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The Dalles Chronicle TheDallesChronicle.com Wednesday, February 26, 2020 A9 SPORTS Dodge’s impressive run puts him on brink of history Junior grappler goes undefeated to earn district title and runs season record to 22- 0, 21 by pin Rodriguez ■ Ray The Dalles Chronicle In his career, wrestling has taken Dusty Dodge from The Dalles to Goldendale and now back to The Dalles. Life has been a whirlwind, but he takes so much more away from his experiences that will last him through the test of time. The two-time state placer at Goldendale (third place in 2018, and second last season at 160 pounds) won all three of his 170-pound matches by pin to take first place at the OSAA 5A Special District 4 Championships Saturday at Ridgeview High School in Redmond. Dodge is on the verge of school history, as he ran his overall record to 22-0, 21 by pinfall. “I think my whole journey through wrestling has taught me a lot about myself and helped me become a better practice partner, a better teammate and it also made me a better wrestler through some ups and downs, losing tournaments and not doing too good throughout the year. It has made my mindset tougher and gave me the motivation to get more out of myself every day.” Dodge had an open- ing-round bye, then polished off three straight opponents in a combined six minutes and 39 seconds. The first win came at 21 seconds versus Jubal Brumble (Crook County), and the junior dropped Carlos Corrales-Bazan (Ridgeview) via third-round pin (4:28) to vault into the championship finale, where he would meet up with team- mate Taylor Morehouse. Dodge earned the first- round pin of Morehouse with 11 seconds to go in the first round (1:49). For Dodge, the district victory was his fifth tourna- ment title of the season, and he added an Outstanding Wrestler of the IMC District Award as voted on by all the head coaches. “Dusty’s undefeated run this year is not all about the 21 pins, but about his superb technique,” The Dalles head coach Paul Beasley said. “Pinning is a product of su- perior wrestling, not strength alone. Assistant coaches Ryan Manciu and Jake Abrams devised a practice plan to take advantage of his skills and it has paid off with a No. 1 seed at state.” Joining Dodge at this week- end’s 5A state tournament at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland are Taylor Morehouse (second place), Steven Preston (third place), Ian Preston (fourth place) and Mauricio Carrera (fourth place). While there are five state qualifiers, freshmen Marquies Sagapolutele (160) and Miguel Torres (220) each placed fifth and have an outside shot at earning state invites as wild card. Morehouse continued his upward trend in the 5A Special District 4 land- scape after a second-place outcome, Steven Preston showed resolve in picking up third place, and both Ian Preston and Carrera had to fight through tough brackets to solidify their fourth-place outcomes. Entering districts, Morehouse had a losing record, but had been on an upwards swing over the last three weeks and had several facets to his craft dialed in. Just like Dodge, Morehouse (13-16 record) had byes in the first three rounds and jumped into the semifinals to grapple against Hood River Valley’s Maverick Geller (23-16 record). In that match, Geller and Morehouse fought for six minutes to a 3-all tie, so a championship berth had to be decided in overtime. Morehouse pulled off the two-point takedown at the buzzer in the extra session for a 5-3 sudden victory to advance. The Dalles wrestling team put up 116 points to get sixth place at the OSAA 5A Special District 4 Championships Saturday at Ridgeview High School in Redmond. In the photo are, from left to right, starting in the back row, Ryan Manciu (assistant coach), Mauricio Carrera, Kevin Marx (assistant coach), Taylor Morehouse and Paul Beasley (head coach). In the front row are, from left, Dusty Dodge, Steven Preston and Ian Preston. Dodge ran his record to 22-0 on the year and claimed a 170-pound district title, Morehouse placed second, Steven Preston was third and both Carrera and Ian Preston clinched fourth place to secure state berths. Contributed photo Steven Preston (20-5 record), a two-time state qualifier, hit the mats at 160 pounds and scored 20 team points after posting a 3-1 record. The Riverhawk senior moved into the quarterfi- nals, where he battled with Redmond’s Logan Willett (8-10 record), and Steven Preston used just 33 seconds to get a pin and advance to the semifinals. After a semifinal pinfall loss (4:32) at the hands of Gavin McLean (Crook County), Preston rebounded See DODGE, page A10 The Dalles’ Dusty Dodge takes down his Hood River Valley opponent in a dual this season at Kurtz Gym in The Dalles. With his undefeated record and district championship in tow, Dodge is the No. 1 seed go- ing into this weekend’s state tournament. Ray Rodriguez photo Swimmers make final leap ahead at state championship meet worn maroon and gold at a state swim meet,” coach Shortt said. On the individual side, Lydia DiGennaro qualified in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races, finishing her 50-yard freestyle in 26.04 sec- onds, which placed her 10th in the state. She tacked on a time of 57.87 in the 100-yard freestyle to lock down ninth Looking back at the 2019- place. At last weekend’s 2020 swim season, The Dalles Intermountain Conference head coach Derek Shortt District Championships held cannot be any prouder of in Madras, Kendall Webber everything his athletes gave served out a 6:00.00 for her him on a day-to-day basis. district championship and Friday at the Tualatin went into the state prelim- Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton, the Riverhawks inary race with a personal had 13 swimmers compete record of 5:55.77, but blew in five events for OSAA those times out of the water OnPoint Community Credit by nine seconds with a Union 5A Swimming State new personal-record time Championship action. of 5:50.80, which gave her “To have that many eighth place in state. swimmers at state, in and of The girls 200-yard freestyle itself, was a milestone for the relay quartet of DiGennaro, program, as it hasn’t been Kennedy Abbas, Kendall since the winter of 2009-2010 Webber and Bree Webber that so many swimmers have dropped one second from DiGennaro and Kendall Webber each ring up personal records in their respective events Rodriguez ■ Ray