T he C lackamas P rint • 9
J anuary
AMY CASHMAN C lackamas P rint
Steve Lemma (1 5), Maycol Rivera (32) and Wes Jensen (12) look on as Ervin Sims (23) rises above the rim and throws down the crowd pleasing jam
to end the first half of a Jan. 24 game against Lane CC. Sims scored 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds as Clackamas beat Lane 77-53.
Men's ball on four game winning streak
Frank Jordan
T he C lackamas P rint
Clackamas men’s basketball ran
their winning streak to four games
with a 77-53 victory over Lane CC in
the Randall Hall gym last Saturday.
The Cougars got 16 points from
Brandon Gill, 12 points and 8
rebounds from Ervin Sims, 10 points
from Cole Kieling and 9 points and 6
assists from Alex Swerzbin in the win.
Clackamas got off to a slow start in
the contest, before using a driving
dunk by Sims at the halftime buzzer to
give the Cougars a 26-21 halftime lead.
The Cougars came out of the locke
room after the half to shoot 61 per
cent in the second half to blow out
Lane.
January 21, Clackamas got 24
points from Gill to lead a balanced
attack in the Cougars’ 79-68 victory
over Portland CC in the Randall gym.
CCC also got 21 points and 7
rebounds from Ammon Bemis and 14
points and 8-boards from Sims as the
Cougars jumped out to another quick
lead at the start and held on for the
win.
“We have been inconsistent for
most of the season. Our offense is
still trying to find its way,” said Head
Coach Clif Wegner. “We have been
hurt and banged up, but we afe finally
getting everyone healthy and that will
go a long way in determining how far nament during the winter break from
we can go.”
Dec. 28-30, hosting Linn-Benton CC,
Blue Mountain CC,
The Cougars are
Mt.
Hood
CC,
currently sporting a
Tacoma CC, Linfield
13-5 record overall
College JV team,
with a 4-2 mark in the
Lower
Columbia
NWAACC Southern
College and a team
Division, tied for sec
ond with Chemeketa
comprised of J CCC
Alumni, Clackamas
CC and trailing first
defeated
Blue
place Mt. Hood CC
Mountain 74-68 and
by
two
games.
Tacoma
106-73
Clackamas received
Clif Wegner
before falling to
two votes in the first
Men's Basketball Coach
Lower Columbia 95-
NWAACC Coaches’
79 in the tournament
Poll on Jan. 18. The
next poll is due out on Feb. 8.
championship game by a score of 95-
Clackamas hosted their own tour- 79. Gill and Swerzbin were named to
“We have been
hurt and banged
up, but we are
finally getting
everyone
healthy.”
the all-tournament team for their
efforts.
“We faced a really nasty road sched
ule early on and we have survived that
and we are trying to work some new
players into the lineup,” said Wegner.
“We have been correcting things in
practice and playing harder. We are in
the middle of five straight home games
and we have to have a good run here.
We have Mt. Hood coming up and we
need a solid effort in order to get back
into the division race.”
Tonight, the Cougars host first
place Mt Hood at 7:30 p.m. in the
Randall Hall gym. Saturday, Clackamas
will host Umpqua CC with game time
at 6 p.m. in the Randall gym.
Clackamas Wrestling working towards NJCAA Championships
Sara Atkeson
T he C lackamas P rint
After a season plagued with injuries,
the Clackamas wrestling team is strug
gling to wrestle up to their full potential
The Cougars participated in a dual
meet with Lassen College in the Randall
Gym Jan. 16. Three Clackamas wrestlers
were out of commission due to injury.
Heavyweight Stan Rodriguez was
sidelined with a separated shoulder.
One hundred and twenty-five pounder
Ben Sevigny was out with knee prob
lems. Sevigny is making a speedy recov
ery and could be back for the regional
tournament. Jimmy Chrisman, at 149
pounds, is done for the season with a
separated shoulder.
The highlights of the Lassen meet
were the wins achieved by Shawn Siefke
and Bridger Sacher.
For Siefke, it was an especially
meaningful match. At age 21, this was
Siefke’s first match at the junior college
level. In the 165-pound division, Siefke
easily controlled his opponent. He led
in points 8-2 in the second round
before solidly pinning his opponent.
“I’m glad to see him back on the
mat,” said Head Wrestling Coach Mike
Haluska. “I think he could be a nation
al champion; he’s definitely a real good
wrestler.”
Sacher, at 197 pounds, spent the
first round on his feet after several nice
setups which all ended out-of-bounds.
Round two was nothing but hard
shooting and fierce counter attacks
ending in an 8-2 Sacher lead. In the final
round, Sacher broke his opponent
down quickly from the whistle, using
strong groundwork and ending with a
solid armbar for the win.
According to Halsuka, none of
these individual meets really matter as
much, it’s the big show at the NJCAA
national championships that really
count
Clackamas hosted the CCC Open
Jan. 17. Chris Kidby placed second at
184 pounds. Siefke came in third at 165,
conceding in the final round to the
defending national champion from
Simon Fraser in a one-point match.
Clackamas traveled to Des Moines,
Wash., Jan. 21 to compete in a tourna
ment against Pima CC from Tucson,
Ariz. They lost the dual against Pima
by one point. A contributing factor to
the loss was the fact that one wrestler
didn’t make weight; he was over by two-
tenths of a pound
“You could say that we lost (to
Pima) by two-tenths of a pound,” said
Haluska.
Janunary 22, the Cougars drove six
hours to Coeur D’Alene, Idaho to
wrestle against the second-ranked
community college in the nation, North
Idaho CC.
“It’s really tough to wrestle with a
long drive like that. It really didn’t seem
to affect them,” said Haluska.
According to Haluska, North Idaho
is a difficult place to wrestle, with
knowledgeable fans and loud bands.
They turn the lights off, making it a
hard atmosphere to wrestle in, but it
didn’t seem to affect Clackamas, he
said.
“We only won three matches out of
ten, but they were all real good match
es. This is probably the first dual
where I felt like they wrestled well, all
the way through the lineup both days,”
said Haluska. “Every wrestler wrestled
really well.”
SARA ATKESON C lackamas P rint
Clackamas wrestler Shawn Siefke (left), grapples with his Lassen opponent on Jan. 16.