PREP ROUNDUP: Panthers pull through to edge GP

Kris Henry, Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.
·6 min read

Jan. 6—South Medford got off to a fast start and withstood a Grants Pass rally thanks to a strong closing surge to secure a 37-30 victory in Southwest Conference wrestling Thursday night in the Panthers' gym.

"It feels good; I think we wrestled well," said South Medford head coach James Schumack of the winning performance. "I think it's been a few years since we beat them but our kids just have a great attitude. Everybody works hard and there's a great vibe in our room and our kids just show up and come out to wrestle."

South Medford built a 16-6 lead in the early going after a thrilling 10-8 overtime win by Kristian Hernandez-Topete got things started at 106 pounds, then Vaughn Graff scored a 13-7 decision over Elijah Dara at 113. Cameron Johnson added a pin in 2 minutes, 57 seconds at 126 to answer the first scoring effort by the Cavemen and then Carson Terry recorded an 11-2 major decision to cap the early surge.

As expected, Grants Pass followed with a middleweights run of its own behind the winning efforts of Mark Astry (138), Owen Hull (145) and Tagge Fry (152) to claim its first and only lead of the night.

A key in that run for the Panthers, however, was the effort of Adin Kaufmann at 138 against Astry, with the latter needing a third-period takedown to go up 5-2 in a match that looked like it might go either way.

"Adin Kaufmann wrestled one of toughest kids in the state and kept himself in the match and could've maybe won by decision," said Schumack, "but keeping it to just a decision was huge."

So, too, was South Medford's answer to the quick scoring spurt by the Cavemen.

Behind consecutive pins from Bridger Foss (160) and Isaack Valdez (170) and a 10-5 decision for Caleb Dalke (182), the Panthers were able to erase their deficit and build a 31-21 cushion.

"I think those are kids that we're used to leaning on," said Schumack. "Those guys have the experience. They know the situation and they know how to wrestle. It's not always the circumstance that they're going to have to go out there and do what they're supposed to do but those are guys that when the fire's really under them and they know they've got to wrestle, they go out and wrestle hard."

Foss went up 5-1 early in the second period and got Ashton Park into a cradle that he finished off at the 4:50-mark of their match. Valdez was equally dominant in opening a 7-0 lead early in the second period and got vital bonus points when he cinched in a headlock for a fall in 2:53 over Isaiah Cowles.

For Dalke, it was the continuation of his maturation as a more offensive-minded wrestler this season as he gradually pulled away against Forrest Clark.

"Caleb's really starting to open up and work on his attack," said Schumack. "He kind of strategically made it through his freshman year and has really opened it up and just become a lot better offensive wrestler this year."

After JT Dalton came up short in an 11-8 decision for Bladimir Mendez-Chavez at 195, South Medford's Li Moala (220) ended any thoughts of a GP comeback when he patiently worked an arm bar back and forth before turning and pinning Noah Hyatt in 2:41.

"It's really big for Li to kind of work that go-behind and get on top and start to remember that he does have that kind of ability," said Schumack. "He threw his way to fifth place at state last year with big-time moves and after that I feel like he started leaning on that and we had to remind him that you're also a really, really great on-top wrestler for 220. We don't have to go big all the time."

In Thursday's girls wrestling matches, South Medford saw Mayson Metheny land a fall in 1:09 at 135 and Leilarose Calva take care of business in 40 seconds for a second fall at 155 in the only contested matches of the night.

TEAM SCORES: South Medford 37, Grants Pass 30.

*106 — Kristian Hernandez-Topete, SM, dec. Nathan Higa, 10-8 SV1; 113 — Vaughn Graff, SM, dec. Elijah Dara, 13-7; 120 — Reed Rhoades, GP, injury default over Brody Quinn; 126 — Cameron Johnson, SM, pinned Kayne Evans, 2:57; 132 — Carson Terry, SM, major dec. Michael Martin, 11-2.

