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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2019)
JANUARY 4, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9 Reynolds makes return to the mat After not being able to wrestle for two seasons, Devin Reynolds was able to establish himself as one of the best col- legiate wrestlers in the coun- try by the end of the 2018 season. The 2013 graduate of McNary High School took third place in the 149-pound division at the NAIA Na- tional Championships and helped Grand View University with their seventh consecutive team title. Before his college days, Reyn- olds had a 45-0 high school record and was a two-time state champion at McNary be- fore signing on to wrestle at Oregon State University in 2013. As a redshirt freshman at OSU in 2015, Reynolds had a 23-9 record and placed third at the Pac-12 Tournament at 141 pounds. But Reynolds suffered a concussion early in his soph- omore season and couldn’t heal fast enough to get back into the lineup. Despite his persistent concussion symp- toms, Reynolds continued to try and make his return to the mat. In December of 2015, at a tournament in Spokane, Reynolds’ dream of making a full comeback was shattered when he took a knee to the face and suffered a broken nose and another concussion. He agreed to take a med- ical hardship, which Continued from Page A8 meant Reynolds could keep his scholarship and fi nish school. But he would nev- er wrestle for Oregon State again. “It was a pretty low point in my life, losing what I thought was my last chance to wrestle in my life,” Reynolds said. Reynolds was told by doctors that he would never compete again, but he refused to listen. While spending the 2016- 17 season as an assistant coach at McNary, Reynolds began to get himself back into com- petitive shape and entered himself into the US. Open Championships. Even though he didn’t per- form as he had hoped, it set him up to join the wrestling team at Grand View — locat- ed in Des Moines, Iowa — for the 2017-18 season. Reynolds con- tinued to fi ght through ad- versity as he tore his me- niscus early in the season. But he was able to battle back and qualify for the national cham- pionships. As he has worked his way back to being 100 percent healthy for his senior season, Reynolds is hoping to win an individual national title in 2019. “I’m hungry. I’m excit- ed. I’ve got this itch in me,” Reynolds said. “I’m going to be a national champ this year.” “There ain’t nothing that fi xes that itch to wrestle but wrestling. I hope I stay healthy enough where I can scrap with kids a long time.” File The new scoreboard at McNary High School was unveiled over the summer. McNary gets new board After talking about the possibility of a new score- board for three years, the Mc- Nary athletic program made the move to pursue a new board in the spring of 2018. The new 18-foot, 9-inch tall and 25-foot wide score- board features a 5-foot, 9-inch tall and 15-foot, 11 inch wide LED screen for live track re- sults and sponsors. The score- board can also post shots on goal during soccer games. It was paid for with a $50,000 donation from Sky- line Ford and funds from the Athletic Booster Club. The total cost ended up being $100,000. “It’s a dynamic scoreboard in that it can work for track, lacrosse, soccer, all of our user groups inside and outside of McNary can use this,” Mc- Nary Athletic Director Scott Gragg said. “Obviously, foot- ball will benefi t from this but many more groups will bene- fi t as well.” The scoreboard was un- veiled at McNary’s blue day on Aug. 18. Gragg has worked closely with the booster club since taking over as athletic direc- tor in 2017. “They are progressive and fast moving and wanting to get things done,” Gragg said. “They are closely tied with our community so they know what the heartbeat and the interests are of our commu- nity.” Gragg would also like to add a sound system to the new scoreboard, which would cost an additional $30,000. “This is going to be such an upgrade from what we had as a scoreboard, it would be nice to do some sort of sound system in addition to it,” Gragg said. “Some of those little things are a big deal in a tight community.” Keizer Little Leaguers win district tourney File Devin Reynolds, a 2013 graduate of McNary High Schoo, placed third at the NAIA National Tour- nament for Grand View University, after not being able to wrestle for nearly two years. Two McNary Youth Baseball teams