PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 6, 2015
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KEIZERTIMES.COM
Venegas denied state
title, not defi ned by it
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Alvaro Venegas fi nished second in the state at 195 pounds last weekend. It was a let down for
Venegas, but he’s already setting new goals.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
In the 24 hours after his de-
feat in the state tournament fi -
nals match at 195 pounds, Al-
varo Venegas did a lot of soul
searching.
Venegas went into the
tournament seeded fi rst in
the state, and went into the fi -
nal match with a 51-1 record.
He ended up losing 3-2 after
his opponent, Brian Barnes,
took him down in the third
round.
“I dwelled on it for the
whole day after, but I thought
back to my coaches and the
older guys and a title doesn’t
defi ne me.
“(Jason) Ebbs said there’s
always someone who wants it
more than you do. That may
not be the case for me, but
this guy has been wrestling his
entire life. He dedicated his
life to it,” Venegas said. “Brian
was ready to wrestle. I think
I choked. Maybe I got too
cocky, but Brian is going to
do great for himself,” Venegas
said.
Ebbs is McNary’s head
wrestling coach.
If that answer sounds hum-
ble, it’s par for the course for
Venegas. Talking with him
after matches this past year,
he never had a harsh word
for any opponent. He mostly
talked about them being “cool
guys.”
That attitude defi nes him
more than any title - regional,
state or national - ever could.
“As he wrestled through
this season, he was the stron-
gest mental wrestler I had seen
in a long time. He learned
how to control his opponents,
how to control the match, and
how to control position so
that every match was wrestled
on his terms,” Ebbs said.
It was a far cry from when
Venegas started wrestling
at Claggett Creek Middle
School in eighth grade.
“I would hear the guys talk-
ing about how hard wrestling
was. But, getting out there ba-
sically naked with other guys,
I wasn’t sure about it,” he said.
He took the leap and
thought he did fi ne in prac-
tices, but he didn’t win a single
match that year. He entered
McNary as a heavyweight at
265 pounds.
“I didn’t really work out.
But, sophomore year, Zach
Hammerschmith and Mason
Ross kind of took me under
their wing and started getting
me to work out. Mason would
take me to the gym – usually
without my consent – and he
bought me some supplements.
Still, I went through the sea-
son getting beat up.”
He and Ross spent time
that year swinging between
the two heavyweight classes,
220 and 265 pounds. When
the Oregon Classic came
around, he had a crisis of faith,
a result of not winning a single
match.
“I was ready to quit, but
Please see ALVARO, Page A12
Girls draw 11th-ranked
Clackamas Cavaliers
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Trent VanCleave skirts around a Newberg defender in the fi rst round of the state playoff tourna-
ment Tuesday, March 3.
Boys to second round
after Newberg scare
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
If the best-laid plans often go awry, the Mc-
Nary High School varsity basketball team’s
were also going sideways and pear-shaped
Tuesday, March 3.
The boys faced Newberg High School in
the opening round of the state tournament and
had to overcome more turbulence than most
would have expected in the game.
The Celtics eked out a 48-45 win and will
travel to North Medford High School Friday,
March 6, for the second round of the tour-
nament. The Black Tornadoes ousted Barlow
High School from contention in a 63-49 win.
“Newberg wasn’t more than we were ex-
pecting, but they were different. We were game
planning around their bigs and their lefty hurt
us, but No. 32 (BJ Ulloa) was a big surprise and
exposed us in some ways,” said Harry Cavell, a
McNary junior.
McNary fell behind the Tigers early. New-
berg led by as many as seven points in the fi rst
period. By the middle of the second period, the
Celts had cut the lead to 16-11. At the halftime
buzzer, however, the Keizer team was still trail-
ing 23-16.
“They were really slowing down the game.
We were trying to compact the paint and push
them out, but we couldn’t get any momentum
and we couldn’t get out to the open fl oor,” said
Trent VanCleave, a Celt junior.
From the outset of the second half, McNary
was out to set the tone.
“Trent did a good job changing the tide of
things in the third quarter. Tregg (Peterson)
made some big-time plays as big-time players
do. For the most part, we also played without
fouling,” said Ryan Kirch, McNary head coach.
On a VanCleave trey, the score sat at 25-24.
At 3:19 to go in the third period, Cavell put
in the go-ahead basket, but Newberg answered
with a bucket of its own and a shot from the
foul line. VanCleave tied up the score and Celt
senior Devon Dunagan laid in a two-pointer at
the buzzer to take control of the game.
In the fi nal two minutes, McNary made the
most of opportunities from the foul line and
Kirch’s jacket came off as the refs hit the teams
with off-setting technical fouls. Dunagan hit
one and Newberg drained both of its shots. The
score was 45-40.
Newberg got close once more with less than
10 seconds left in the game. One of the Tigers
got inside the Celt defense to lay up a shot, but
Please see BOYS, Page A11
Auvinen on new role:
‘Keep them guessing’
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Paige Downer puts pressure on one of the Sprague Olympians in a game earlier this season.
The Lady Celts played their fi rst state tournament game Wednesday, March 4, past press time.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Drawing the 11th-ranked team in the state
for the fi rst match in the playoffs would be a
concern for many teams, but the Lady Celt
varsity basketball team is fairly content with its
circumstances.
“I think it’s one of the best matches we could
have hoped for in terms of skill match-up,” said
Jasmine Ernest, a McNary High School senior.
Junior Madi Hingston said the Celtics were
ready to upset the Clackamas High School
Cavaliers Wednesday, March 4, in a game held
past press time.
“We are a better team than what we’re
ranked and we have the element of surprise,”
she said. “They are an all-around team, but if
we stick with what we know and pressuring
the ball, the offense will come.”
The Lady Celts fi nished third in the Greater
Valley Conference with a pelting 61-15 win
over McKay High School last week and are
now in a one-and-done situation. They enter
the tournament ranked 22nd.
“Clackamas has a lot of size and that’s why
Please see GIRLS, Page A11
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
McNary High School
football players didn’t need
to wait long to fi nd out who
their new head coach would
be Monday, March 2.
“When Coach (Isaac)
Parker said that he had an-
other opportunity, I knew we
had some big shoes to fi ll. He
did great things to build this
program through his relation-
ships with you, the players, and
in the community,” said Erik
Jespersen, McNary principal.
Shortly thereafter players
learned longtime McNary
teacher and coach Jeff Auvin-
en would be taking the reins
of the program. Most recently,
Auvinen has been coaching
the school’s freshman gridders.
Parker resigned from the
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Jeff Auvinen, a longtime Celtic teacher and coach will lead the
McNary gridders.
program in January to take an
assistant coaching and recruit-
er job with Lewis and Clark
College.
“He’s been such a part of
the program for so long that
he’s been through the ups and
downs and now he’s leading
us,” said junior Jason Sperle.
“It’s not a whole new begin-
ning, we’re picking up right
Please see COACH, Page A11