Document text
SOC wrestlers get good and bad draws By Kris Henry With so many state qualifiers from Crater and Eagle Point, each school was bound to have its good and bad draws in the Class 4A wrestling bracket. The most challenging draws for the Comets today will be when they square off with two No. 1 seeds right away. Fourth-ranked Justin Samples opens with 11th-ranked Byron Woods of North Salem, who was second at 189 pounds last season but only placed second in his own district this season. "That�s not a great draw but we�re comfortable with that so we�ll go after it and see what we can get," says Crater coach Greg Haga. "Their kid�s been injured most of the season so we�ll see how much gas he has." Crater junior Josh King has a date with Sprague�s Noah Cinquini in today�s opening round. Cinquini was second at state last year and pinned King a month ago in the Crater Classic. Eagle Point�s Morgan Edenstrom opens today with top-ranked Kyle Larson, a No. 2 seed at 130 from Hermiston. Another Eagle facing a No. 2 seed today is John Gallo, who meets second-ranked Hayden Reece of Crook County at 140. North Medford and South Medford each have only one entrant into the state meet, with the Panthers� Rob Swearingen (160) opening with seventh-ranked Alex Miner of Barlow and second-ranked Tornado Norris Bier (215) starting with eighth-ranked Justin Tank of Sunset. Crater and Eagle Point have wrestlers on opposite ends of the brackets for the most part, meaning the Comets and Eagles won�t meet until the semifinals or finals. The most notable exception, however, is at 145 where Eagle Point�s Chet McBee could meet up with Crater�s Rudy Ramirez in Friday�s quarterfinal round. McBee and Ramirez combined for one of the most spirited matches at the recent district meet. The wrestlers met in the championship semifinals of that meet, with Ramirez holding the advantage until McBee was awarded a two-point takedown with two seconds to go for a 6-5 victory. Ramirez held a 5-2 edge late in the match before McBee finally was able to get something accomplished against his counterpart with an escape, stalling point and late takedown. "I wrestled it how he wanted to wrestle it, the only way he could have won," McBee said following the district match. "That was just too out of control and I�m not like that. I�m the type of guy who looks totally out of control but I know exactly where my feet are going to be and everything. I had no idea that match." Much of the credit had to go to Ramirez, who was more aggressive throughout and appeared to have a lock on an upset until the late lapse and debatable final takedown. "The ref just made a bad call," Ramirez said of the match. "He called a takedown and it should have been a stalemate because we both had each other�s legs." Whether the Southern Oregon duo get a chance to renew their rivalry will be contingent on each winning in today�s opening two rounds. Should that happen, however, it could be anyone�s match considering the confidence each will take onto the mat. Ramirez has proven to himself and McBee that he can hang with the fourth-ranked Eagle, while McBee has shown an ability to dominate foes who have given him a hard time in the past. But even McBee admits his true strength is against those who have never been on the mat with him. "It helps me because they don�t know what I�ve got," he says. "Usually when someone doesn�t know how to wrestle me that�s when I have the most success." 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.