6A
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
The Observer
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
LA GRANDE — On paper,
the La Grande Tigers appear
to have the best wrestling
team in Class 4A and, one
could argue, a team among
the best in Oregon regard-
less of classifi cation.
The Tigers were ranked
No. 1 in the most recent
OSAA 4A coaches poll, on
Jan. 8, and since that poll
came out have picked up
dual victories against the
three teams directly below
them in the rankings —
No. 4 Baker on Jan. 8 (61-7),
No. 3 Tillamook on Jan. 18
(66-16) and No. 2 Sweet
Home on Jan. 18 (45-19).
Those last two duals came
in the semifi nals and fi nals
of the Oregon Classic in
Redmond, which LHS won
for the fi rst time.
Those dual wins also
come against teams who
fi nished No. 1 (Tillamook),
No. 2 (Sweet Home) and
No. 4 (Baker) in last year’s
OSAA state tournament. La
Grande was right in there
among them at third.
The team’s success has ex-
tended beyond Oregon. The
Tigers, who also dominated
their home Muilenburg
tournament in December,
have top-10 fi nishes this in
three major tournaments
in the West — Tri-State in
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (ninth),
the Sierra Nevada Classic
in Reno (fi fth) and the Rollie
Lane Invite in Nampa, Idaho
(sixth). At the most recent
of those tournaments, Rollie
Lane, they were the highest-
ranked Oregon team and
fi nished ahead of programs
such as Crook County
(ranked second in 5A) and
Mountain View (ranked
fourth in 6A). The only Or-
egon teams to fi nish higher
than La Grande in a tourna-
ment were Crook County at
Tri-State and Sprague (No. 3
in 6A) at Sierra Nevada. The
Tigers have not yet wrestled
Photo by Klel Carson
The La Grande wrestling team poses with the trophy earned for winning the Oregon Classic.
Tigers rolling at midway point
in a tournament that
includes Newberg (No. 1 in
6A), Roseburg (No. 2 in 6A)
or Crescent Valley (No. 1 in
5A), but they will get an op-
portunity to Jan. 31 and Feb.
1 at the Reser’s Tournament
of Champions in Hillsboro.
La Grande head coach
Klel Carson said he believed
the team, which in late Feb-
ruary will be contending for
its fi rst state title since 1996,
was capable of achieving the
success it has had to this
point in the season.
“These kids have worked
really hard for a long time,”
Carson said. “They’re receiv-
ing their rewards for the
hard work they put in.”
Carson said the group
of wrestlers is a team that
doesn’t settle or rest on its
laurels, even coming off a
weekend when it won what
he said many in Oregon
consider the dual state
championship at the Oregon
Classic.
“That’s kind of the nature
of the kids and who they
are,” he said. “They’re the
kind of kids who don’t want
to settle for mediocrity. They
know what it takes to be
successful. They want to put
in the work. They under-
stand they gotta work hard.
They’ve been successful in
the past.”
About 15 wrestlers on the
team recently tasted the suc-
cess of a state title, as they
were members of the varsity
football team’s undefeated
season and state champion-
ship run in November. The
momentum carried into the
wrestling season.
“Once you have success, it
builds confi dence,” Carson
said.
The team is among the
deepest, if not the deepest
Carson has coached in more
than two decades with the
program.
TREASURE
VALLEY
STEEL, INC.
Huskies’ win streak at seven
Observer staff
Joseph Friday in an important OOL contest.
Tymra Anderson singlehandedly outscored
Griswold Tuesday as she fi nished with 19
points as the Elgin Huskies girls basketball
team routed the Grizzlies on the road, 54-15,
for their seventh win in a row.
Jayden and Jocelyn Palmer added 13 and 11
points, respectively, to join Anderson in double
fi gures. The Huskies scored 18 points in the
second quarter to push ahead 24-8 at halftime
and take control. Elgin (11-2 overall, 3-0 Old
Oregon League) host Nixyaawii Friday.
Union 54, Pilot Rock 5: Callie Glenn
scored 12 points, Brianna Kohr added 11
and the Bobcats easily topped Pilot Rock in a
road Blue Mountain Conference contest.
Glenn scored more points in the fi rst
quarter (seven) than the Rockets did the
entire night as Union raced out to a 16-1 lead
after one and coasted from there. In all, eight
players scored for the Bobcats, who held Pilot
Rock to just two fi eld goals on the night.
Union (15-3 overall, 5-0 BMC) hosts
Weston-McEwen Friday.
