12
Sports
Wrestling Team faces obstacles, expectations
M arshall M iller _____________
After dominating the
Three Rivers League for
many years, the Lions have
finished in second place the
past two seasons. This young
team is looking to rebuild
and regain their superior
reputation with experienced
talent and new potential that
has come from the youth
program.
Monday through Friday,
they work relentlessly
to make sure they are
physically and mentally
prepared for the season. This
year, the program is lacking
in several varied weight
classes. The weights 215,103
and 112 lbs. have yet to be
filled. Assistant coach Geoff
Bingham believes it will be
hard to fill these spots.
"Nobody has come
forward to fill these spots,"
Bingham said. "There has to
be someone out there with
Little Man Syndrome who
wants to fight."
After Mitchell Gaulke,
Class of 2009, won the
State Championship in
the heavyweight class and
Donald Paulson, senior,
was runner up in his weight
class, expectations are high
for the eight returning state
qualifiers. Wrestlers include
Brian Schiewe, Christian
Wilson, Anthoney Chay and
Travis Schutzler, juniors,
and Paulson, Michael
Photo by Tracie Kreilwitz, Stop Action Memories
Anthoney Chay, junior, battles to pin another wrestler at the Newberg Invitational on Dee. 4. They will
face Oregon City in an away dual meet on Dec. 17 and participate in the Canby Invitational on Dec. 19.
MacClanathan, Sam Ihrig
and Logan Krellwitz,
seniors.
Other experienced
members who have potential
to qualify for State include
Colin Kelley, junior, and
Thomas Rassmussen, senior,
according to Head Coach
Doug Samarron.
"I'd like to believe
that there are also some
surprises not mentioned,"
Samarron said. As the team
matures, the experience
level increases along with
the expectations. Bingham
said that one of their biggest
goals is to improve every
week and wrestle for all six
minutes in a match.
In their first meet of the
season at the Newberg
Invitational, the Lions lost
two duals to Sandy, 48-36,
and Newberg, 69-6, and
beat Century, 45-33. Despite
this, there were some strong
individual performances,
including both Chay and
Paulson winning all three
matches.
The Lions meet the
Pioneers at Oregon City
on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. and .
will compete in the Canby
Invitational on Dec. 19. Their
first home meet is Jan. 7 at 7
p.m. against the Milwaukie
Mustangs.
Samarron added, "I know
there is potential walking the
halls at WLHS. Why they are
not giving it a try is only a
guess."
December
Skiers add
freestylers to
racing team
After last year's
successful season, the ski
racing team is back for
it's third season as a sport
with a new addition— a
freestyle team founded by
Brenner Spear, junior, with
Will Sloop, Class of 2004,
acting as coach.
Freestyle is new to the
sch o ol, so m any of the
skiers have little or no
experience. This season
lo o k s to be a le a rn in g
experience for m any of
them, including those who
are par t i ci pat i ng from
other schools.
" I t ’s n o t a b o u t t he
com petitions, but about
getting people informed
about freestyle skiing,"
Spear said.
Spear, a racin g skier
of 13 years and freestyle
skier of two and a half
years, enjoys freestyle as a
new and innovative sport.
Twelve skiers have signed
up for the team.
The freestyle team rides
the bus every Thursday
.after school to train at Mt.
Hood Meadows.
g&i 1mm mills freestyle______
continued on page 15
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J
erorr vj c o o p
SI SBMIKV S fa«IK W IÍ1 i« m a d li ¡3
The Portland Trail Blazers
have had their best start to
the season since the 1999-
2000 season. The team was
able to pick up a few players
from the 2009 draft and. from
trades that will keep the
bench strong. Despite the
powerful start and the new
additions, the Blazers haven't
had the best of luck keeping
their players healthy.
Second year player,
Nicolas Batum, small
forward, is working to keep
the starting position he
earned last year when Martel
Webster, small forward, was
out with a stress fracture in
his foot. This year, Webster
has been starting in place
of the injured Batum, who
received shoulder surgery
during the preseason.
Travis Outlaw, small
forward, left the court with
a stress fracture in his foot
at the game against the
Charlotte Bobcats. Outlaw
is expected to be out until
January. Two new rookies
will also be gone for the
majority of the season.
Jeff Pendergraph, power
forward, is out due to
shoulder surgery and Patrick
Mills, guard, is out due to a
fractured foot.
Most recently, Rudy
Fernandez, guard, received
an MRI for sciatic pain. He
didn't play in the games
against the Houston .Rockets
and New York Knicks.
During practice before the
Houston Rockets game,
Nate McMillan, head coach,
ruptured his Achilles tendon
and will receive surgery
during the away game
stretch. Dean Demopoulos,
assistant coach, will be the
head coach at the away
games.
The most tragic injury has
been to Greg Oden, center,
who fractured his left patella
in the opening minutes of the
game against Houston. He
went up to block a shot when
he apparently bumped his
left knee on the floor. Oden
was taken off the court in a
stretcher and is likely to be
out for the season.
New additions that will be
suited up and on the bench
include Andre Miller, guard,
Dante Cunningham, power
forward, and Juwan Howard,
power forward. Miller has
started 10 games already for
Portland and so far averages
4.8 assists and 10.7 points
per game. Despite being a
second round draft pick,
Photo by Ashley Sheron
Brandon Roy, Portland Trail Blazer guard, sets up a play against
Trevor Ariza, Houston Rockets small forward. The Blazers beat the
Rockets 90-89 this season.
Cunningham is averaging 9.2
minutes and received his first
start in the game against the
Miami Heat. As for Howard,
you won't see him much of
him on the court but you will
see him leading the Blazers'
huddles. Howard has played
15 years in the league for
seven different teams.
Although their best start
in 10 years, the team lost
two of three games played
in October. The team rallied
m
ilS t!
back to win 11 of 16 games
by a margin of eight or
more points in November.
The Blazers were first in the
league with the highest free
throw percentage early in
the season but have since
dropped to fifth. They
were also the number one
defensive team, holding
opponents to 85 points a
game, but have now dropped
to eighth in the league.
The two toughest losses
came in the last two games of
November against Memphis
and Utah. The Blazers fell
20 or more points to their
opponents and weren't able
to come within 10 points.
They then came close to
winning against the Miami
Heat but again fell behind
by more than 10 points and
couldn't recover. The team
was able to come back the
next game, despite losing
Oden, to win 91-89. However,
they lost to the New York
Knicks, 93-84.
The team is going to have
to make some changes if they
want to keep their playoff
hopes alive. They need to
involve the centers in the
offense, keep up the defense,
and continue to keep the
three point percentage high.