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Appeal Tribune, www.silvertonappeal.com
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
500 victories, and counting
Cascade coach Mark Stevens has touched many lives
PETE MARTINI
STATESMAN JOURNAL
TURNER — For Mark Stevens, it’s al-
ways been about the journey, not the des-
tination.
The hard work, the sacrifice, the cam-
araderie.
It has been a long journey for the Cas-
cade girls basketball coach, who joined
an exclusive club Tuesday when the Cou-
gars beat Newport, giving Stevens his
500th career victory.
“For me, it means stability and the
length that I’ve been able to survive this
process,” said Stevens, who is the fifth
girls basketball coach in state history to
reach 500 wins. “Being able to stay at the
same school, being in the same system. It
hasn’t gotten old. It’s still fresh. Just the
body of work.”
Stevens joins Brad Smith (629 — Ore-
gon City), Gary Lavender (544 — Sheri-
dan, Lake Oswego), Marty Stallard (519
— Myrtle Point) and Dave Wakefield
(532 — North Clackamas Christian, Da-
mascus Christian) as the only girls bas-
ketball coaches in state history to reach
500 career wins.
“Being a part of the 500th win is defi-
nitely a great experience,” Cascade ju-
nior Halle Wright said. “Especially with
my whole family growing up in the Cas-
cade community. It was pretty cool to be
a part of it.”
Stevens is in his 27th season as head
coach of the Cougars, who are 12-0 this
season and ranked No. 1 in the OSAA
Class 4A girls basketball rankings.
Stevens took over as coach of the Cas-
cade girls basketball program in 1990,
replacing his wife, Ruth.
Throughout the years, Stevens has
kept a simple philosophy: “This is not for
everybody. We appeal to kids that don’t
mind working hard and handle a little bit
of constructive criticism. Our numbers
have never been huge, but generally
speaking, we got the right kids out all the
time.”
Wright said that Stevens is an intense
coach, but also allows his humor to help
him relate to the players.
“He’s funny because he has his mo-
ments where he’s so intense, and he has
that little vein popping out when he gets
mad,” Wright said. “But then he has
these moments when he’s joking around
with you. So it’s always fun to have that
coach who can joke around with you, but
in certain moments he can be serious
when he needs to.”
Travis Newton, who has worked as a
Cascade girls basketball assistant since
1995, said Stevens has had a significant
influence on his life.
“I wouldn’t be the father I am or the
coach I am without him in my life,” New-
ton said. “He changed things for me that
I’ve never really told him before, but he’s
made me the father and coach I am to-
day.”
During his career, Stevens has led
Cascade to five state championship
games, including capturing the 2011
state title.
Tava Lewis, who was a key player on
the 2011 championship team, said it was
important for the players that year to
win a title for Stevens.
“I know that Mark had been in some
championship games before and the out-
come hadn’t been what they wanted, so
we really wanted it for Mark. Obviously,
MOLLY J. SMITH/STATESMAN JOURNAL FILE
Cascade Coach Mark Stevens directs players against North Marion on Feb. 23, 2016.
we wanted it for ourselves too, but we
really wanted him to have a state cham-
pionship,” Lewis said. “He makes you
want to work hard. He pushes you, and
he’s inspiring with all the experience and
knowledge he has. Everybody likes him.
He’s just a really fun guy to be around.
Since I graduated, I’ve visited him a cou-
ple times, and he’s been a great mentor
and always has good advice.”
Stevens enjoyed the experience of
winning the state championship in 2011,
but for him, he did not need to win that
one game to validate what he’s done at
Cascade.
“Obviously, winning a state champi-
onship puts something extra on your
head, I’m not sure what it is,” Stevens
said. “It’s those kinds of things that make
people say, ‘oh, you are a good coach be-
cause you won that one game.’ Like in
football, you have to win the Super Bowl
or you’re not that good.”
Stevens said he still loves coaching at
Cascade and doesn’t know when he will
retire.
“I’m pretty sure teaching-wise I’ll be
done next year,” said Stevens, who teach-
es P.E., weight training and health. “And
the basketball thing, I don’t know. I enjoy
it. I’ve always told myself I don’t want to
be one of those coaches that retires and
leaves the program empty. I’m saying
this, but whether I do it, I don’t know. I
would like to hang in there. I’ll just have
to see.
“In retirement, you want to stay
busy,” Stevens added. “What do you do in
Oregon in the winter? I’ll probably coach
something, even if I get out of this. I
think I could go help in the junior high.
I’ll probably be in a gym somewhere.”
