SPORTS
A10 — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021
Increased numbers and high expectations for Elgin wrestlers
senior on the team.
“I coached the middle
school for two years and the
club team for 10,” Fincher
said. “I have state title aspi-
rations for all of those guys.
They feed off each other
and work hard every single
day. I think it is completely
reasonable for them to be in
the mix.”
The Huskies had just six
wrestlers take the mat last
year, but Elgin is experi-
encing a bit of a rebirth of
wrestling popularity with
19 wrestlers this season,
including fi ve female
wrestlers.
“That is a huge number,
and I don’t know if we have
ever had a team that big,”
Fincher said.
By JEFF BUDLONG
For The Observer
ELGIN — Lee Fincher
has had a hand in building
the Elgin wrestling team to
this moment.
The fourth-year head
coach spent many long
hours helping each step
of the way as young boys
fi rst learned how to get in
a wrestling stance all the
way to this season. One
that comes with hopes and
expectations.
The Huskies return a
strong core of wrestlers led
by junior state runner-up
Joe Lathrop and two other
returning state qualifi ers
in junior Gabe Hasbell and
Reece McConnell, the lone
The Huskies will be
without junior Bruce More-
head, a fourth-place state
fi nisher a year ago, because
of a shoulder injury.
Fincher is not trying to
dampen expectations for his
most experience wrestlers,
beginning with Lathrop.
“He is going to be
pushing for a state title this
year and he is hungry,” said
Fincher of his 170-pounder.
“He is the captain of the
team and a great student.”
Lathrop is a two-time
district champion who
brings a pace and inten-
sity on his feet that is hard
for opponents to deal with.
Lathrop, like his team-
mates, is focusing on his
conditioning in the pre-
season as well as his
ability to score in scramble
positions.
Hasbell, McConnell,
Gen Wintersteen and soph-
omore Ty McLaughlin
round out the nucleus for
the Huskies. Hasbell and
Wintersteen will wrestle at
160 while McLaughlin and
McConnell are at 152 and
145, respectively. It makes
for an intense environment
in the wrestling room.
“Iron sharpens iron and
our room is very competi-
tive,” said Fincher. “They
are really grinding it out
every day in the room and
that is awesome.”
Elgin has had numerous
state champions over the
years, but it has been more
BOYS
GIRLS
Continued from Page A9
Continued from Page A9
“I think it will defi nitely
help them in the long run,”
head coach Kevin Johnson
said. “We’ve always had
upperclassmen who could
teach the process, but now
they’re going to have to
learn themselves.”
A big challenge for Elgin
will be a lack of depth, with
just six players listed on
the varsity roster. The Hus-
kies’ roster is built of one
junior and fi ve freshmen,
all of whom have limited
experience. For Johnson,
improving on tough losses
and gaining experience are
going to be a large part of
the season.
“Keep their chins up,
retain as much as you can,
learn from mistakes —
that’s going to be big,”
Johnson said.
The Huskies are two
years removed from a 2019
team that posted a 15-11
record and earned a berth
into the 1A state tourna-
ment. However, that sea-
son’s entire roster has since
graduated and Elgin’s new
Evans and Adams were
part of an Elgin team
that went 20-6 two sea-
sons ago, but their most
important contribution —
at least early on — may be
leadership.
“I need them to keep
the underclassmen moti-
vated and coming every
day with a positive atti-
tude,” said Brian Evans.
“I have told the girls it
is going to be a bit of a
struggle getting used to
playing varsity ball from
essentially junior high.”
Evans knows that a
faster, more physical
game awaits several of his
players, but he hopes to
counteract some of that
by using his team’s athlet-
icism and speed. Off en-
sively, the Huskies are
going to push the pace as
they look to make up for a
lack of size, while pressure
will be the name of the
game on the defensive end.
“With the number of
players we have, I am
looking to be able to rotate
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Enterprise JV player Ethan Lyon (15) drives toward the basket as El-
gin’s Collin Smith (11) defends and EHS teammate Parker Siebe, right,
steps in to help during a matchup at Elgin High School on Tuesday,
Dec. 7, 2021. The Elgin boys basketball team fell to Enterprise 57-10.
crop of players will be
looking to make names
for themselves on the
hardwood.
“We’re left with an
opportunity to make the
best of it,” Johnson said.
The Huskies are off to
a tough start to the season,
losing their opening three
contests to the La Grande
junior varsity team and
Grant Union at the Elgin
Lions Tournament, and the
Enterprise JV. Elgin has
seven nonleague contests
before Old Oregon League
action starts up for the Hus-
kies on Tuesday, Jan. 4
against Imbler. The team
will play a modifi ed JV
schedule this year, which
Johnson hopes will help his
young team improve over
the course of the season.
“They’ll improve,” he
said. “It’s a group of kids
that’s 100% committed.”
than a decade since a Husky
had his hand raised in the
fi nal match of a season.
Fincher has coached
several wrestlers since
they were 7 on the club
Team Xtreme squad. It has
brought a closeness to the
team and helped several of
the younger wrestlers tran-
sition faster by seeing the
standard that is being set.
The Huskies hope to
have nearly a full lineup by
district time and will have
good depth at most weights.
Phoenix Schultze and Aiden
Johnson are two new faces
that could make an impact
at 106 and 138, respectively.
“The number of kids
is huge because the fi rst
year I took over I had three
kids,” Fincher said. “A big
part of the growth is that
the core guys are good
guys, and other kids just
want to be around that and
involved. We have a family
atmosphere.”
The Huskies are aiming
for a team district title after
taking third a year ago. To
do that they will likely have
to go through traditional
power Culver, the defending
2A state champion.
The Huskies begin the
season Dec. 3 at the Perry
Burlison Tournament at
Cascade High School. The
tournament has its own
girls division, something
Fincher will continue to
pursue as interest grows on
his team.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Elgin’s Chelsie McKay (22) drives for a layup during the Huskies’ 49-
19 loss to Enterprise at Elgin High School on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021.
McKay scored two points in the loss.
in and out to keep the
tempo where we want it,”
Evans said.
Evans said he is pleased
with what he has seen in
practice from his young
players who have proven to
be coachable and pick up
on new skills quickly.
The Huskies opened
their season with losses to
the La Grande and Baker
junior varsities and Enter-
prise, but will look to get
the season on track when
league play begins on Jan.
4 against Imbler.
Evans knows there will
be growing pains early, but
remaining positive will be
key to growing throughout
the season.
“Once we get these fi rst
couple of games under our
belt, we will be just fi ne,”
he said.
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