6A
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
The Observer
Trio of EOU wrestlers garner WCWA all-American nods
Observer staff
ATLANTA — The Eastern Or-
egon University women’s wrestling
team finished 11th at the WCWA
National Championships Friday
and Saturday in Atlanta. Three of
the six competitors who made the
trip left as all-Americans, led by
a fourth-place finish from Jessica
DeHart, who claimed her third
all-American nod with the Moun-
taineers.
Fifth-place Erin Redford and
seventh-place Dempsi Talkington
also picked up top-eight finishes to
earn all-American status.
DeHart won her first two
matches by fall to reach the semifi-
nals at 109 pounds, which included
a pin of Allicia Mahoe of Schreiner
to reach the semifinals. She lost a
13-0 technical fall in the semifinals
to Campbellsville’s Mckayla Camp-
bell before adding one more win by
fall over Presbyterian’s Cassandra
Lopez. She finished with a 15-10
loss to Tiffin’s Sugey Ceja.
Redford shook off a loss in her
first match at 143 pounds to win
four in a row. She had a close 2-0
loss to Gabrielle Garcia of Camp-
bellsville, then had three straight
wins by technical fall and a fourth
win by fall when she pinned Camp-
bellsville’s Mhina Oseitutu. After
a 5-3 loss to Erica Sotelo of Life
University, she ended with a win
over Grace Miller for fifth. The final
score of the match was 5-5, but
Redford won on criteria for scoring
the final point.
Talkington finished with a 4-2
record at 155. Like Redford, she
dropped her first match, a loss by
fall to Tiffin’s Taylor Hites, then
took three matches in a row, two by
fall and a 7-6 decision over Life’s
Destinee Rivera. After a setback
against Jamestown’s Myranda
See Eastern / Page 8A
Bolton breaks
more records at
Jackson’s Invite
Observer staff
Staff photo by Ronald Bond
Erika Adams (25) leads the celebration at a timeout Saturday during Elgin’s 53-41 win over Joseph. The win moved
the Huskies into first place in the Old Oregon League.
Huskies’ huge win
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
ELGIN — Jayden Palmer turned in
a senior-night performance Saturday
nobody in Elgin will forget anytime
soon. The Huskies’ other senior, Tymra
Anderson, had a solid night, crashing
the glass and scoring timely baskets.
The end result was the duo helping
the Elgin girls basketball team to the
program’s biggest win in more than two
decades.
Palmer hit six 3-pointers and finished
with 30 points, Anderson had a double-
double and the Huskies used a domi-
nant third quarter to take over the lead
for good on the way to a 53-41 home
win over Joseph that leapfrogged Elgin
over Joseph into first place in the Old
Oregon League.
“I’m so proud of the girls,” Elgin head
coach Brian Evans said. “From the
get-go, they played their hearts out,
and that’s what I asked them before
the game, to play with this game with
heart, and they showed up and did it.
Super proud.”
Staff photo by Ronald Bond
Jayden Palmer scored 30 points and
hit six 3-pointers for Elgin.
The win was the latest — and
most important — in what has been
a transcendent season for Elgin, one
that has seen the program put behind
it a run of on-court struggles that has
lasted nearly two decades. The Hus-
kies, who are seeking their first playoff
berth since 1996, earned the program’s
biggest victory since that ‘96 squad won
the district tournament on the way to
the 2A state playoffs.
“It feels amazing, and it’s awesome
knowing I can be a part of it,” Palmer said.
The highly entertaining contest,
which was full of lead changes, scor-
ing runs and scrappy defense by both
teams, turned in the third quarter
when Elgin shot the lights out, crashed
the boards and frustrated the Eagles’
offense.
Palmer, who had already scored 15
points in the first half, scored the first
five points of the third with a putback
and a 3-pointer 80 seconds apart to put
the Huskies up 26-25.
“I knew it was a big game for us, and
to never give up and play my best,”
Palmer said. “I played my hardest
tonight.”
Anderson followed with two rebounds
and putbacks later that gave Elgin a
30-25 lead midway through the third
See Elgin / Page 7A
Eagles slip by Elgin in key OOL battle
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
ELGIN — It was much
closer than the first match-
up, but the Joseph Eagles
boys basketball team again
got the best of the Elgin
Huskies.
Saturday’s win was an
important one, too, as it gave
Joseph a major advantage
over Elgin in the battle for
second place in the north
half of the Old Oregon
League.
Chase Murray scored 12
of his game-high 24 points in
the fourth quarter and Had-
ley Miller added a double-
double as Joseph outlasted
Elgin on the road, 53-48.
“That’ll help us take
second for league on our
half, and that helps us get to
where we need to be to avoid
a matchup (with Nixyaawii)
on that Friday night (at
districts),” Joseph head coach
Olan Fulfer said.
The win puts the Eagles a
half-game ahead of the Hus-
Staff photo by Ronald Bond
Joseph’s Chase Murray, right, scored 24 points Saturday
in the Eagles’ 53-48 win over Elgin.
kies for second headed into
the final week of the regular
season, but also gives Joseph
a tiebreaker as it swept the
Huskies, winning the first
contest, 64-47.
In the rematch Miller,
who had 16 points and 10
rebounds, was a force early
for Joseph, while Murray
took over late.
“It was a good win to get
our stuff back together and
set us back on our feet and
know what we need to work
on,” Miller said.
