10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Brain disease
seen in most
football
players in
large study
OREGON COAST INVITATIONAL
Paxton,
Seager pace
Mariners
past Red
Sox, 4-0
By LINDSEY TANNER
Associated Press
By JIM HOEHN
Associated Press
SEATTLE — James Paxton
allowed four singles over seven
innings to win his fifth consecutive
start in July and Kyle Seager hom-
ered to pace the Seattle Mariners to
a 4-0 victory over the Boston Red
Sox on Monday night.
Paxton (10-3) retired the first 13
hitters before Jackie Bradley Jr.’s
single to center with one out in the
fifth. The left-hander, who worked
out of trouble in the sixth and sev-
enth innings, struck out 10 and
walked none. Paxton has allowed
six earned runs in 33 1/3 innings
and not given up a home run in five
starts this month.
Nick Vincent and David Phelps
each pitched a perfect inning to
finish.
Eduardo Rodriguez (4-3)
allowed four runs on six hits in 5
1/3 innings. He struck out six and
walked two in his second start
since coming off the disabled list.
Seager started a three-run sec-
ond with his 14th home run, lining
a 2-1 pitch over the wall in straight-
away center to open the inning.
UP NEXT: MARINERS
• Boston Red Sox (55-46)
at Seattle Mariners (50-51)
• Tonight, 7:10 p.m. TV: RTNW
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Dennis Sturgell lines up a putt in Monday’s match in the Championship Flight of the Junior/Seniors
division, with the help of son Ryder. Sturgell defeated Mike Naimo to advance to the quarterfinals.
SCOREBOARD
GOLF
Oregon Coast Invitational
Monday’s Results
Grand Champions
Championship Flight
Jeff Canessa def. Samuel Hinton;
Avery Keating def. David Berlant; Rex
Puterbaugh def. Eric Larson; Mike Fritz
def. Colin Alexander; Adam Harrington
def. Preston Van Hook; Riley Elmes
def. Mark Cooney; Harrison Moir def.
Nik Torkelson; Daniel Terrell def. Con-
nor Jetton; Anthony Arvidson def. Ted
Ferguson; Kevin Kirakossian def. Joe
Torkelson; John DeLong def. Taylor
Swingle; Kenneth Sheldon def. Peter
Jennings; Nicholas Timm def. Bill Win-
ter; Jamie Sumner def. Patrick Wheal-
don; Jay Ross def. Jimmy Buell; Randy
Tucker def. Stu Gerrish.
Second Flight
Nicolas Mulflur def. Jack McNeill;
Brad Carnese def. Craig Froude; Chris
Shepard def. Andy Songer; Joel Mayer
def. Jack Marrs; A.J. Shepard def. Kevin
Kidd, Jr.; Franklin Gauntz def. Tommy
Mulflur; Jeremy Wood def. Arlyn Mal-
donado; Fritz Benz def. Teddy Fergu-
son; Nicholas Wobbrock def. Ian Kelly;
Cameron Nicklos def. Mike T. Whitty;
Matthew Tennant def. Jesse French;
Patrick Goodman def. Richard McGee;
Jeff Jetton def. Scott Vinson; Damon
Grant def. Conor Kelly; Patrick Wood
def. Jim Wright; William Bennington def.
Ryan Person.
Fourth Flight
Jacob Wobbrock def. Kyle Whitty; Matt
Chappell def. David Vigliotto; Michael
Wood def. J.P. Nantz; David Harding
def. Chris Galloni; Rob Goodman def.
Pat Kelly; Brad McMahon def. Jim
Senescu; Justin Jennings def. Nick
Naimo; Darren Palmberg def. Aaron
Ehlers; Brian Kim def. Jack Pegler;
Steve Mozinski def. Jared Payne; Todd
Melrose def. Ronald Stevens; Mark
Tyler def. Andrew Laing; Doug Trainer
def. Brock Rice; Peter Griggs def. Bill
Brooks; Brendan McNeill def. Dan-
iel Sturgell; Johnny Holt def. Spenser
Sutherlan.
