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.