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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 2020)
7A Saturday, February 8, 2020 The Observer LHS girls bury Ontario at home Staff photo by Ronald Bond La Grande football players, from left, Gabe Shukle, Blaine Shaw, Parker Robinson, Nathan Reed and Spencer Gerst are among 32 athletes in Eastern Oregon University’s signing class for 2020. Staff photo by Ronald Bond EOU signing class highlighted by TIGERS’ FAB FIVE By Ronald Bond The Observer LA GRANDE — The 2020 signing class for the Eastern Oregon University football program has a distinctively local fl avor, and is highlighted by a quintet of athletes who helped carry the La Grande Tigers to a state title. The program announced its signing class Wednesday, and of the 32 athletes inked by Eastern Oregon head coach Tim Camp, 14 are from Oregon, led by fi ve players who will continue their careers in La Grande — Parker Robin- son, Nathan Reed, Spencer Gerst, Gabe Shukle and Blaine Shaw. “We just have really good chemistry,” Gerst, an offensive and defensive line- man, said of the fi ve. “We work good together, we have a lot of athletes, a lot of strong kids, and we have a will to win.” The fi ve signed their letters of intent at a ceremony at LHS Thursday after- noon. “It’s always been my dream to play football on Saturdays, and to do it with these other four guys is a dream come true,” Shaw, a wide receiver and defen- sive back for LHS, said. “Just growing up with them, they’re my brothers, and to be able to do this with them is everything.” All of the LHS players expressed a similar sentiment about not only play- ing in the college in their hometown, but continuing their careers alongside four others they have played with for years. “It means the world to me,” said Shukle, who played tight end and defensive line for LHS and was the state defensive player of the year. “I’ve always wanted to play college football. It’s a dream come true, and to be able to play with my brothers and my lifelong friends is a blessing.” Reed, a running back, linebacker and the state offensive player of the year, said in addition to playing with the rest of La Grande’s signees, getting to rejoin his brother Cade Reed — who is already on the EOU roster — adds to the bonus, as does the fact, he said, that he’s known Camp most of his life. “My brother’s there too, Willie (Camp) and Walker (Camp) — I grew up with them — this awesome community, Coach Camp, there’s so many reasons. It felt right,” he said. “I’ve been friends with (Camp’s) two boys. I’ve known him since I could barely walk. I’m thrilled to play under him.” Robinson, the Tigers’ quarterback and linebacker, also pointed to growing up around Camp. “I get to go play football for a guy that I played football in his backyard with his sons, and I get to go to school with part of my family,” he said. “It’s great support for me. I’m so thankful and grateful that I get a chance to do it.” Of the 14 Oregonians signed by EOU, 12 came from programs on the east side of the state. In addition to the fi ve from La Grande, Camp signed a trio of ath- letes from Pendleton — Tanner Sweek, Travis McGee and Walker Camp, Tim Camp’s son. Coach Camp said there is a lot of talent east of the Cascades that goes unnoticed — talent he was more than willing to bring into EOU. “My big thing is kids on the east side of the state get overlooked because of where they’re at sometimes,” he said. “But that’s good for me, because that means business is good. I gotta go a block and a half away to get some of the best kids in the state of Oregon to stay home and have the support that they have, and obviously that support means something to them.” Also from the east side are Drew Lusco from Grant Union, Vale’s Colton Kesey, Mason Lehman of Heppner and Logan Weinke of Pilot Rock. The other Oregonians in the signing class are Gabe Streblow of Banks and Finn Reeves, a junior college transfer from College of the Siskyous originally from Lake Oswego. “I think every single one of these guys wants an education, and that’s why Eastern Oregon’s such a great fi t,” Camp said of the entire signing class. “The other thing that sticks out to me is they all have position fl exibility — I’m big on that. If they can play in another spot, they gotta be able to trust me and my evaluation to get them out on the fi eld. Ultimately, that’s what they want to do. They want to play football.” LHS head coach Rich McIlmoil pointed to the community support as a big part of why he believed the players wanted to continue and play at EOU. “They enjoy this community, they’re part of this community, they’re from this