Editor’s Note: I’m turning this space over to Luke Andrews and Kris Henry as they cover state wrestling in Portland.
By LUKE ANDREWS
I recently caught up with North Medford coach Nolan Harris in the hallway of the Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
Needless to say, Harris has seen better days.
The Class 6A wrestling tournament opened today, and of the five Southwest Conference district champions Harris brought here, only one remains alive into the quartefinals of the championship bracket. Junior Ryan Mahoney won his opening-round match at 145 with a 10-8 overtime decision against fourth-seeded Spencer Kaufman of North Salem. The only other North Medford wrestlers to advance were 103-pound sophomore Chris McFall and 135-pounder junior Ammon Ebert.
“I felt that we wrestled a little bit not to lose in some of those matches we lost,” Harris said. “We’ve got to go out there to win. We’ve got to rise to the occasion if we are going to accomplish what we want to accomplish.”
Junior Cory Haggans (152) opened by pinning Evan West of Franklin in 30 seconds, but he lost to fourth-seeded Andi Hart of McMinnville 4-2.
Mark Dickison (171) fell to top-seeded Miles Hygelund of Canby in 3:23, Kody Bonham (189) started with an 8-3 win but then lost 6-4, and Robert Ross (285) lost his opener 13-5.
Harris hinted last season that his wrestlers may have been intimidated by the state tournament atmosphere. He didn’t sense that this season, even if the results remained frustratingly similar.
“I don’t know that they were totally intimidated by the atmosphere,” Harris said. “Maybe they were a little apprehensive about where we sat in the bracket. We just lost close matches that we need to win at this level to have success. I don’t know what it was.”
North Medford, after the first session of Day 1, is in 13th place with 16 points. Newberg is in first with 51 points, three ahead of defending state champion Roseburg. The Indians were dealt a major blow when Seth Thomas, a defending state champion, did not make weight by four-tenths of a pound.
South Medford, which advanced its only wrestler in 160-pounder Ken Hyland, is tied for 29th with four points.
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Southern Sky Conference foes Crater and Eagle Point may once again be battling it out for a trophy as one of the top four teams in Class 5A. Both programs sent nine wrestlers each into the quarterfinals of the championship bracket.
Eagle Point is currently in second with 37.5 points and Crater is in fifth with 29 points. First-place Hermiston has 75 points.
But, recall, it was Crater who made a huge push in the consolation finals last year to edge Eagle Point for fourth place.
The biggest upset for either team was Eagle Point’s Garrett Davis beating second-seeded Kurry King of Glencoe — a third-place finisher last season.
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To the rest of the state, Phoenix freshman Eleazar Deluca’s 5-2 win over second-seeded Brock Crocker of Sweet Home at 140 pounds may appear a major upset. Crocker, a junior, placed fourth at state last season. But Deluca has been a major force for Phoenix this season and has given defending champion Sam Winter of Illinois Valley all he could handle in the three meetings between the two this season.
Winter and Deluca are on opposite sides of brackets and may be headed for a finals showdown.
In talking with Phoenix coach John Farmer, those within the Pirates’ program were well aware of Deluca even before he entered high school. His name is one we’ll be hearing plenty about in the next four years.
Consolation wrestling resumes tonight at 5:30.
Championship bracket resumes Friday at 9 a.m.