Bigger is better for OSU wrestler Crawford
GARY HOROWITZ
STATESMAN JOURNAL
CORVALLIS – Oregon State’s Cody
Crawford made a decision in early No-
vember that renewed his passion for
wrestling.
A 197 pounder throughout his college
career, it had become increasingly diffi-
cult to make weight.
Crawford, a three-time state champi-
on at Cascade High School, was at a
crossroads. Spend the 2016-17 season
cutting weight or make the jump to
heavyweight, which has a 285-pound
weight limit.
Crawford got down to 200 pounds in
early November, but “that’s when I hit
that wall and couldn’t make weight.”
Since that point Crawford has added
45 pounds of muscle to his 6-foot-3 frame
and has grown into a legitimate heavy-
weight with solid results. Heading into
Monday’s dual meet against No. 17 Stan-
ford at Gill Coliseum, Crawford is 16-5
with three pins and is ranked No. 17 na-
tionally by The Open Mat.
A season-ending knee injury to OSU
all-American heavyweight Amarveer
Dhesi, who placed fifth in the NCAA
Wrestling Championships last season,
meant that Crawford’s move filled a void
for the Beavers.
Crawford said even if Dhesi had not
been sidelined, he was on his way up to
the heavyweight ranks.
“It’s the best decision I ever made,”
said Crawford, a redshirt junior from
Turner. “On the road I get to go eat now.
The worst part of the sport by far is cut-
ting weight.”
But that is no longer an issue for
Crawford.
OSU coach Jim Zalesky, now in his
SCOBEL WIGGINS
Oregon State’s Cody Crawford (top) competes in a match against Michigan earlier this season.
11th season, supported the move.
“Wrestling’s not about cutting weight,
it’s about getting to the ideal weight
class,” said Zalesky, a three-time nation-
al champion during his collegiate days at
Iowa.
Dhesi said he is “100 percent” on
board for returning next season as a sen-
ior, which could translate into an inter-
esting battle at heavyweight. He is con-
sidered a contender to represent Canada
in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Crawford is keeping the focus on this
season.
“I’m not too worried about that right
now,” Crawford said of the 2017-18 sea-
son.
Neither is Zalesky.
“You have to have good competition,”
Zalesky said. “If something happens to
Dhesi or something happens to (Craw-
ford), you’ve gotta have a backup. That’s
a good problem to have.”
Dhesi, who had surgery last month to
repair a torn ACL in his left knee, re-
mains close to the wrestling program
and is around to offer Crawford advice if
needed.
“He knows what to do,” Dhesi said.
“He looks like an all-American.”
Crawford’s 32 wins in 2014-15 rank
fourth all-time for OSU freshmen. He
won the Pac-12 championship at 197 and
won two matches in the NCAA tourna-
ment.
Last season Crawford went 19-14 com-
ing off a shoulder injury and placed third
in the Pac-12 championships, but did not
qualify for nationals.
A return to nationals is definitely on
Crawford’s to-do list, albeit in a different
weight division.
Although Crawford is at a weight dis-
advantage against some heavyweights,
they often can’t match his quickness.
“I got up to 245 so I’m feeling good,
strong,” Crawford said. “I’ve still got my
speed so I feel like I have an advantage
there with my endurance, speed and
strength. It’s all good.”
Crawford said he’s most effective on
the mat, but Zalesky would like to see
him take more shots on his feet.
“He’s actually real good on his feet,
but he doesn’t believe it. He doesn’t take
his shots,” Zalesky said. “He’s got skills
that most heavyweights don’t have.”
The more experience Crawford gains
at heavyweight, the better he’ll be for the
Pac-12 championships Feb. 26 at Stan-
ford. OSU is the five-time defending con-
ference champions, but will be hard
pressed to repeat this season.
In addition to Dhesi’s absence, two-
time NCAA qualifier Ronnie Bresser
(125) is redshirting this season. Craw-
ford, junior Joey Delgado (149) and soph-
omore Corey Griego (197) are the Bea-
vers’ only nationally-ranked wrestlers.
“We’re working hard and getting bet-
ter each day,” Crawford said. “We al-
ways peak towards the end of the year.”
Stanford figures to be the Pac-12 tour-
nament favorite.
Crawford’s wrestling career will end
after next season, but the human devel-
opment and family science major plans
to stay in the sport as a college coach.
“Wrestling, I’ve done it my whole
life,” he said. “I wanna give back to the
sport and the community I came from.”
ghorowitz@StatesmanJournal.com,
503-399-6726 or Twitter.com/ghorowitz