community, and the community has supported them for a long time, and they recognize that,” he said. “That’s part of why they want to stay here. They love it here.” Below is the rest of the signing class: Jeffrey Ledezma, Jerome, Idaho Braden Draper, Nampa, Idaho Coby Williams, New Plymouth, Idaho Joshua Potter, Chubbuck, Idaho Lucas Shepard, Boise, Idaho Kobe Roberts, New Plymouth, Idaho Carson Bohning, Boise, Idaho Dallas Hagler, Middleton, Idaho Miki Ah You, Middleton, Idaho Trace Laird, Ammon, Idaho Jonah Blackham, Boise, Idaho James Grey, Pullman, Washington Sebastian Godina, Zillah, Washington Derek Chilcoate, Adna, Washington Jason Chilcoate, Adna, Washington Tre Davis, Spanaway, Washington Jadinn Sylve, Yakima, Washington Gratian Dawson, Winnemucca, Nevada. La Grande senior Brooklyn Hutchins, right, battles with Ontario’s Melissa Jagelski for a rebound Friday. By Ronald Bond The Observer LA GRANDE — Brian Wright’s message to the La Grande Tigers girls bas- ketball team Friday night was to not overlook visiting Ontario. “Basically we gotta win every league game,” Wright said The LHS head coach was happy with what the Tigers showed him. Ella Dunlap had a strong start and fi nished with a double-double, and the Tigers opened the game on a 25-4 run on the way to a 68-25 home beatdown of Ontario in Greater Oregon League play. “We talked about before the game (how) sometimes you get a team that’s not as good as you and you look past them to games on down the line,” Wright said. “I thought the kids came out, we played really good defense in that fi rst half, kept them in front of us, and we were able to get out and run. Kids were working hard.” Dunlap scored eight straight points early with a pair of putbacks and a top-of-the-key jumper as La Grande scored the fi rst nine points. The lead reached double fi gures when Brooklyn Hutchins hit a pair of jumpers. Alexyss Cham- berlain wrapped the fi rst quarter with a 3-pointer for an 18-4 lead, and the rout was on. Camryn Collman’s fi rst 3-pointer, a fi eld goal by Grace Neer and another basket from Dunlap capped the extended early run and pushed the lead to 21, which was the margin at the half at 36-15 when Dunlap scored again down low in the closing moments. “She really did (play well),” Wright said of Dunlap, who fi nished with a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds. “Good night for her.” It was a good night across the board for La Grande, which was able to get 10 players in the scoring col- umn. Collman fi nished with 14 points and hit a trio of 3-pointers. McKaylee Orton added eight points, including a late fi eld goal to give La Grande a 49-22 lead after three quarters. Orton also had a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers. Lauran Rinker added six points for the Tigers. La Grande (13-6 overall, 3-2 GOL) visits Powder Val- ley Saturday. Also Friday Union 59, Enterprise 34: Callie Glenn scored 23 points and hit four 3-point- ers Friday, and the Bobcats moved one step closer to a Blue Mountain Conference title with a blowout road win. Glenn scored 16 points in the fi rst half as Union took a 30-20 lead at the break. Kylie Marriott, who added 12 points, scored six in the third to help the Bobcats push the lead to 44-24 after three quarters. Jada Gray scored nine points to lead the Outlaws. Union (20-3 overall, 10-0 BMC) hosts Heppner Satur- day, while Enterprise (14-4, 6-3) hosts Stanfi eld Saturday. Elgin 48, Cove 41: Jayden Palmer connected on fi ve 3-pointers and fi nished with 15 points Friday as the See Roundup / Page 8A EOU wrestling downs Corban Observer staff Staff photo by Ronald Bond Eastern Oregon University head football coach Tim Camp, right, speaks Thursday at a signing ceremony for La Grande’s fi ve athletes who will play at EOU. SALEM — The Eastern Oregon University men’s wrestling team won all but one contested match Friday on the way to a 36-9 dual victory on the road against Corban. After forfeiting the open- ing match, EOU got on the board with Nathaniel Rodriguez’s 10-9 decision over Grant Laibin at 133 pounds, the fi rst of six straight wins on the mat for the Mountaineers. Blake McNall’s 13-3 major decision over Joseph Foster (141), and a win by injury from Daniel Rodriguez (149) helped EOU take a 13-6 lead. John Bittinger won by forfeit at 157 to extend the lead to 13, and Jesse Camacho’s (165) win by 6-3 decision over Cody Knott and Keegan Mulhill’s (174) win by fall against Nick Nelson put EOU ahead for good at 28-6. Marco Retano (184) and Noel Orozco (285) won by major decision, defeating Noah Sickes 14-4 and Jack Farley 11-1, respectively. The Mountaineers travel to face Southern Oregon Saturday.
