept going after him." The match was tied 4-4 when Sousa tallied an escape early in the third round and then a takedown with 16 seconds to go that settled the win. Phoenix�s other semifinal entrant, 145-pound Ryan Staten, dropped 4-0 decision to Troy Mackey of Burns. Sweet Home, meanwhile, looked to be in big trouble Thursday when it lost nine of its 16 competitors. But the seven remaining Huskies wrestled up a storm Friday, putting them in position to win the team title. "I told our kids Thursday that unless we stepped it up a notch, we had no chance against Phoenix and no chance for a trophy (top four)," Sweet Home coach Steve Thorpe said. "But we wrestled great today. It was a complete turnaround." Sweet Home didn�t take the lead until the final 3A match Friday, when its standout heavyweight, Andy Ellis, pinned Vale�s Stefen Maupin. Rogue River�s Nick Minard kept alive his quest for an individual state title when he coasted to a 16-9 semifinal win over Ontario�s Justin Merchant. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.