The Dalles Chronicle their district performance to finish with a time of 1:49.16 to secure eighth place in the field. The boys 200-yard freestyle relay, led by seniors Will Evans and Bryce Harris along with freshman Michael Cole and sophomore Xander Kirby, put in a valiant effort for a finals position and a Saturday qualification. Unfortunately, an early start off the blocks ended the boys wild card quest, al- though they did finish with a time of 1:37.62, which would have been another personal record. “We told the kids after the meet that this is the point in the season where they need to focus on what they achieved rather than what they didn’t,” Shortt said. “At the beginning of our last practice on Wednesday, we told the kids that in two days they would be swimming against the elite swimmers in the state of Oregon. Then we told them that this was The Dalles swim team added some more personal records and respectable finishes to their records at this past weekend’s OSAA OnPoint Community Credit Union 5A Swimming State Championship ac- Pat Shortt/Contributed photo tion. because they were now elite swimmers themselves. When they heard that, they all started clapping for them- selves. That was pretty cool to see them recognize where they were and what they had accomplished.” The swim team had plenty of highlights, team wins and standout perfor- mances during the regular season, and will bring back a good chunk of those state qualifiers for another deep run next year, so coach Shortt is feeling like the best efforts are coming sooner rather than later. See SWIM, page A10 Unicorn style vaults Dufur to SWC loses to Ione ■ first district title since 2005 offensive rebounded, but turned the ball over. SWC had 27.8 seconds to get The Ione/Arlington Cardinals a basket, down 71-68, and Hull shot 66 percent for the game called a timeout to set up a play. on 31 of 47 from the floor and Jace Troutman, however, stole hit a torrid 16 of 20 second-half the inbounds pass, was fouled shots in Saturday’s 74-68 win and sank both free throws, which over the Redsides. put the Cards in front, 73-68. In the fourth quarter, Ione/ After another inbounds pass Arlington led 60-54 with 4:19 turnover, Troutman made 1 of 2 left and 68-63 at the 1:34 mark. free throws, and SWC missed its Oscar Thomas drained two final shot attempt. free throws to inch the Redsides Goad had 22 points, Eynetich to within 68-65, and on the added 17, Hunter Padberg Cardinals next possession, dropped 16 and Troutman Wesley Goad hit 1 of 2 free tacked on 13 points. throws, but on his miss, Ione SWC made 27 of 52 from the got the offensive rebound. field, 8 of 16 threes, and went 6 SWC got a steal and missed of 15 from the line. its shot attempt, and Carson Thomas scored 24 points, Eynetich hit a layup to give Ione Garrett Olson notched 21 points a 71-65 lead. and went 3 of 10 from the line, Ben Birman answered with Tanner Davis and Remington a 3-pointer at the 33-second Sheer had seven points each. mark, and after two missed SWC hosts Elgin at 6 p.m. Ione free throws, they got the Wednesday. Ray Rodriguez The Dalles Chronicle Defensive philosophy is catalyst in frenzied style of basketball Rodriguez ■ Ray The Dalles Chronicle It has been 15 long years since the Dufur girls basketball program has been relevant in the Big Sky Conference’s upper echelon. After Saturday’s 50-44 victory over Echo in the district championship game, this young core could be on the top of the heap for many years to come. The Rangers led 22-19 at the half, and 33-31 entering the final quarter. Ahead 48-44 with less than 20 seconds left and Echo in possession of the ball, Ranger senior Katie Beal blocked a shot, and was fouled for the 1-and-1, but missed the front end, grabbed her own re- bound ahead of four Cougar players and got the putback layup, which gave Dufur its 50-44 victory. With the boundless energy, the baseline-to-baseline defensive tenacity and bal- anced scoring brought in by first-year head coach Nathan Morris and his assistants, The Dufur Rangers captured their first district championship since the 2005 season after beating Echo by a 50-44 margin Saturday in Madras. Ray Rodriguez photo Tony White and Heather Walters, there is a system in place that every player loves and the passion exudes on the hardwood on a nightly basis. Following a 10-win season and a district exit, the Lady Rangers went 17-8, 9-3 in league and allowed 82 points fewer in two less games played. “We had a goal set at the beginning of the year of going to districts and I told them, ‘let’s see if we can amp it up a little bit and get out of dis- tricts, because I think we can win districts,’” Morris said. “I always knew we had the potential, but I don’t think that I have ever been a part of team that has seen this much growth from the beginning of the year to where we are now. Just the confidence, playing poised and under control and buying in to what we are doing defensively are the big- gest differences. It has been really impressive and fun to be a part of.” On any given night Dufur’s leading scorer changes, so opposing teams have difficult singling out one player to try to stop. Defensively, Morris swaps his starters for his bench to keep players fresh and ener- gized enough to chase ball handlers, force mistakes and transition baskets in what is dynamic defensive forma- tion that forced 16 Echo turnovers. “We made a change about five or six games in, where we did the rotation thing,” Morris said. “I think we went about eight deep be- fore that, and we started go- ing five-in and five-out. The change you see most with the girls is that everybody knows that they are part of something, that they are in this together. I think that is the biggest thing. “We were very intentional about the philosophy we wanted as far as the style of play and what we wanted to do. “We kind of branded our- selves in that style. We got unicorns everywhere and that’s who we are, and they buy in to that.” Dufur hosts a team to be announced Friday at the Ranger Dome. Dr. Cullen’s Student of the week Shane Squires for the Perseverance Award at the Learning Center: Shane is a kind, hardworking and helpful student. Shane is polite to those around him and is always willing to work hard. He will stick with a task until completion. Congratulations Shane Squires, TDHS Columbia View Dental 1915 E. 19th Street | The Dalles Victor Cullen, DDS 541-296-5677 | Se habla español
