Ashland, Phoenix team up as South Valley Wolfpack for historic Pacific Rim Bowl against Japanese team

By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news

Erika Ochoa, assistant principal at Phoenix High School, parked along the curb outside Ashland High School on South Mountain Avenue Sunday afternoon, waiting for the Japan All-Stars to arrive.

Ochoa and her family were among dozens of supporters who lined up to celebrate the team’s arrival. Her son, Luis Julian, is a 16-year-old junior and kicker on the South Valley Wolfpack, made up this year of Phoenix and Ashland High School athletes. 

The Phoenix-Ashland team of 55 will face a team of 47 athletes from central Japan on Friday for the 18th Pacific Rim Bowl (PRB). The teams are 9-8 in favor of Japan since the beginning of the program in 1988, but this year is the first to include both Phoenix High School and AHS players to up the competition, at the request of Japan’s vice chairman of their PRB Committee.

The Japan All-Stars are made up of 47 student-atheletes from 17 different high schools from Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto, Japan, according to Mitzel. More than 250 players try out for the All-Star team.

The South Valley Wolfpack is made up of 55 student-athletes – 25 from Phoenix and 30 from Ashland, 21 of whom are seniors.

Home stays for the program went away during COVID-19, according to Steve Mitzel, president of Ashland’s PRB committee, but it will be the first year since 2019 that they return, giving athletes a true experience of the program’s mantra, “More than a game.”

“When we went there in 2023, the boys still had to stay in dorms and the coaches had to stay in dorms and it wasn’t quite the experience that we want(ed),” Mitzel said. “So this is going to be the first time since 2019 that we’ve been able to get the players in homestays.”

Ochoa and her family are hosting Japanese players this week and the family has been anticipating their arrival. 

“My kids are really excited, it’s just something new,” Ochoa said. “It’s just the experience to be able to get to know kids from another culture.”

Ochoa said her son’s already been chatting with Japan players via social media leading up to this week.

“They asked my son, ‘can we go thrift shopping?’” Ochoa said.

“We’ll do some shopping, we’ll probably go take them to the House of Mystery in Gold Hill,” she added.

The players will also be taking a day trip to Crater Lake National Park and to the Hellgate Jetboat excursion in Grants Pass.

If there’s time, Ochoa would like to take them to see the Trees of Mystery or the Oregon Coast.

“I think this is a unique opportunity that Charlie has worked really hard to make happen and so, kudos to him and his team,” Ochoa said. “Exposing our kids not just to other cultures and other communities, building a community within our two communities, bridging Ashland and Phoenix together, has been pretty awesome to see.”

“We’re going to kind of leave it up to them, give them some options,” she added. “The 16-hour difference is going to probably be brutal for them.”

“Here they come!” yelled someone in the crowd awaiting their arrival.

As two buses filled with a total of nearly 50 Japanese players pulled up to Ashland High, Mark and Peggy Severson and their 13-year-old daughter Jayden Severson were some of the first to welcome them to town.

Japan’s coaches and student-athletes stepped out of the bus to cheers and welcome signs, embracing Ashland coaching staff and organizers.

The Severson’s son Trent is a wide-receiver for the South Valley Wolfpack. 

Mark and Peggy are planning to make the boys a lot of American favorites this week, such as cheeseburgers, hamburgers, and apple pie. They said the boys plan to make them some Japanese dishes as well.

Peggy Severson plans to host a pool party and barbecue for the boys and their teammates at some point during the week.

When asked about what he thinks about the new Wolfpack team, made up of both Phoenix and Ashland players, Mark Severson said: “I like it.”  

He sees it as a way to boost competition in the already historic game.

“It needs to be a competitive game if it’s going to be an international game as far as I’m concerned,” Severson said.

Tickets are on sale this week at Ashland High School for the PRB game.

Reach Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at [email protected].

Related story: ‘More than just a game’: Ashland High School football team to return to Japan after hiatus (July 27, 2023)