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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 1995)
T he P ortland O bserver • F ebruary 15, 1995 B y D anny B ell Roosevelt sits nestle in far north Portland obscure for its lack of ac complishment in sports. But quietly there is an athletic- renaissance going on there in the sport of wrestling, renewing and up lifting the schools collective spirit and the individual self-esteem of its students. Last week by defeating Wilson Roosevelt virtually clinched its sec ond P.I.L. championship in Wres tling. Winning 10 out of 13 matches Roosevelts dominated previously undefeated Wilson in a match where each school was vying for the P.I.L. crown. Weighing in at lOOpoundsDanh Nguyen won the first match pinning P age A 7 Cam Brown in 2; 15. His brother 106 poind Thanh Nguyen pinned Tony Torrey in 42 seconds. Wilson forfeited the next match that was followed by Roosevelt’s Carry O'Connor in the 119 weight class who pinned Wilson's Josh Ford in 5:09. Roosevelt won its fifth con secutive match when Kelly Tamailie at 126 pounds defeated Andy Burke with an 11-9 decision. Captain, senior Doug Hart ( 142) won a 13-3 major decision over Wilson’sHeeCheol Kim, and Wayne Miller won 16-2 decision over Tro jans Jamie Brown. 185 poinder Terry Ritter made short work of Wilsons Ty Taylor pinning him in 29 seconds. Chris Verbont clinched the meet when the 172 lb w restler for Roosevelt posted a 12-5 victory over Mike Ford. Roosevelt now stands at 7-0 in dual meets Wilson falls to 5-1. Of the Diamond three Wilson wins Ethan Steward (160) was the quickest when he pinned Solomona Tamailie in 39 sec onds. 134 pound Ryon Nicholson pinned the R oughriders Mike Brundgardt in 1:28. Roosevelt usually overlooked when it comes to major P.I.L. sports has managed to bring back two P.I.L. dual meet championships in the last two years. How have they done it. Well the smart money is coach Tom Nielsen and his wife more fondly known as Mrs Coach. Tom Nielsen who gave up a lucrative career in the private sector, found something among the kids and in teaching that he couldn’ et with fat bank account... self-fulfillment and gratification. the former salesman of R.V.S. and mobile homes cam to Roosevelt nine years ago after 18 years out at the market place. 4 years previous to his flirtation with free enterprise he had taught school. Ultimately he rec ognized that is what he really wanted to do. When he came to Roosevelt he was less than enamored with it. But as he came to know the people in the community school, and the kids he realized they were getting a bad rap. It didn t hurt that he also met his present wife Shirley, a former Rose Festival Princess from Roosevelt. You can tell from talking with him that the present life style really invigorates him. Nielsen honesty and genuine concern for his young charges is in fectious. He talks with pride about the diversity on his team which in cludes, Indians, Asians, Caucasians Blacks, and Pacific Islanders. He also is proud that the team grade point average is 3.3. He is reminiscent of old tradi- Peter Jacobsen, the Port land P.G.A. pro, scored his sec ond win, in as many weeks Sun day when he won the Buick Invi tational at San Diego. He carded a 4 under par 68 in the final round. Jacobsen finished at 19 under 269 for his sixth victory, and his second win in two weeks. The prior being the A T&T Pebble National Beach Pro-AM. Arizona Falters K.C. Roberts only scored 2 points against Arizona but they were crucial in lifting the Cal over the Wildcats to an upset win of 74-72, in tucson Arizona. The Wildcat fall to #2 in the PAC 10 behind UCLA. West Flees By -East In Allstars Irvin Sings Michael Irvin all-pro re ceiver for the Dallas Cowboys, agreed to a 5 year contract esti mated to be valued at 15 million dollars, that makes him the high est paid receiver in the N.F.L. The four time pro-bowler who was a free agent, will re ceive a $5 million bonus. Raider Arrested Los Angeles Raider running back Harvey W illiams, was charged with felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor battery after an alleged confrontation with his ex-wife. Williams, 27 was jailed last Wednesday night after his ex- wife Lovle Williams said he had beaten and threaten her tion that acoach not only be a teacher, but a father figure if need be. Yet you can tell from his winning record he demands that each athlete gives his best. He and his wife have brought something the Roughriders have been lacking for the better part of 31 years. A winning attitude and the pride and self esteem that come with it. Techmen Head To PIL Title Basketball Football Roosevelt's Terry Ritter against Grant. Benson Squeaks By Wilson Jacobsen Wins Again Mitch Richmond who had to be selected by the coaches to play in the All-Star game turn in a stellar performance in 22 min utes of play and produced 23 points on 10 of 13 from the field including 3 for 3 from 3 point range. The west won 139-112 in what is usually an uninhibited display of offense. Shaquille O'Neal scored 22 points for the east but the west just had to much fired to be denied this year. The Rough Canaan Chatman carries the basketball for the University of