Enterprise 44, Weston-McEwen 27:
The Outlaws used a balanced attack on
offense as 11 players scored in their home
win over Weston-McEwen in Blue Mountain
Conference play.
Rilyn Kirkland led Enterprise, which took a
12-1 fi rst-quarter lead and never looked back,
with nine points. Casidee Harrod added seven
points for the Outlaws, who were never threat-
ened. The TigerScots hurt their own chances to
stay in the game by missing 23 free throws.
Enterprise (12-2 overall, 4-1 BMC) hosts
Grant Union Friday.
Powder Valley 52, Pine Eagle 32: Ke-
anna Bingham scored 20 points and hit three
3-pointers Monday as the Badgers routed Pine
Eagle on the road in Old Oregon League action.
Powder Valley used a press to fl uster the
Spartans and race out to an 18-2 lead. The
Badgers settled for a 26-17 lead at the half,
then extended the lead back to 17 after three.
Autumn Davis added 10 points and Josi
Krieger grabbed 10 rebounds for Powder
Valley (7-6 overall, 3-1 OOL), which hosts
Boys
Elgin 60, Griswold 48: Gage McKay
scored 12 points Tuesday to lead four players
in double fi gures as the Huskies used a bal-
anced attack to get past Helix on the road in
Old Oregon League play.
Wyatt Hallgarth and Ian Adams added 11
points apiece for Elgin, and Tristan Simpson
scored 10 points. Elgin outscored the Grizzlies
in each quarter to slowly pull away for the win.
The Huskies (8-5 overall, 3-0 OOL) host
Nixyaawii Friday in a battle of teams un-
beaten in OOL play.
Pilot Rock 47, Union 45: The Bobcats’
rally from a nine-point defi cit entering the
fourth quarter Tuesday fell just shot as they
dropped their second Blue Mountain Confer-
ence road game in a row.
Union chipped away at a 39-30 hole and
had a chance late, but was unable to cash in
on opportunities down the stretch and Keegan
Glenn’s potential winning 3-pointer at the buzz-
er was off. Glenn finished with 18 points to lead
Union, and Cole McLean added eight points.
The Bobcats (11-7 overall, 2-3 BMC) host
Weston-McEwen Friday.
Powder Valley 77, Pine Eagle 68:
Ethan Stephens scored 26 points and hit six
3-pointers Monday as the Badgers held off
Pine Eagle on the road in a high-scoring Old
Oregon League battle.
Stephens had 11 during a 29-point second
quarter for Powder Valley as it went into the
half ahead 46-41. Reece Dixon and Dominick
Grende, who added 17 and 16 points, respec-
tively, led the way in the second half with a
combined 17 points as the Badgers held on.
Moziss Nesser added 12 points for Powder
Valley (12-3 overall, 4-0 OOL), which hosts
Joseph Friday in a key league battle.
Weston-McEwen 49, Enterprise 47:
The Outlaws dropped their fourth Blue
Mountain Conference game in a row, this
time falling at home to a TigerScot squad
that was winless in BMC action. Stats were
not provided for Enterprise (5-7 overall, 1-4
BMC), which hosts Grant Union Friday.
“This year the greatest
strength is all of the kids (are)
solid all the way through,”
he said. “There are not really
any weak weights.”
That strength, Carson
said, will prove to be a major
asset as the team nears the
state tournament, which is
Feb. 28-29 in Portland.
Even with the balance
across the weight classes,
one of the team’s best assets
is an upper weight group
Carson said is the best
he’s coached, and it may
be among the best ever in
program history. The group
includes last year’s state
champions Parker Robinson
and Chris Woodworth, past
state runners-up Nathan
Reed and Spencer Gerst, and
third-place fi nisher Gabe
Shukle.
Carson said the top fi ve
weight classes, — 170
pounds to 285 pounds —
“are the strongest we’ve had
in my time for sure,” Carson
said, adding he’s discussed
with former LHS coach Verl
Miller where this group
ranks all-time. “Verl and I
talked about it a lot. We can
say for sure it’s been a long
time since we’ve had upper
weights like that.”
But with all the expecta-
tion surrounding the team,
which has hopes of ending
the 24-year championship
drought, Carson said he has
not addressed pursuing the
title with the team.
“Never. I’ve never talked
about that one time,” he said.
“All my talks (are) about
being good people and good
citizens. I try never to talk
about, ‘let’s win a state title.’”
Instead, he pushes an
ideal that will carry the
wrestlers long after they step
off the mat for the last time.
“At the end of the day no
matter what happens in
wrestling, they’re great kids.
They’re going to be great
people in our community,” he
said. “They’re going to make
a difference in the world.”
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