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Mardi
BasebafTfLacrosse, Softball, Track and Tennis
Wrestlers ends year with second place at State
I ke M c G innis
Staff Reporter
The Varsity Wrestling
team capped off its season
with a second place State
finish held over President's
Day weekend. The Lions
finished behind the Roseburg
Indians for the 6A State
Championship, The Lions
ended up with 171.5 points
which barely edged out a
tough Redmond team for
second place.
"We deserved to be top
in the State. Second place
is really good, but it's
disappointing not to be State
champions," Ryan Krellwitz,
171 pound senior co-captain,
said. Krellwitz ended the
tournament with a seventh
place finish after being
randomly put in a pig-tail
match against the number one
seed Butch Whitaker from
Redmond. Krellwitz ended
the tournament with a win in
his last match, but came off
the mat with a broken foot.
Individually, Prescott
Gamer, senior, won State
at the 119 pound weight
class after defeating Kyle
Richardson of Canby, 7-0.
Gamer was the favorite of the
weight class as he received
the number one seed. Gamer
also pinned his way through
the District Tournament for
the fourth time in a row.
Brandon LaDick, senior,
who was mentioned along
with Gamer frequently in
articles in "The Oregonian,"
made the finals for the 140
pound weight class. LaDick
started the State tournament
strong with a first round pin
in his first match, but lost in
the finals, 6-2, to Austin Enoch
from Redmond. LaDick ended
with a second place finish.
Lane Locke, senior, made
the semi-finals in the State
championship for the 171
pound weight class. Locke
won three matches at the
tournament before losing
to eventual State champion
Other placers at State
included Jake Helbling, 215
pound senior who goes to
Central Catholic but wrestles
for West Linn, fourth,
Cameron Callaghan, 145
pound senior, sixth, Krellwitz
and Helbling. The Lions
finished with 465 team points
winning an eleventh straight
district championship.
Oregon City followed at
second with 333.5 points. But
the eleventh straight District
championship was all but
unexpected.
"We did what we were
supposed to do," Bessa said.
The Three Rivers League
proved to be one of the
tougher leagues in the state as
three schools placed in the top
ten at the State tournament;
the most of any league in the
6A.
Eighteen seniors will
graduate but the team will
be looking for the twelfth
straight District championship
next season.
"I think we have what it
takes to take Districts again
next year, but we have a lot of
work to do," Devan Schiewe,
junior, said.
G irls' R u g b y team s e ts
g o a l to p la y n a tio n a lly
Z ak L aster
co-Sports Editor
Lane Locke, senior, wrestles against Tim Love of Clackamas at the
State Tournament. Locke won the match 8-2 and finished in third
place at the 171-lb. weight class. The Lions came up short of the
State championship, but still capped off a great season with a second
place.
Photo courtesy of Trade Krellwitz
Tanner Marval of Grants Pass.
Locke pinned Nolan Bell of
Wilson in the first round of his
first match and he then won
11-0 against Michael Doman
of Canby. Locke ended with a
third place finish.
The other semi-finalist was
John Bartlett, senior, at 152
pounds. Bartlett collected a
10-2 victory in his first match
and then a second round pin
in his second match. Like
Locke, he also ended up
losing to the eventual State
champion, Justin Marble of
Forest Grove. Bartlett finished
fifth.
seventh, Donald Paulson, 103
pound freshman, seventh,
Spencer Hansen, 189 pound
senior, seventh, Andrew Kim,
112 pound sophomore, eighth,
and Gustavo Bessa, 135
pound senior, eighth.
The Lions placed 16
wrestlers in the top three
of their weight class in the
Three Rivers League District
Tournament, which was held
the week before State. They
had seven first place finishers
in their weight class out of the
14 available weight classes.
That included Gamer, LaDick,
Locke, Bartlett, Paulson, Kim
Since establishing the team
in 2003, the Girls' Rugby Team
has set a higher goal than any
other WLHS team. Already,
they have been State champions
twice, ranked in the top five
in the United States twice, and
achieved a perfect season.
Even with all the success
the team enjoys, winning state
or the National Invitational
Tournament is not the
measuring stick for a good
season, according to team
members. "Usually a good
season is when everyone gets
along really well and we can
come together and play a great
game no matter what the score,"
Megan Hackney, sophomore
flanker, said.
This mind-set comes
from their head coach, Ernie
Espinoza. "Our focus each
season is to perform well as a
team," Espinoza said.
This year's team features
an upperclass-dominated
roster, including Audrey
Jones, Amanda Kotman, Kylee
Jacobson, Kelsey Mahoney-
Wattson, Kayley Dorsa, who
are are all seniors, plus Ariel
Heston and Alison McDonald
who are juniors. Along with
these players, they also have
ten freshman who are expected
to make an immediate impact.
This is the third year with a 40-
plus roster.
Some of the strengths of
the team is the experience of
winning and knowing what to
expect, plus the knowledge of
the game and how to play at a
high level.
The unavoidable weakness -
of the team is the lack of
▼
competition in the state of
Oregon. "We beat a team in a
state match 98-5. It's nice to win
but not like that. We don't get
a chance to learn anything,"
Espinoza said.
Upcoming games for the
Lions' Gold and Green Teams
include: March 17, Gold vs.
Columbia County at Scappoose
Middle School, Green at
Corvallis; March 22, Gold
vs. Westside at 6 p.m., Green
vs. Canby at 8 p.m.; April 7,
Oregon Girls Tournament at
Lents Field from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m.
A schedule of games is
on their website at www.
westlinnrugby.com.
Lions plan to take another crack at State, dominate league
S arah C hicoine
Forum Editor
Two years ago the Boys'
Varsity Baseball team lost
to the Sprague Olympians
in the State finals. Last year
the Lions made it to the
semifinals but lost to top
ranked Wilson Trojans. This
year, they expect to be even
better.
Last year at this time
skeptics were harshly
critiquing the boys' team,
saying with 12 seniors gone
from the previous teams, the
'06 season was expected to be
a 'rebuilding year'.
"We lost in the semifinals
for a team that w asn't
expected to go far," Mike
Lord, head coach, said.
The 2006 Varsity Baseball Team celebrates it's playoff win at South
Medford. The Lions beat the Panthers 4-3. Last season's team made
it to the semi-finals and after graduating only six seniors, the curent
team is looking for a State title.
Photo courtesy of Mike Lord
With only six graduated
seniors and an '06 team
consisting mainly of
underclassmen, this season's
team is expected to continue
the Lion dynasty.
"Our goal this year is to
win Three Rivers League and
make a run for the State title,"
Lord said.
According to Lord, the
Lions will be looking to their
seven seniors, Mitchell Bailey,
Alexander Edwards, Nathan
Gonzales, Michael Loverro,
James Loverro, Colby
Martzall and Reid Pearson,
for leadership.
Another key player is Kyle
Kraus, junior, infielder. Last
year Kraus was named First
Team All-State as a utility
player.
"Kraus will be looked
upon heavily to have a good
year," Lord said.
Other members to receive
awards include Martzall, First
Team All-State as an infielder,
Edwards, Honorable Mention
infielder, Bailey, Honorable
Mention catcher and Reed
Nicholson, junior, Honorable
Mention pitcher. The first
game is on March 12 against
Sunset already under its
belt, the players are looking
forward to their second game
away at Bend tonight.
"I think w e’ll be better
than last. We were really
young last year and now
we're more experienced,"
^
Nicholson said.