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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2022)
Sports A7 Tuesday, January 4, 2022 PREP NEWS AND NOTES Tiger matmen hit road bump COVID-19 surge cancels Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno, Nevada By DAVIS CARBAUGH The Observer LA GRANDE — After a strong showing at one of the largest regional tournaments, the La Grande wrestling team saw its momentum stalled when the 2021 Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno, Nevada, was canceled in the wake of rising COVID-19 numbers. The recent nationwide surge of COVID-19 and concerns about the omicron variant led to the tournament’s cancellation, and the pause may prove detrimental on the mats for La Grande. The Tigers sere up against elite wrestlers from Idaho, Washington and Oregon at the Tri-State Tour- nament in Couer d’Alene, Idaho, on the weekend of Friday, Dec. 17. Nearly 50 teams competed at the tournament, and La Grande placed fourth overall — the Tigers scored 159.5 points and had a pair of wrestlers earn indi- vidual fi rst-place fi nishes. The Carson brothers each placed fi rst in his respective weight class, with sophomore Kai Carson taking fi rst at the 126- pound weight class and senior Braden Carson winning the 138- pound division. Four other La Grande wrestlers placed in the top seven of their weight class. Mason Walcott, Brysen Penaloza, Joshua Collins and Brody Mac- Millan all placed in their weight classes, helping La Grande earn top placement among some of the region’s top teams. Head coach Klel Carson noted that the tournament was a major success. La Grande had its best fi nish as a team at the Tri-State Tournament in recent memory. Roughly a month into the season, the Tigers gained a heavy dose of momentum with a strong showing at the regional tourna- ment. With a number of rising upperclassmen on the roster, La Grande saw the pieces falling into place after a second-place fi nish at the 4A state tournament last season. However, the cancellation of the Sierra Nevada Classic is a road bump for La Grande, ending 2021 with misfortune. With momentum stalled, the future remains in the air for a La Grande team with high potential. As seen in previous years, the pandemic has caused major shifts in traditional sports schedules. As the Tigers look to take home another state title, the wrestlers will be hoping that the season continues without any additional cancellations. Football powerhouses seeing success on the hardwood NORTH POWDER — The Powder Valley boys basketball team faced off with its 1A foot- ball state championship coun- terpart, the Adrian Antelopes, in a hardwood showdown on Dec. See, Prep/Page A8 Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File La Grande’s Joshua Collins wrestles with Scappoose’s Maverick Heimbuck at the Muilenburg Tournament hosted at La Grande High School on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2021. The Tigers look to compete at the state tournament again this year, which will be held in a new venue. ON THE MOVE State wrestling finals will not be held at Memorial Coliseum for first time since 2007 By JERRY ULMER OSAAtoday W ILSONVILLE — The OSAA wrestling champi- onships will have a much diff erent look this season. Instead of taking place at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, its longtime home, the tournaments will be split into sepa- rate high school venues: Sandy (6A), Rid- geview (5A), Cascade (4A), La Pine (3A) and Culver (2A/1A, girls). The OSAA executive board decided to make the change due to the Coliseum enforcing COVID-19 restrictions for spec- tators and participants. “It’s a bummer, but at the same time, I think it can be a quality experience for kids,” OSAA Assistant Executive Director Brad Garrett said. “You’re really high- lighted at a single venue like that, on four mats.” The executive board opted for sepa- rate tournaments after reviewing infor- mation provided by the OSAA staff . Gar- rett worked closely with Culver coach J.D. Alley — the wrestling representative from the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association — to formulate the alternative plan. All of the boys tournaments will be sin- gle-day events on Feb. 26, except for 6A, which will be a two-day event either Feb. 25-26 or Feb. 26-27. The girls tournament is set for Feb. 24. It will mark the fi rst time the state tour- naments will be at a venue other than the Coliseum since 2007, the end of a three- year run at the State Fairgrounds Pavilion in Salem. The revised state tournament format is a refl ection on the COVID-19-short- ened schedule of last season, when New- berg (6A), Cottage Grove (5A, girls), Cas- cade (4A), Redmond (3A) and Sweet Home (2A/1A) played host to separate culmi- nating week championship events. “We kind of got a preview to this, a pre- quel,” Alley said. “In terms of running the tournaments smoothly with separate Ronald Bond/The Observer, File La Grande High School wrestler Parker Robinson fl exes after winning the 170-pound title Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, at the 4A state tournament in Portland 5-3 for his second wrestling title. tournament directors, we did that last year without the help of the OSAA. I feel real confi dent about that. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, we wouldn’t be having this conver- sation if the wrestling community hadn’t accomplished that feat last season.” Garrett said he and Alley were con- tacted by schools off ering to play host to the tournaments. “We didn’t have to go very far,” Gar- rett said. “Those places that were chosen, every one of them has an infrastructure, not only a building but a wrestling com- munity that’s involved and understands what kind of things need to be done, and why.” A change in National Federation of State High School Associations rules last year that allows for wrestlers to compete in a sixth match in one day — provided it is a qualifying or postseason champion- ship event — was helpful in scheduling single-day state tournaments. But the 6A tournament, with brackets of 24, requires two days to complete. The OSAA is ironing out details on operating the tournaments within the lim- ited venue capacity. At the Coliseum, a 200,000-square foot, 10,000-seat arena, the OSAA did not have to enforce limits on the number of team personnel and spectators. That will change this season. “In 6A, before you ever start, you have 500 people in the gym, just wrestlers and coaches,” Garrett said. “It’s likely our ticketing system is going to have to look diff erently. Potentially something like each wrestler would be allotted a certain number of tickets that they can distribute as they choose. But it’s not going to be a free-for-all.” With that challenge in mind, the 6A tournament could be scheduled for Satur- day-Sunday instead of Friday-Saturday to avoid confl icting with Sandy’s school day. “That would allow us to at least get more people in,” Garrett said. Alley, for one, is relishing the atmo- sphere of a capacity crowd. “Wrestling or playing a guitar, it’s much better to play in a packed house with 900 people, packed to the rafters, than having 2,000 people in a facility of 6,000,” Alley said. “That coliseum is a big, old place. This will give it much more of a Hoosier, packed-house kind of feel. “On the fl ip side, it is the state champi- onship, it’s our Super Bowl, and it should be in our biggest, grandest city and its grandest venue. So it’s sad.” The OSAA cheer and dance/drill cham- pionships also will move from the Coli- seum. Both will go to Oregon City High School, with cheer on Feb. 12 and dance/ drill on March 18-19. SPORTS SHORT Mountaineers wrestling remains inside NAIA top 20 entering new year The Observer LA GRANDE — The 2021 calendar year has drawn to a close and with it comes a new set of NAIA Women’s Wres- tling Coaches’ Top-20 poll and Eastern Oregon University enters 2022 still ranked inside the top-20. The Mountaineers check in at No. 16, one spot lower than their pre- vious ranking of No. 15. Along with remaining in the top 20, Eastern also has eight wrestlers indi- vidually ranked. Earning national recognition for EOU is Stephanie Blan- kenship at 109 pounds (17th), Macy Higa at 123 pounds (13th), Morgan Shines at 130 pounds (9th), Kaylee Moore at 136 pounds (17th), Erin Redford at 143 pounds (5th), Dempsi Talkington at 155 pounds (6th), Tenley Swope at 155 pounds (19th), and Olivia Robinson at 170 pounds (5th). Eastern last competed back in early December at the Patriot Duals hosted by University of the Cum- berlands. The Moun- taineers went 4-3 over a two-day span to help improve the team’s dual record to 4-4. Out of the Cascade Collegiate Conference, fi ve teams are ranked, led by Southern Oregon at No. 3. Next up is Menlo College (California) at No. 6, followed by Prov- idence at No. 13. EOU sits 16th, with Corban rounding out the group at No. 18. Simpson (Cali- fornia) is in the receiving votes category. EOU will be back in action on Jan. 14 and 15. The team will take on Grays Harbor College on Jan. 14 and then will com- pete at the Oregon Wres- tling Classic on Jan. 15. Andrew Cutler/The Observer, File Eastern Oregon University’s Morgan Shines fi ghts for position against Southern Oregon’s Jordan Robson. Shines is ranked ninth at 130 pounds in the latest NAIA Women’s Wrestling Coaches’ Top-20 poll.