SOU NOTES

ASHLAND – The second-ranked Southern Oregon wrestling team returns home this weekend to host a pair of duals against No. 20 Menlo and Simon Fraser, along with an exhibition dual against Clackamas Community College this weekend at Bob Riehm Arena.

“We're excited,” SOU head coach Mike Ritchey said. “It should be a fun weekend full of Raider wrestling. We don't know exactly what our lineup is going to be, we've got some guys that are a little bit hurt. We'll try to get everybody in there as much as we can.”

Southern Oregon, 8-3 in duals this season, will host the Oaks Friday night at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last weekend's 22-18 SOU victory down in Atherton, Calif. Saturday Clackamas will come to town for a 5 p.m. exhibition before the Raiders close out the weekend with a 7 p.m. dual against Simon Fraser.

“Senior week, it's an opportunity for our guys who've been in our program for a while to kind of put some finality on their dual meets here in Riehm Arena,” Ritchey said of the Raiders' final home duals. “It's always an emotional thing for the coaching staff and myself to see those guys go, but we've got a lot of season left to be with them from that point forward.”

Menlo entered the rankings this week at No. 20 after battling to a close 22-18 loss to the Raiders last weekend. Southern Oregon faced Menlo in the middle of a triple-header Saturday in the Bay Area that included a loss to NCAA Div. I No. 20 Stanford and a win over NCAA Div. II San Francisco State. Southern Oregon is 15-3 all time in duals against Menlo, stretching back to the 2001-02 season.

“We had them last week with a tight dual there, so that should be exciting,” Ritchey said of Menlo.

Saturday's exhibition match against Clackamas could prove to be a challenge for Southern Oregon. The Clackamas team boasts a pair of wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA among nine ranked wrestlers.

“They've got some great wrestlers,” Ritchey said. “I think nine of their 10 in the starting lineup are ranked nationally, so it's some great competition. Although it's junior college competition, wrestling is wrestling.”

Simon Fraser will come to town looking for its second consecutive dual victory over SOU after the Raiders won the previous 17 duals against the Clan.

“We're looking forward to wrestling with them,” Ritchey said. “They bring a great team to town and they have a year where they're wrestling unaffiliated and have some great guys.”