Portland. Pilots Win On The Road B y D an B ell Dragging into town on their last leg exhausted from the lost in double overtime to Loyola Marymont the night before. The University of Port land Pilots made a gut check and dug down deep to defeat Pepperdine 72- 65 in a West Coast Conference game in Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Pilots (16-6,7-3) ended a 3 game losing streak on the road and also stopped at four their losses to Pepperdine. “We knew we had to get this one" said Curt Ranta who scored 2 1 points “It shows a lot of character on our part. A lot of guys were tired, we played some big minutes last night, I know I was tired, when its always been battled and fought hard, and for the most part its come out our way. It shows the mental toughness of our team. The game was close throughout and there were several tics starting in the first half when Ray Ross hit his third bucket to tic the game at 12-12 with 11:36 on the clock in the first t half. Rick Brainhard hit a 3 point shot and Portland it largest lead of the first half. But Pepperdine went on 7-0 run that was highlighted two 3 point bas kets Clark James and a 3 pointer by Monte Marcanni who scored 21 in the game. Portland took a 23-19 lead, but Marcanni, who tallied 12 in the half, scored the Waves next 6 points to tie the game a 25-25 with 4:27 remain ing. Portland put together a 7-2 run and ended the half 32-27. Pepperdine had a 46-42 lead with 11:46 to play after intermission when Kasey flicker hit 2 three point ers for the U Of P although they were his only points it ignited a 17 -1 Orally for the Pilots. “I had to get something going I was dead in the Firs, half from last night." Flicker commented on his two big baskets. Pepperdine (11-10, 3-6) had come back with a run of its own when Gerald Brown hit from 3 point range to tie the game at 57-57. Canaan Chatman who scored a game high 23 completed a 3 point play that put the Pilots up 60-57 with 3:57 left. Chatman drove to the basket and was the beneficiary of a N B A. like continuation call on the play, and made the freethrow. With the game 60-58 Lemont Daniels scored on tough drive to the basket. Then Chatman came up with a steal and passed to Daniels for a lay-up, with 1:06 left. “We gutted it out in the second half' Portland's coach Rob Chavez said “Kasey Flicker hit two big 3s for us. That kind of ignited us and got us a little momentum. Like the game in Portland, Pepperdine couldn’t get the big plays down the stretch and lost for the fifth time in six games. W e’ve been struggling all year said Brown "who scored 21." We felt we gave a pretty good effort and we played hard. But we just didn't get the good plays when we needed them Thais what its all boiling down to right now. B y E ric N oon When your leading player has an off night and your playing the number two team in the state in front of your home crowd fans, you better have someone to carry the weight if you want to pull out a victory. Earl Clark, the Benson se nior, came up big for the number one Techmen in the clutch as Benson remained undefeated at 18-0 and all but locked up the Portland Interscholastic League title with four games remaining. “I knew someone had to step up, and at crunch time I came up big,” Clark said. Clark who finished with 18 p o in ts, d rille d b a c k -to -b a c k threes with four m inutes rem ain ing and made a key steal as W il son attem pted to put the game away in the final seconds. Clark stole the ball with eight seconds left from W ilson's Tyrone M anlove on an inbound pass. He then spun away and drove in for the winning basket, but was fouled with three ticks on the clock remaining. C lark then knocked down both free-throws like there was ice in his veins as the capacity crowd went wild in what had to be one of the biggest games of their lives for these young men. Jaso n F ra n k lin , w ho struggled with his shot, only scored seven points as the big match-up with W ilson’s M anlove lived up to the hype as both stars made big contributions. M anlove, who finished with 19 points and nine steals missed a 25 foot desperation three with the clock expiring as the Benson crowd stormed the Techmen play ers. “He did it for us,” said Frank lin on C lark 's perform ance after the Techm en held o ff a strong challenge by the Trojans. “He hit a couple of key three pointers and hit those key free-throw s. I say h e's the player of the gam e.” Sportsradio KFXX (The Fan) 1520 AM was in the house with live co v erag e for those who co u ld n ’t get in and Cleveland C av aliers point guard T erell Brandon was home for the NBA A ll-Star break and said the PIL is as strong as it ever has been. The PIL should have four teams in the state tourney this year with Benson and W ilson at high seeds, along with a tough Jefferson team and Cleveland not far behind. There may be more Division 1 players in the PIL this year than any other league in Oregon and with four gam es rem aining it would be a great time to get out and see these fine young men in action before they head o ff to the playoffs and then college. WORLD GYM - ST. JOHNS 7522 N. Lombard Portland, OR 97230 283-5404 OPEN 24 HOURS - DAYS A WEEK Give The Gift o f Health
