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SOU opens season on triumphant note Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Southern Oregon's Ryan Henry, top, puts the wraps on Menlo College's Danny Castillo in Friday's dual meet at McNeal Pavilion on Friday night. Henry won 15-11. By DON HUNT ASHLAND - Southern Oregon University wrestling coach Mike Ritchey thought Menlo College would give his Raiders a reasonably competitive match at McNeal Pavilion on Friday night. He was wrong. The Raiders picked up where they left off last March - when they won the NAIA national championship - winning nine of 10 matches and coasting to a 41-4 victory in their opening bout of the season. Devin Parks and Mike Whitehead punctuated the match with falls at 184 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, as the fourth-ranked Raiders dominated the 12th-ranked Oaks throughout. "Our guys got after it," Ritchey said. "We dominated them on top, and we went after the falls. They were on their heels all night." Whitehead looked spectacular in his Raiders debut. The 1999 Crater High graduate grappled at Northern Idaho Junior College the past two years and was recruited by Oregon and Missouri in addition to SOU. Blending strength, quickness and agility rarely seen in a heavyweight, the 250-pound Whitehead used an arm bar to pin 280-pound Ron Davis early in the second round. "He's a nice addition to our program, obviously," Ritchey said of Whitehead. "As you could see, when he gets on top of the other guy, it's all she wrote. He's a horse. "It was nice to see him perform like that in his Southern Oregon debut." Nolan Harris got the Raiders off to a good start at 125 pounds, although not without a struggle. Harris ran out to a 5-2 lead over talented Menlo College freshman Troy Takahashi and led 6-4 in the final seconds of regulation, only to watch Takahashi knife in for a takedown and send the match into overtime. Neither wrestler scored in the first overtime, forcing a second extra session that found Harris in the down position with 30 seconds in which to escape or lose. Harris wiggled free with 10 seconds to spare. SOU transfer Jordan Ottow then took the mat and, despite a one-year layoff from wrestling, posted a 10-2 victory over national junior college champion Jose Sanchez at 133 pounds. Ottow went to Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., for two years and then spent one year at Wartburg College, a Division III school in Waverly, Iowa. He was at home in Snohomish, Wash., helping run his family's golf ball retrieval business when he decided at the last minute to head to Ashland and wrestle for the Raiders. "I think I've finally found my niche - this is a great place to go to school and wrestle," said Ottow, whose brother, Lee, wrestled for SOU last season. "I really like wrestling for Ritchey." It showed in his SOU debut as Ottow used a pair of takedowns, a near fall and an escape to grab an 8-0 lead early in the third period. "It had been two years since I'd wrestled in a match, but everything came back fast," Ottow said. "I just did what I've always done - go out hard and don't stop until the match is over." Colin Murphy, ranked No. 5 nationally at 141 pounds, followed Ottow with a 17-1 technical fall victory over Caleb Peters, giving the Raiders a 12-0 lead through the opening three matches. Menlo Park's Saul Lucatero temporarily stopped the bleeding for the visitors when he rolled to a 15-7 win over Dennis Harada. But SOU closed out the match with six straight wins. Included in the rampage was an impressive 9-5 victory by SOU's Brian Wilson over Mark Banks at 174 pounds. Banks came into the match ranked eighth in the nation at 174, while Wilson was ranked sixth at 165. "Going up a weight is never easy, but Wilson did a great job against a quality wrestler," Ritchey said. "I think he (Wilson) mentally broke the guy (Banks) when he was on top of him. He took the fight out of him." The Raiders also got a dominant effort from 165-pound Chet Huntley, who catapulted to a 15-0 technical fall victory over Jason Gigliotti. Ryan Henry was also seemingly on his way to a lopsided win at 157 pounds. Henry grabbed leads of 9-1 in the first period and 11-5 in the second but suffered a concussion early in the third period and had to hang on for a 15-11 victory. The injury will keep Henry from participating in today's Pete Belcastro Open at McNeal Hall. Besides SOU, other teams in the tournament are Oregon, Oregon State, Portland State, Stanford, Pacific Lutheran, San Francisco State, Menlo, Simon Fraser and five junior colleges. Action gets under way at 9 a.m. TEAM SCORE: Southern Oregon 41, Menlo College 4. 125 - Nolan Harris, SOU, dec. Troy Takahashi, 7-6 (2 OTs); 133 - Jordan Ottow, SOU, won by major decision over Jose Sanchez, 10-2; 141 - Colin Murphy, SOU, won by tech. fall over Caleb Peters, 17-1; 149 - Saul Lucatero, MC, won by major decision over Dennis Harada, 15-7; 157 - Ryan Henry, SOU, dec. Dan Castillo, 15-11. 165 - Chris Huntley, SOU, won by tech. fall over Jason Gigliotti, 16-0; 174 - Brian Wilson, SOU, dec. Mark Banks, 8-5; 184 - Devin Parks, SOU, pinned Will Falvey, 1:37; 197 - Mike Sills, SOU, won by inj. default over Terrence Carter, 6:05; 285 - Mike Whitehead, SOU, pinned Ron Davis, 4:03. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.