Junior/Seniors
Championship Flight
Dennis Sturgell def. Mike Naimo; Jim
Parks def. Steve Johnson; John Holt-
mann def. Mike Ralston; Kurt Payne
def. Steve Fordney; James Folk def. Al-
lan LaPlante; Doug Edwards def. Steve
Roos; Matt Elmes def. Rob Turk; Henry
Emmerson def. Brian Hefele.
Second Flight
Don Frank def. Tal Gohl; Beau Harlan
def. Stan Grissinger; Kevin Pasion def.
Dan Hall; Greg Korkowski def. Cary
Potterfield; Mark McGraw def. Scott
Hoodenpyle; Scott Reynier def. Brad
Nantz; David Ellis def. Bill Hurst; Jim
Fromer def. Robert Johnson.
Fourth Flight
John Mangan def. Robert Endres;
Greg Hope def. B.K. Srinivasan; Carl
Mack def. Brian Pienovi; Jim Jackman
def. James Titus; Doug Palin def. Jef-
frey Renner; DeWayne Ledbetter def.
Storm Floten; Craig Nichols def. Kevin
McHone; Mark Murphy def. Len Tum-
barello.
Sixth Flight
Wes LaRiviere def. Terry Graff; Tom
Talbot def. Mike Obrien; Tony Magden
def. Wayne Monfries; Joe Dandoy def.
John Tennant, Jr.; John Bunce def. Bob
Moir; Dennis McAuliffe def. Michael Mc-
Namara; Tim Regan def. Sean Smiley;
Dave Sloan def. Rick Campbell.
First round of match
play brings surprise win
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The first group teed off at 7
a.m., and the last group came in some 12 hours later,
on a busy Day 1 of match play in the 107th annual
Oregon Coast Invitational.
Golfers in the Grand Champions and the Junior/
Seniors divisions were in action Monday at the Asto-
ria Golf & Country Club, with golfers in the Wom-
en’s, Seniors and Super Seniors divisions taking to the
links today.
The action was hot on the first day of bracket play.
In the Grand Champions division, the Match of the
Day was the No. 1 seed, qualifying medalist Samuel
Hinton, vs. No. 32 seed Jeff Canessa.
And Canessa — Grand Champions winner in 2007
and ’09 — scored the victory to advance to the Sweet
16, where he will face Avery Keating Wednesday.
Also advancing were former champs Anthony
Arvidson, John DeLong and Jay Ross.
Ilwaco’s Kenneth Sheldon — a teammate of Hin-
ton’s at Willamette University — moved on with a win
over Peter Jennings, while Jamie Sumner downed Pat-
rick Whealdon.
Meanwhile, Junior/Seniors qualifying medal-
ist Dennis Sturgell picked up right where he left
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Defending Junior/Seniors champion James Folk
tees off on the second hole in Monday’s match,
which he eventually won.
off Saturday.
Sturgell built an early lead in Monday’s match
and played a solid round to advance to Wednesday’s
quarterfinals.
Defending Junior/Seniors champion James Folk
had to rally on the back nine to win his match, and he
will face Doug Edwards in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
CHICAGO — Research on
202 former football players found
evidence of brain disease in
nearly all of them, from athletes
in the NFL, college and even high
school.
It’s the largest update on
chronic traumatic encephalopa-
thy, or CTE, a brain disease linked
with repeated head blows.
But the report doesn’t con-
firm that the condition is common
in all football players; it reflects
high occurrence in samples at a
Boston brain bank that studies
CTE. Many donors or their fam-
ilies contributed because of the
players’ repeated concussions and
troubling symptoms before death.
“There are many questions that
remain unanswered,” said lead
author Dr. Ann McKee, a Bos-
ton University neuroscientist.
“How common is this” in the gen-
eral population and all football
players?
“How many years of football
is too many?” and “What is the
genetic risk? Some players do
not have evidence of this disease
despite long playing years,” she
noted.
