PAGE A16, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 25, 2022
McNary places fourth at district meet
THE
MAT
Josh Friesen (blue singlet) earns a pin over Kristian Contreras from Bend in quarterfinal match at 170 pounds. Friesen placed second in the division to qualify for the state meet
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
The McNary wrestling team finished
in fourth place at the Mountain Valley
Conference district meet over the week-
end and placed five athletes into the
state tournament, highlighted by Max
Blanco, who was the 106-pound district
champion as a sophomore.
“We thought we would get a few
more kids on the podium, but all-in-all
it was a solid team showing,” McNary
head coach Sam Martin said.
Anthony Thomas looks to make a move on Bend's Keelan Dennis.
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
SPORTS
Blanco is McNary's first district
champion since Enrique Vincent won
the 120-pound division in 2017.
“It feels good. It's just a lot of hard
work paying off. I just came in with a ton
of confidence,” Blanco said.
After getting a pair of quick pins
in his first two bouts, Blanco won via
technical fall in the semifinals against
Mountain View's Grayson Moore before
earning a major decision victory in the
championship over Eric Larwin from
Bend.
“Max really wrestled
really well. He wrestled
the way we expected.
He has been competing
at 113 all year, so he's
used to wrestling bigger
guys,” Martin said.
Damian Hernandez
forced overtime in the
126-pound
semifinal
bout, but wound up
falling to Brady Johns
from Mountain View.
Hernandez, however, was
not deterred and came
back to win his next two
matches to place third
and qualify for state.
We thought we
would get a few
more kids on the
podium, but all-in-
all it was a solid
team showing.
— SAM MARTIN
McNary head coach