Sports
7A
Thursday, June 3, 2021
Th e Observer
TOP HONORS
EASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY
2021 football schedule announced
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
Imbler wrestling
coach Doug Hislop
to receive national
coaching award
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
IMBLER — A national
award is on the way for one
of the area’s high school
coaches, while several
other Union County indi-
viduals will receive state
recognition.
The Oregon Ath-
letic Coaches Associ-
ation (OACA) is set to
honor Imbler wrestling
coach Doug Hislop as the
National Federation of State
High School Associations
national wrestling coach of
the year.
The ceremony will take
place at Eastern Oregon
University at 5 p.m. Sunday,
June 6, in the David E. Gil-
bert Center.
“He’s not only deserving,
but he was chosen as the
top wrestling coach in the
entire nation, which is quite
the achievement,” said
OACA Executive Director
Rob Younger.
Hislop is being honored
as a NFHS National Coach
of the Year alongside Anne
Ellett of Centennial High
School. The national award
is given to one coach in
each sport across the entire
nation, slating Hislop as the
top boys wrestling coach in
the country.
Hislop was a long-
time assistant coach at La
Grande before taking over
in Imbler in 2007. The
2020-21 season is His-
lop’s 50th season coaching
wrestling.
Four Panthers have won
individual state champi-
onships during his time
at Imbler, but for Hislop,
coaching goes beyond just
success on the mat.
“My greatest success
story is helping kids make
decisions about what they
want to do with their life,”
he said.
Alongside the suc-
cessful run at Imbler has
been assistant coach Ron
Osterloh, whom Hislop said
is more than an assistant
coach to the program. The
duo have been coaching
together since Hislop con-
vinced Osterloh to come
out of retirement following
a successful coaching
Ronald Osterloh/Contributed Photo
Imbler High School wrestling coach Doug Hislop with Panther wres-
tler Garrett Burns wait before a match at the 2020 state wrestling
tournament in Portland. The National Federation of State High
School Associations in January 2021 named Hislop the National
Coach of the Year for wrestling.
Comfort
Teeter
career at Enterprise.
“We’ve got some good
athletes out here, great
family support and an
excellent school,” Hislop
said. “It’s just a nice place
to work.”
The Imbler athletics
department will have
another coach receiving
an award at the ceremony.
Volleyball coach Jennifer
Teeter is set to be awarded
the Rob Younger Power
of Infl uence Award. The
OACA gives this award
to a coach or athletic
director who emphasizes
the development of strong
character traits among
student-athletes.
“It makes me feel very
proud and honored to be
able to work with these
coaches,” Imbler Athletic
Director Mike Mills said.
La Grande School
Board member and sports
announcer Merle Comfort
will be honored with the
OACA Community Service
Award, which is given to a
community member who
has positively contributed to
Oregon high school sports.
In addition to his dedi-
cation to sports in the com-
munity, Comfort has been
an instrumental part of the
La Grande School Board.
He was honored as the State
School Board Member of
the Year in 2019.
Powder Valley superin-
tendent Lance Dixon is set
to receive the Marv Heater
Distinguished Service
Award. The OACA bestows
this award to an individual
who is not a current coach
or athletic director but has
infl uenced athletics, the
community, schools and
individuals.
In addition to the
awards, Powder Valley stu-
dent Hunter Lind is one
of eight recipients of the
OACA 2021 scholarship.
The OACA annually awards
eight $1,000 scholarships
to graduating high school
seniors. The organization
has been passing out this
scholarship since 1986 and
has provided more than
$250,000 to graduating stu-
dent-athletes since then.
ON THE SLATE
Schedule subject to change
THURSDAY, JUNE 3
Prep boys basketball
Imbler at Union, 7 p.m.
La Grande at Nyssa, 6:30 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Imbler at Union, 5:30 p.m.
La Grande at Nyssa, 5 p.m.
Prep wrestling
La Grande vs. Baker/Powder Valley Dual
Meet, TBD
FRIDAY, JUNE 4
Prep boys basketball
Pine Eagle at Union, 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, JUNE 5
Prep boys basketball
Griswold at Cove, 6 p.m.
MONDAY, JUNE 7
Prep boys basketball
Baker at Powder Valley, 7:30 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Baker at Powder Valley, 6 p.m.
TUESDAY, JUNE 8
Prep boys basketball
Powder Valley at Imbler, 5:30 p.m.
La Grande at Baker, 7:30 p.m.
Union at Enterprise, 7:30 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Powder Valley at Imbler, 4 p.m.
La Grande at Baker, 6 p.m.
Union at Enterprise, 6 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9
Prep boys basketball
Burns at Powder Valley, 2:30 p.m.
Enterprise at Imbler, 7 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Baker, 7:30 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Burns at Powder Valley, 1 p.m.
Burns at Union, 4 p.m.
Enterprise at Imbler, 5:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Baker, 6 p.m.
Prep wrestling
McLoughlin/Weston-McEwen vs. La
Grande Dual Meet, TBD
Pendleton vs. La Grande Dual Meet,
TBD
THURSDAY, JUNE 10
Prep boys basketball
Powder Valley at Nixyaawii, 7:30 p.m.
Union at La Grande 6 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Union at La Grande, 4:30 p.m.
Powder Valley at Nixyaawii, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY, JUNE 11
Prep boys basketball
Union at Wallowa, 6:30 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Union at Wallowa, 5 p.m.
Ontario at La Grande, 7 p.m.
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ELGIN ELECTRIC
43 N. 8th Elgin, OR 541-437-2054
LA GRANDE — A full
slate of football is back at
Eastern Oregon University.
After a shortened
season in 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the
Mountaineers are set to
play a 10-game season in
2021.
Eastern went 3-1 last
season to claim a shared
Frontier Conference title
and fi nished the season
ranked No. 21 in the NAIA
coaches poll.
The Mountaineers will
face only opponents from
the Frontier Conference,
three of which are home-
and-aways with teams they
will play twice. Eastern
opens its season on the
road Saturday, Aug. 28,
against Montana Tech, a
team that did not play at
all in 2020 but went 6-4 in
2019.
The fi rst home game of
the season at Community
Stadium is an afternoon
matchup against Mon-
tana Western Saturday,
Sept. 4. The Bulldogs also
opted out of playing in the
2020 season.
Eastern Oregon University/Contributed Photo
Fans pack the stands at Community Stadium at Eastern Oregon
University, La Grande, in this undated photo.
A big rivalry matchup
takes place Saturday, Sept.
25, when the College of
Idaho comes to La Grande.
The two teams are set to
face off twice this year,
with the second matchup
taking place Saturday,
Nov. 6, in Caldwell, Idaho.
Eastern heads to Ash-
land to face its in-state
rival Southern Oregon
on Saturday, Oct. 2. The
Mountaineers and Raiders
will play again at Com-
munity Stadium for East-
ern’s fi nal game of the
regular season on Sat-
urday, Nov. 13. Senior day
will be celebrated prior to
the home matchup against
Southern Oregon.
Eastern will also play
a home-and-away against
Carroll College, a team
that the Mountaineers
have defeated in the last
six matchups. The Moun-
taineers are slated to play
at home against Rocky
Mountain College and on
the road against Montana
State-Northern in single
matchups.
With in-person atten-
dance at sporting events
coming back across the
country, it is likely that
fans will be able to attend
games this season. The
EOU website states that
season ticket information
will be available at a later
date.
We thank these Chamber Members
for their continued support
Charles Gillis
Attorney at Law
www.VisitUnionCounty.org
Certified Personnel
Service