It’s also uncertain if some
players’ lifestyle habits — alco-
hol, drugs, steroids, diet — might
somehow contribute, McKee said.
Dr. Munro Cullum, a neuro-
psychologist at UT Southwestern
Medical Center in Dallas, empha-
sized that the report is based on
a selective sample of men who
were not necessarily represen-
tative of all football players. He
said problems other than CTE
might explain some of their most
common symptoms before death
— depression, impulsivity and
behavior changes. He was not
involved in the report.
McKee said research from the
brain bank may lead to answers
and an understanding of how to
detect the disease in life, “while
there’s still a chance to do some-
thing about it.” There’s no known
treatment.
The strongest scientific evi-
dence says CTE can only be diag-
nosed by examining brains after
death, although some researchers
are experimenting with tests per-
formed on the living. Many scien-
tists believe that repeated blows to
the head increase risks for devel-
oping CTE, leading to progres-
sive loss of normal brain mat-
ter and an abnormal buildup of a
protein called tau. Combat veter-
ans and athletes in rough contact
sports like football and boxing are
among those thought to be most at
risk.
The new report was published
today in the Journal of the Ameri-
can Medical Association.
‘Wrecking’ Nall leads inspired group of Oregon State backs
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
CORVALLIS — Last time fans got
a look at Oregon State’s Ryan Nall, he
was bounding into the end zone against
the rival Oregon Ducks.
Four times.
That 34-24 victory in last season’s
final game is still fueling the Beavers
as they prepare to open fall camp today.
“It was positive for us because
we’re going in (to camp) knowing that
we can compete,” Nall said. “We’re
ready. This offseason was definitely a
shift in attitude and momentum.”
The victory in the Civil War snapped
an eight-game losing streak for Oregon
State in the series. Nall, then a sopho-
more who had been dogged by a foot
injury, ran for 155 yards — and those
four scores — against the Ducks.
Afterward, fans stormed the field at
Reser Stadium and a few hoisted Nall
on their shoulders to celebrate. His
four TDs were the most for a Beaver
in a single game since Jacquizz Rod-
gers ran for three and caught another
against Washington in 2010. Steven
Jackson had the last game with four
rushing TDs in 2003.
The Beavers finished 4-8 overall, a
AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez
Oregon State running back Ryan Nall, top, dives over Oregon’s Danny
Mattingly for a touchdown in the second half an NCAA college football
game in Corvallis in November. Oregon State won 34-24.
two-game improvement over the pre-
vious season, and won three Pac-12
games after going winless in the con-
ference in 2015.
Nall, a native Oregonian who
played at Portland’s Central Catho-
lic High School, finished last season
with 951 yards rushing and 13 touch-
downs on the ground and also caught a
pair of TD passes. The 6-2, 237-pound
back who fans have dubbed “Wreck-
ing Nall” had four 100-yard rushing
games.
He’s clearly the leader of the team’s
running back corps heading into this
season — and it’s a position where the
Beavers appear to have made a signifi-
cant improvement.
One reason? The surprise signing of
Thomas Tyner, who left rival Oregon
on a medical retirement after missing
all the 2015 season because of a shoul-
der injury.
In two seasons with the Ducks’
speedy “blur” offense, Tyner rushed
for 1,284 yards and 14 touchdowns.
The last live game he played was the
national championship in January 2015
against Ohio State.
He’s also something of a legend in
Oregon. His senior year in high school,
Tyner smashed Oregon prep records
with 643 yards rushing and 10 touch-
downs in a single game. At the time,
it was the third-most rushing yards
nationally for a prep player.
NCAA rules prevented Tyner from
returning to the Ducks because of his
medical retirement.
“At first I thought it was a joke. I
saw it pop up on ESPN on my phone
and I was like, ‘Is this for real?’ I texted
coach and said, ‘Is this for real?’ Nall
said. “Because I know how good of a
player he is: He was incredible in high
school and he did great things at Ore-
gon. So seeing him coming in — and
now working with him a little bit —
I’m excited to see what he’s going to be
able to help us out with.”