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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TuESDAY, FEbRuARY 5, 2019
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Astoria swimmers
capture team title
The Daily Astorian
T
he big meet is this weekend at New-
port, but Astoria scored a notable
victory last week, when the Fisher-
men boys’ swim team won a Cow-
apa League team championship.
Astoria racked up 287.5 points to fin-
ish atop the list of the four Cowapa League
schools with swim teams, which met for the
annual league meet Friday at the Astoria
Aquatic Center.
The Fishermen finished ahead of Seaside
(252.5 points), Valley Catholic (234) and
Tillamook (139).
Tillamook won the girls’ team title with
311 points, ahead of Valley Catholic (269),
Seaside (233) and Astoria (186).
The Cowapa League schools will meet
again later this week, along with teams from
Newport, Rainier, Taft and Toledo, for the
Special District 1-4A/3A/2A meet, Friday
and Saturday in Newport. The district meet
will decide state qualifiers.
Still, the Cowapa League title was a big
accomplishment for the Astoria boys, who
won three of the 11 events.
Junior Riley Cameron finished the 100-
yard freestyle in 55.37 seconds, the best
time among 14 entries in the event, and
the first Astoria win in three straight boys’
events.
Out of eight swimmers in the 500-yard
freestyle, Astoria sophomore Kevin Loyola
had the top time of 6:08.28, with teammate
Noah Kastengren second in 6:30.34.
And the Astoria foursome of Cameron,
Rocky Rub, Kastengren and Ryder Dopp
teamed up to win the 200-yard freestyle
relay in 1:45.70, for 32 team points.
Adding points for the Fishermen, Asto-
ria’s Phelan Dopp took second in both the
100-yard butterfly (1:12.83) and the 200-
yard freestyle (2:23.50), just ahead of team-
mate Nikolai Boisvert (2:23.76).
Cameron was second in the 200-yard
individual medley (2:20.22), and Elias
Simmons and Seaside’s Henry Garvin tied
for second (25.86) out of 13 entries in the
50-yard freestyle.
WRESTLING ROUNDUP
Knappa Kids find success at state
The Daily Astorian
While the high schoolers are competing in
league and district meets, five Knappa youth
wrestlers took part in the Oregon Kids state
tournament, held Friday through Sunday at the
OSU Truax Center in Corvallis.
The Knappa Kids had two top-four plac-
ers, as Gary Newberry III took fourth in a
16-wrestler peewee bracket, and Cutter Bar-
endse placed fourth out of 23 wrestlers in an
8U bantam bracket.
Newberry lost his first match in the 6U Pee-
wee 37 bracket, but bounced back with four
straight wins. The victories included a 21-sec-
ond pin over Axel Harmon of Creswell, a 9-6
decision against Mauricio Reyes of Eastern
Oregon Elite, and a 15-0 technical fall over
Roseburg/Umpqua Valley’s Esson McNabb.
In a consolation semifinal, Newberry won
a 7-4 decision vs. Blake Johnson of the Salem
Elite Mat Club.
In the third-place match, Dante Lewis of
the Beaverton Mat Club pinned Newberry in
59 seconds, leaving Newberry with 14.5 team
points.
Barendse had a busy tournament in his
70-pound division, wrestling seven matches,
winning five.
After a loss in the championship bracket
second round, Barendse wrestled back with
five straight victories.
He won three in a row by pin over wrestlers
from West Albany, Dayton and Pleasant Hill,
followed by a 5-4 decision against Harrison
Smith of the Lebanon Mat Club, who earlier
had defeated Barendse in the Oregon Classic.
In the consolation semifinals, Barendse
won by fall (2:33) over Cash Cooper of Pleas-
ant Hill.
And in the third-place match, Brayden
Thomas of the Dallas Mat Club won a thriller
over Barendse, 2-1.
“It’s been a long season and the kids have
worked hard,” said Knappa coach Gary New-
berry. “The hard work showed this weekend in
matches where they were down in points, but
worked hard to win in the end.”
Other Knappa wrestlers taking part
included Kenneth Lyle (8U Bantam 53),
Easton Bartlett (8U Bantam 56) and Kohen
Connor (10U Intermediate 84).
Warrenton girls place fifth in
the North Regional qualifier
Members of the Warrenton girls wrestling
team took part in the North Regional quali-
fier last weekend at Liberty High School in
Hillsboro.