place fourth in state tourney The McNary Junior Federal squad, coached by Dean Allen, and the McNary Junior Amer- ican team, coached by Kyle Hughes, each took fourth place at their respective state tourna- ments in July — both teams play in 12U divisions. The Junior Federal team started off their state tourna- ment with a 7-5 victory over Canby. With the game tied 3-3, Mc- Nary scored four runs in the top of the seventh to propel them- selves to victory. Jake Allen was 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs and a triple. Gage Smedema and Car- ter Hawley also has two RBIs on the day. After a 5-3 loss against Mc- Minnville in their following game, the Celtics bounced back by beating Westview 7-1, scor- ing all seven of their runs in the bottom of the third. Allen pitched a complete game on the hill, giving up just fi ve hits and striking out seven. At the plate, Landon Gerig was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. McNary closed the tourna- ment with a 7-3 loss to Sher- wood. The McNary Junior Amer- ican team dropped their fi rst contest against Sherwood, but came back to win their next three games. The Celtics fi rst defeated Silverton 15-13 by scoring six runs in the top of the fi fth and fi ve more in the top of the sixth. Pierce Walker went 2-for-3 at the dish with two RBIs while Andrew Hammond went 3-for- 3 and scored three runs. Hammond would come through in the following game as well for the Celtics, going 2-for-2 with a double and a pair of RBIs in McNary’s 9-7 victo- ry over Westview. The Celtics got their revenge against Sherwood for their third consecutive win in their next contest, beating the Bowmen 9-8. With the score tied 8-8 in the bottom of the sixth, Chris Cortez hit a walk-off RBI-sin- gle to send the Celtics to victory. Cortez was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the game. Hudson Hughes and Kaden Schwab — who scored the winning run — had two hits apiece. McNary was eliminated after falling to North Marion 13-2. For the fi rst time in nearly two decades, the Keizer Little League All-Stars (8- 9-10 Division) softball team got the chance to compete in the Little League state tournament. The Keizer All-Stars defeated Dallas twice at Keizer Little League Park on June 23 at the District 7 tournament to clinch the state berth. In the fi rst game, the Keizer team won 18-11 in six innings. The second time around, Keizer pulled out a 12-2 win in four innings. Keizer scored eights runs in the fi rst inning of both games. At the plate, Marlina Martinez was 2-for-3 and scored three runs in the fi rst contest. She also pitched the fi rst three innings, allowing two hits and one earned run while recording seven strikeouts. Madelyn Sponable, who scored four runs, fi nished off Dallas in the circle in the opening contest. Pacia Winter scored two runs while Courtney Corron and Isabella Harding each had two RBI to lead the charge for the Keizer offense in the fi rst game. Martinez and Sponable again combined to defeat Dallas in game two. Sponable pitched the fi rst three innings File The Keizer Little League 8-9-10-year old team celebrates after winning the District 7 Tournament. It was the fi rst time in nearly 20 years that Keizer Little League sent a softball team to the state tournament. and Martinez got the fi nal three outs. Batting leadoff, Sponable scored three runs and drove in two. Natilee Corron scored two runs in the rout. After losing the fi rst game of the state tournament 17-0, Keizer came back to win an 18-14 game against Beaumont. Shayla Mendoza knocked in four runs in the win and Annabelle Davis had three RBIs. “It was a team effort,” Keizer head coach Nathan Mclenny said. “After we lost the fi rst game, I asked the girls if they wanted to go home or stay here and play. They stepped up and had the grit to get it done.” The All-Stars won their next game 6-5, but then fell again to Redmond 18-12 after holding a 7-1 lead after the fi rst inning. LEFT: The McNary Youth Baseball Junior federal team takes a group photo with their medals after taking fourth place at the state tournament. BOTTOM LEFT. The McNary Youth Baseball Junior Federal squad also took fourth place in their state tournament, winning three straight games after dropping their fi rst contest. CORRECTION In the Dec. 28 edition, the starting post for the McNary boys basketball team, Boston Smith, was incorrectly identifi ed as Da- vid Boston. The Keizertimes regrets the error.