Clackamas Print
Sports'**?*
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
lationals: wrestlers to Minnesota
athew Olson
I Clackamas Print
}ie Clackamas wrestling team
;d 10th in the country at the
kA Nationals competition,
e also receiving the Academic
[Award for scholastic achieve-
[couldn’t have been any more
B if we’d been the national
■pions,” said Coach Mike
■ska “though I’d probably be a
Kit happier.”
■lacing 10th out of the 43 teams
L: ided the competition was
■eat accomplishment. Despite
■a great performance, many of
■ni ’res were very close.
Ke lost about seven matches
■ v ere decided by one point
■ could’ve gone either way and
■tgo our way,” said Haluska.
Kking place Feb. 25 and 26, the
Kai competition saw hundreds
■co petitors meet to duke it out.
Kght
competitors
from
Kamas traveled to Minnesota
Knpete, but only Bryan Cantrell
Kged to beat out the stiff com-
■on and place.
Kverything flowed so natu-
■y. I didn’t second guess what
K doing,” Cantrell said of the
Ketition.
Kntrell started strong win
ning two matches, but stumbled
on the third match of the day. “It
happened in the first round,” said
Cantrell. “He took me down and
pinned me.”
With all but Cantrell falling out
of the running on the first day, the
Cougars watched the lone wrestler
climb up the ladder, while the rest
of the team relaxed and contem
plated their performances, Cantrell
had to steel himself for another
found of matches on Saturday.
Weigh-in on the morning of
the second day was harrowing for
Cantrell. “On the first scale I was
.3 [pounds] over, on the second
scale I was .2 over, and final
ly on the third I was .1 under!”,
explained Cantrell. Such miniscule
discrepancies can disqualify wres
tlers, though the rules stipulate that
weigh-in can be redone on different
scales, a saving grace for some.
“The whole second day I was
more focused and relaxed,” said
Cantrell. This mindset carried him
through the next three wins to place
third, with six wins and one loss,
qualifying as All-American in his
157-pound weight class.
“I think I could have beaten
the kid who took second,” said
Cantrell. “I even think I could’ve
taken first!” With such confidence,
Cantrell’s future at a university
seems promising.
“I still have three years of eli-
Intemet Photo
Wrestlers compete during nationals in Minnesota this last weekend. Out of eight Clackamas
wrestlers, Bryan Cantrell was the only one to achieve victory.
gibility in Division One schools,”
said Cantrell. When asked about
his choices, Cantrell replied, “I’d
like to go to Minnesota, Oklahoma,
or Iowa State.”
, Cantrell heads to harder fraining
and tougher competition in Division
One, but he leaves Clackamas on a
good note.
“This is the most fun team I’ve
been on,” said Cantrell. “We’re
like brothers, we’re like family.”
dy Cougars continue hot play; next stop NWAACC tourney
rank Jordan
te Clackamas Print
e Clackamas women finished
home schedule for the 2005-
jason with two victories last
A victory over Mt. Hood CC
nt in Gresham will place them
pt-place tie with Lane CC for
Lthem Division title.
I Cougars took on the Lady
| from Chemeketa CC last
lesday and held their oppo
nent to 33 percent shooting leading
to a 72-54 victory. Clackamas led
from the beginning, jumping out to
a 10-point halftime lead. The Lady
Cougars led by as much as 19 in
the blowout win.
Charday Hunt led the Cougars
with 21 points and nine rebounds,
while Kellie Morey chipped in
17 points and seven rebounds.
Rochelle Reeves had 15 points and
LaToya Hill contributed another
triple-double with 11 points, 11
rebounds and 10 assists from the
point.
The Cougars played their final
home game of the season on
Saturday and pulled away from a
three-point hafftime lead to defeat
the Umpqua CC Timberwomen by
a score of 84-67.
Hunt led a balanced scoring
attack with 19 points and seven
rebounds. Morey had 18 points,
while Reeves chipped in 17 points
and nine rebounds. Hill had a
near triple-double with 13 points,
nine rebounds and nine assists
and Monique Tribble had eight
points. Kellyn Cooper made her
first significant showing since her
recent bout with strep, contributing
six points, six rebounds and four
blocked shots from the post. Kayla
Ohlman played her last home game
as a Cougar and chipped in three
points and six rebounds.
Hill, Reeves, Morey, Ohlman
and Emma Ward played their final
home games in a Clackamas uni
form and contributed to the contin
uation of a very successful Cougar
women’s program. All hope to
keep contributing as Clackamas
gears up for the NWAACC tourna
ment next weekend in Kennewick,
Washington.
The Cougars play their final
regular season game tonight in
Gresham against Mt. Hood. Tip
off for tonight’s game is sched
uled for 5:30 p.m. The NWAACC
tournament runs March 9-12 in
Kennewick at the Toyota Center.
The Cougars hope to improve on
last year’s third-place showing and
get back to the level of the 2004
season, the year Clackamas won
their first-ever NWAACC cham
pionship.
Autistic athlete amazes all
I II Mike
Guidice
Sports Editor
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Credit for life experience
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A player leads the team in scor
ing, and is carried off lhe court on
his teammates’ shoulders. You’ve
probably heard of similar scenari
os before - but wait. There’s a lot
more to this story than you might
think
I could write about the Winter
Olympics here. I could also talk
about the Trailblazers recent trade
move, the pending MLB season
or the upcoming NFL draft. While
all these things are significant,
none have touched me more lhan
the story of 17 year-old Jason
McElwain.
Haven’t heard of him? It’s
okay. Up until a couple days ago
I hadn’t either. Neither had many
people outside of his home in
Greece, New Yoik, for that mat
ter.
Up until one fateful night,
McElwain, an autistic senior at
Greece Athena High School, had
served the team water and towels
as the team manager. He hadn’t
made the team, but provided for
the players on the varsity basket
ball squad the best he could.
From a very young age,
McElwain was socially inept
and didn’t begin speaking until
age five. The classes he attended
at Greece Athena were for slow
learners and had only about half a
dozen students in them. It wasn’t
until he found basketball that
the 5-foot-6-inch student began
to finally open up and establish
friendships.
All season long, Coach Jim
Johnson had been impressed by
the boy’s work ethic and dedica
tion to the team. Despite being
relegated to the bench in a white
shirt and black tie, McElwain has
always maintained a positive atti
tude.
His time would come how
ever, as good things tend to for
those who possess the virtue of
patience.
Feb. 15 was the last home
game of the season for Greece
Athena, and the fans had come
prepared. Although there was no
guarantee that McElwain would
play, the people came out in full
support, displaying pictures of
McElwain’s head on popsicle
sticks and chanting his name.
Then it happened, with four
minutes left, McElwain’s num
ber was finally called. Running
onto the court to deafening cheers,
the young man was finally living
his dream, just getting onto the
court was apparently not enough
though.
McElwain proceeded to hit six
long three pointers, almost seven.
His foot was on the line for one
attempt. In just a four minute span
the diminutive guard became
the team’s leading scorer for the
game, but it was so much more
than that
Johnson was quoted as saying
“It was as touching as any moment
I have ever had in sports.”
The gym erupted in pande
monium as the seconds ticked
off fans stormed the court and
McElwain’s teammates hoisted
him on their shoulders.
Since that day McElwain has
become a superstar of sorts, sign
ing autographs, posing for pictures
and holding interviews with vari
ous newspapers. While I’m' sure
the attention is nice, McElwain
just wanted to play ball, and when
he finally got the chance, he con
tributed a performance no one will
soon forget.