138 — Mark Astry, GP, dec. Adin Kaufmann, 5-2; 145 — Owen Hull, GP, pinned Isaiah Harris, 1:14; 152 — Tagge Fry, GP, pinned Carson Alvarez, 1:42; 160 — Bridger Foss, SM, pinned Ashton Park, 4:50.

170 — Isaack Valdez, SM, pinned Isaiah Cowles, 2:53; 182 — Caleb Dalke, SM, dec. Forrest Clark, 10-5; 195 — Bladimir Mendez-Chavez, GP, dec. JT Dalton, 11-8; 220 — Li Moala, SM, pinned Noah Hyatt, 2:41; 285 — Parker Jarvis, GP, pinned Logan Crocker, 1:02.

* starting weight

EAGLE POINT SWEEPS: At Eugene, Eagle Point heavyweight Garrett Matthews was dominant in earning first-period pins in both of his matches as the Eagles dominated North Eugene for a 71-12 win and Sheldon for a 60-15 victory.

Cooper White (106), Sean McFall (120), Ethan Metcalf (126), Kenai Copeland (145) and Emilio Ayala (220) joined Matthews in recording a pair of pins during the three-team road meet.

Eagle Point 71, North Eugene 12

*106 — Cooper White, EP, pinned Travis Weber, :55; 113 — Wyatt Dahling, EP, won by forfeit; 120 — Sean McFall, EP, pinned Zachariah Kitner, 3:10; 126 — Ethan Metcalf, EP, pinned Harbour Green, :35; 132 — Casey Green, NE, won by disqualification over Tygren Lopez.

138 — Nathan Mallari, EP, tech. fall Walker Black, 16-1; 145 — Kenai Copeland, EP, pinned Freeman Pearson, 2:49; 152 — Joshua Dameron, NE, pinned Gavin Pogue, :59; 160 — Wyatt Elizondo, EP, pinned Gavin Gambill, :55.

170 — David Brown, EP, pinned Hyrum Weiss, 3:12; 182 — Vincent Noble, EP, pinned Juan Mercado, 1:32; 195 — Brian Cortez, EP, pinned Antonio Cardenas, :49; 220 — Emillio Ayala, EP, pinned Amadeus Elkin, 1:04; 285 — Garrett Matthews, EP, pinned Aaron Elkin, 1:15.

* starting weight

Eagle Point 60, Sheldon 15

106 — Cooper White, EP, pinned Aiden Kunasek, 1:48; *113 — Wyatt Dahling, EP, won by forfeit; 120 — Sean McFall, EP, pinned Nathan Mellow, 1:24; 126 — Ethan Metcalf, EP, pinned Luke Gass, :52; 132 — Tygren Lopez, EP, dec. Colten Garges, 2-1.

138 — Nathan Mallari, EP, pinned Timothy Essin, 4:15; 145 — Kenai Copeland, EP, pinned Cole Meyer, 2:35; 152 — Gavin Pogue, EP, dec. Stephen Mellow, 13-10; 160 — Owen Oliver, She, pinned Wyatt Elizondo, 1:45.

170 — Bricen Stewart, She, pinned David Brown, 2:30; 182 — Isaiah Tichenor, She, dec. Vincent Noble, 8-6; 195 — Brian Cortez, EP, won by forfeit; 220 — Emillio Ayala, EP, pinned Ryan Colton, :34; 285 — Garrett Matthews, EP, pinned Zaqueo Ambrocio, 1:34.

* starting weight

Girls Basketball

RV ADVENTIST 37, NORTH LAKE 31: At Silver Lake, Rogue Valley Adventist senior Emma Bischoff managed 18 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists to boost the Red Tail Hawks to the Mountain Valley League road victory.

Michaela Porter added eight points and three steals for RVA (11-2, 1-0 MVL), which led 26-16 at halftime.

Hannah Roth scored 15 points for North Lake/Paisley (5-4, 0-1).