Murray had 12 of his
points in the final quarter,
opening the period with a
steal and dunk that put the
Eagles ahead 36-30.
It was a basket that start-
ed an offensive frenzy for
both teams, which was much
different from the lackluster
third quarter that saw the
teams combine for 12 points
on 4-for-18 shooting.
Hayden Hite’s 3-pointer
gave Joseph an eight-point
lead a minute into the
fourth. Tristan Simpson then
capped a 7-2 Elgin run with
a pair of free throws and a
3-point play to make it 41-
38 with 5:30 to go. Murray
then went off with the next
10 Joseph points, at one
juncture trading hoops with
Simpson — Murray’s hook
shot putting Joseph up 46-
40; Simpson countering with
See Joseph / Page 7A
BOISE — Megan Bolton
broke two more records
and won a race against a
field full of NCAA Division
I athletes to pace a solid ef-
fort by the Eastern Oregon
University women’s track
and field team Friday and
Saturday at the Jackson’s/
Nike Indoor Invite in Boise.
Bolton, who has al-
ready broken the women’s
600-meter record twice this
season, shaved more than
a second off the program
record as she won the 400
in a time of 56.19 seconds.
The next eight finishers in
the race were D-I athletes.
Bolton also was fifth in the
preliminaries of the 60 dash
with a time of 7.82 seconds
to break the school record in
that race.
One other program
record fell on the women’s
side, as the 4x800 relay
team of Olivia Lane, Katie
Jo Gebhardt, Calista Van
Delden and Michelle
Herbes took fifth with a
program mark of 9:35.44.
Other top-eight finishes
came in the 800 from Her-
bes (fourth at 2:19.80) and
Gebhardt (sixth at 2:23.28);
Lane, Herbes, Bolton
and Elizabeth Herbes in
the 4x400 relay (third at
3:55.80); Payton Jolley in
the triple jump (sixth at
37-feet-1-1/4); and Maggie
Ledbetter in the shot put
(second at 44-feet-6) and in
the weight throw (seventh
at 48-feet-11).
The men also had a
record in the 4x800, with
Travis Running, Alex Na-
varro, Hunter Schiess and
Dustin Zimmerly taking
third in 7:49.65.
Like the women, the
men’s team had several
top-eight finishes. Navarro
took second in the mile in
4:19.54, with Schiess in
eighth 4:28.24. Allex Kosel
placed third in the long
jump (22-feet-3-1/2).
John Stuvland (6-feet-
1-1/4) and John Brown
(5-feet-9-1/4) were fifth and
sixth in the high jump.
Corey Sledge was
seventh in the pole vault
(16-feet-8-3/4).
Zimmerly and Running
took seventh and eighth
in the 800 in 1:58.56 and
1:59.10, respectively. Two
4x400 relay teams finished
fifth and seventh — Cody
Milmine, Felipe Madero,
Running and Zimmerly
placed fifth in 3:27.42, and
Braxton Wilson, Hunter
Wilson, Navarro and
Schiess took seventh in
3:33.28. Adam Kopf finished
eighth in the weight throw
(47-feet-10-1/2).
EOU heads back to Boise
for the BSU Team Chal-
lenge Saturday.
Gulzow punches
ticket to state
Observer staff
Delia Gulzow became the
first La Grande wrestler to
qualify for the OSAA girls
state wrestling tournament
as she took second in her
weight class at the North
Regional Tournament
Friday and Saturday in
Hillsboro.
Gulzow was dominant
on her way to the finals
in the 100-pound bracket.
She pinned her first four
opponents — Southridge’s
Zamira Cornejo, Adrian’s
Virginia Tolman, Century’s
Daniela Vasquez and Hood
River Valley’s Gracie Mc-
Cafferty — en route to the
final. The run included a
semifinal win over Mc-
Cafferty that took just 80
seconds.
Gulzow’s bid for a
regional title fell just short
when she lost the final by
fall to Oregon City’s Emma
Baertlein.
Delia Gulzow’s sister,
Bella Gulzow, went 3-2 at
110 for LHS. After an early
loss, she won three matches
in a row by fall over
Yamhill-Carlton’s Elizabeth
Hetzler, Century’s Han-
nah King and Woodburn’s
Yajaira Reyes. Her regional
run ended with a loss to
Lincoln’s Hania Halverson
in an ultimate tiebreaker.
Luca Willins (115) went
2-2 with wins over Astoria’s
Raver Gasser and Park-
rose’s Di Nguyen, both by
fall.
Rylee Weimer (120) went
0-2.
The girls state tourna-
ment is Feb. 28-29 in
Portland.
Elgin has two winners
at Pine Eagle
The Elgin Huskies
wrestling team picked up
two victories on its way to a
fifth-place finish at the Pine
Eagle Invitational Saturday
in Halfway.
Both Gabriel Hasbell
(113 pounds) and Joe Lath-
rop (132) needed just two
wins to earn the champi-
onship in their respective
brackets. Hasbell won his
final by a 10-4 decision over
New Plymouth’s Mossy
Waite, and Lathrop got by
Cutter Huff of Pine Eagle
by a 7-3 decision.
Clayton Hammond
went 3-2 on the day to
take fourth at 170 and
won two matches by fall.
Kenny Terry (126), Bruce
See Wrestling / Page 7A