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Wednesday, December 20, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Wrestlers compete at Culver Invitational
By Rongi Yost
Correspondent
Sisters matmen com-
peted at the two-day Culver
Invitational held on Friday
and Saturday, December 8-9.
Sisters was one of the 15
teams in attendance at the
annual event.
The Culver Invitational
allows two wrestlers per
weight class in the varsity
tournament, so the younger
Outlaw wrestlers got the
experience of wrestling
against tough competition.
Five Outlaws placed at
the tourney: sophomores Sal
Gibney and Ethan Martin
at 195 pounds, took fourth
and sixth place, respectively;
senior Dustin Smith took
fourth at 160 pounds; senior
Cole Pade placed fourth at
152 pounds; and senior Casey
Warburton took third at 285
pounds.
Smith fought through
an upset stomach all day,
and even stopped one of his
matches and was sick between
the rounds. Gibney and
Martin had to wrestle against
each other to earn their final
spots.
Downs told The Nugget
it’s always hard to watch his
wrestlers match up against
each other.
“It’s one of those times as
a coach, you have to just step
back, allow them to wrestle
on their own, and may the
best man win,” said Downs.
Warburton wrestled in the
285-pound weight bracket,
even though he weighs only
230 pounds.
“I was so proud of Casey
staying to the outside of his
tough matches, and not get-
ting underneath, and getting
stuck under the weight,” said
Downs. “He fought through
tough matches to earn a medal
in his third-place finish.
“I was truly impressed by
our final five guys and how
hard they pushed themselves
to earn a placing spot,” said
Downs. “Cole (Pade) was
wrestling in what I would say
is the toughest weight class
with the most wrestlers, so
earning a fourth-place spot at
that level was a great feat for
him. I truly didn’t expect it,
and he proved me wrong.”
Freshmen Jesse Peskin,
Chaz Patterson, and sopho-
mores Rylan Carter and
Austin Pade all made it to day
two of the tourney.
“These four young men
may not have placed at the
tournament, but the points
that they earned for the team
were very important, and I
was very proud of them,” said
Downs.
The Invitational has
a special twist called the
Friendship Bowl, which
allows wrestlers that were
knocked out of the tourna-
ment the first day to sign up
and look for matches with
other wrestlers that are not in
the varsity tournament. It’s
the wrestler’s responsibility to
look for wrestlers in the same
weight class. The Outlaws
had many wrestlers who did
this, and they got in several
matches, which allowed them
to improve.
Downs was impressed
with freshman Hunter Spor,
sophomore Damian King, and
Anthony Randolph, who all
wrestled six matches in the
tournament. Senior Patrick
Dingeman wrestled five
matches.
“I was very excited to
see the JV wrestlers pick
up so much experience on
Saturday,” said Downs. “It
was a great weekend for
the Outlaws, and everyone
was successful. Even if they
lost matches, they gained
experience and that means
everything.”
Three days earlier, the
Outlaws faced Summit in a
dual match. The Storm beat
the Outlaws with a final score
of 51-33. Sisters had to for-
feit two weight classes (120
pounds and 182 pounds),
which gave the Storm a
PHOTO PROVIDED
Casey Warburton, second from right, placed third wrestling bigger
athletes at the Culver Invitational.
12-point lead before the
match even started.
Cole Pade (152 pounds)
pinned Andrew de Lorimer
to give the Outlaws their first
points of the night.
With the Outlaws in a
21-6 deficit, senior David
Perez-Sanchez (170 pounds)
pinned Klaas Menedez in
the first round, followed by
sophomore Ethan Martin (195
pounds), who pinned Austin
Mccoun in 1:12 in the first
round.
Senior Casey Warburton
(285-pound weight class)
pinned Nicholas Giesler in
1:27 in the first round, which
gave the Outlaws another six
points.
With Summit holding a
narrow lead at 27-24, Dylan
Vantress (106 pounds) was
able to pin Ben Caba in 11
seconds. Downs told The
Nugget that it was one of
Dylan’s quickest pins in his
early career as an Outlaw.
From that point, the
Storm’s experience took
over, they won several more
matches and beat the Outlaws
by 18 points.
“This was a great expe-
rience for the team,” said
Downs. “It was their first
dual of the season, and
against a 5A school. I was
able to see individuals on the
team play with determination
and fight.”
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