ASHLAND – The 17th-ranked Southern Oregon men's wrestling team will head into the postseason with momentum on its side after five Raiders scored bonus points in a 30-13 drubbing of Warner Pacific on Saturday afternoon at Mountain Avenue Gym.

Casey Coulter (125 pounds) and Tyler Cowger (149) won by fall; Aaron DeMay (157), Ryan McWatters (184) and Tanner Fischer (197) notched major decisions, and Matt Peterson (133) and Reed Tennyson (174) won by decision as the Raiders took seven of 10 bouts.

The season sweep of the 20th-ranked Knights (3-6 overall) gave the Raiders a final dual record of 11-2. They'll take two weeks now to prepare for the NAIA West Group regional tournament, which takes place Feb. 20 in Prescott, Ariz. SOU is the defending champion and has won six of the last seven regional tournaments overall.

"We were all fired up, just trying to get ready to make a run in the postseason," said McWatters, who along with Tennyson was wrestling on his senior day. "My teammates wrestled well and I think we were pretty dominant, and that's the mindset we need to have."

Coulter, a sophomore from Grants Pass and the fifth-ranked 125-pounder in the region, continued his recent ascent by pinning Josh Johnson in 2 minutes 8 seconds. Peterson followed with a nip-and-tuck 13-8 win over Alex Ursua to put the Raiders up 9-0.

Warner Pacific's Josh Crager (141) got the Knights on the board with a first-round pin of Tim Tsukanov, but Cowger got the points back by taking down Chas Peterson in 1:35. Cowger, a two-time NAIA All-American ranked fourth in the country, completed an unbeaten dual season along with McWatters.

At 157, Demay controlled Robert Frasier for the duration of their bout with over four minutes of riding time in a 11-2 major decision that put the Raiders up 19-6 at intermission.

WPC's Blake Cooper, the top-ranked 165-pounder in the NAIA, cut into the lead with a 13-2 win against James Bowers.

Tennyson, a senior from Dillingham, Alaska, then started a string of three straight Raider victories with a 9-4 victory over Cesar Rodriguez Luna that he trailed 4-1 after the first round. McWatters, ranked fourth in the NAIA at 184, followed with a 20-10 defeat of Joe Dickinson – making him 19-5 on the season and giving him nine bonus-point triumphs in 10 dual wins this season. Dickinson had been ranked sixth in the West.

"I wish I could've gotten couple more points for the (technical fall) but I thought I was pretty good," McWatters said. "Personally, I'm not worried about who I'm facing right now; I'm worried about myself just performing and doing what I have to do to hopefully win a national title."

Sophomore Tanner Fischer, ranked 16th in the NAIA at 197, turned his 10-3 decision into an 11-3 major with riding time against Casey Brown. In the heavyweight match, WPC's Stephen Wilbert topped Zane Wardwell, 7-3.

The Raiders have now won at least 11 duals in seven of the last nine seasons. They'll be underdogs, though, at the West Group regional behind second-ranked Montana State-Northern and No. 14 Great Falls.

SOUTHERN OREGON 30, WARNER PACIFIC 13
125 – Casey Coulter, SOU, p. Josh Johnson, WPC, 2:08. (6-0)
133 – Matt Peterson, SOU, dec. Alex Ursua, WPC, 13-8. (9-0)
141 – Josh Crager, WPC, p. Tim Tsukanov, SOU, 2:31. (9-6)
149 – Tyler Cowger, SOU, p. Chas Peterson, WPC, 1:35. (15-6)
157 – Aaron DeMay, SOU, maj. dec. Robert Frasier, WPC, 11-2. (19-6)
165 – Blake Cooper, WPC, maj. dec. James Bowers, SOU, 13-2. (19-10)
174 – Reed Tennyson, SOU, dec. Cesar Rodriguez Luna, WPC, 9-4. (22-10)
184 – Ryan McWatters, SOU, maj. dec. Joe Dickinson, WPC, 20-10. (26-10)
197 – Tanner Fischer, SOU, maj. dec. Casey Brown, WPC, 11-3. (30-10)
285 – Stephen Wilbert, WPC, dec. Zane Wardwell, SOU, 7-3. (30-13)