The tournament drew 223 wrestlers,
“blowing away last year’s state tournament
numbers,” said Warrenton coach Corey
Conant.
Only two girls per weight qualified for the
state tournament, and unfortunately for the
Warriors, no Warrenton wrestlers were able to
qualify.
The brackets for the state tournament
include just four wrestlers per weight, with the
other two qualifiers coming out of the South
Regional, held last weekend at Thurston High
School.
“Next year they will look to expand it to
an eight-girl state tournament,” Conant said.
“I feel like that is a much more equitable
number. A lot of great wrestlers will not get a
chance to compete at state due to how tough it
can be to finish in the top two.”
The Warriors had 11 wrestlers competing
in the regional, after a rash of injuries and ill-
nesses over the past few weeks knocked sev-
eral team leaders out for the season.
Still, “the 11 girls who made it all the way
to competition did a wonderful job,” Conant
said.
Warrenton senior Noel O’Bryan took third
at 170 pounds, and had a chance to qualify for
state in consolation.
“She gave herself some chances, but wasn’t
able to pull off the victory,” Conant said.
Elsewhere, Warrior senior Madison Kadera
was fourth at 110, where she “turned it on at
the right time and came from behind to pin the
No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals,” Conant said.
Warrenton senior Libby Renhert was fifth
at 190.
Hillsboro won the team title, followed by
Hood River Valley, Century and Scappoose,
all 5A or 6A schools. Warrenton and Class 6A
Centennial tied for fifth.
“We are super proud of our most success-
ful Warrenton women’s wrestling team ever,”
Conant said. “They grew a ton this year and
continue to build a tradition for future Warren-
ton Warriors to follow.”
Other locals competing included Astoria
freshman Emma King, who went 5-2 and fin-
ished fifth in her weight bracket.
Knappa’s Lakota Schaeffer and Jade
Somoza were both 1-2 in their respective
divisions.
Conant said the number of wrestlers who
competed in the two regionals is double the
number of last year’s state tournament.
The sport of girls’ wrestling “is exploding
across the state, and we want the North Coast
to be a big part of that,” he said.
Points hard to come by for
Astoria, Seaside wrestlers
Wrestlers from four Cowapa League
schools met on the mats last Saturday in
Banks, where Tillamook ran off with the team
title.
The Cheesemakers racked up 446 points
to finish well ahead of Banks (231), Seaside
(114) and Astoria (34). The same four teams
will meet — along with teams from Estacada,
Molalla, North Marion and Woodburn — later
this week in the District 1/4A tournament, Fri-
day and Saturday in Tillamook.
Tillamook scored most of the victories
in Saturday’s league meet, leaving very few
points for the remaining teams.
For Seaside, Andrew Gastelum placed sec-
ond at 120 pounds, scoring 18 team points for
the Gulls.
After a first-round bye, Gastelum scored
his lone win over Mason Warren of Banks, a
54-second pin in the semifinals.
In the title match, Tillamook’s Keegan
Hagerty pinned Gastelum in 1:40.
The Gulls’ Lawson Talamantez took second
at 182. He took the same route as Gastelum,
with a first-round bye, followed by a semifinal
pin over Tillamook’s Rafael Martinez in 1:43.
In the championship, Fabian Niemi of Til-
lamook pinned Talamantez in 2:39.
Elsewhere, Seaside’s Aidan Tice took third
at 145, pinning Tillamook’s Andrew Fowler
in 2:47 in the third-place match. And Luke
Nelson placed third at 220, winning by fall (a
55-second pin) over Tillamook’s Justin Row-
ley in the third-place match.
William Eddy had the best finish for Asto-
ria, taking second at 126 pounds.
Eddy won by fall over Tillamook’s Lesile
Marquez in a quarterfinal match, followed by
a pin (2:56) over Haylee Davis of Banks in the
semifinals.
Tillamook’s Quintin Metcalfe pinned Eddy
in the title match.
Astoria’s Daniel Messing placed third at
132.
State qualifiers will be determined in the
district meet.
Howard Rub
Members of the Astoria boys swim team, following their Cowapa League team title Friday at
the Astoria Aquatic Center.
And in the final event of the day, the Fish-
ermen team of Simmons, Boisvert, Kasten-
gren and Loyola took second in the 400-
yard freestyle relay (4:10.61).
Also for the Seaside boys, Sean Olea
was second in the 100-yard backstroke
(1:15.93), with other Gulls placing third,
fourth and fifth.
On the girls’ side, Kendy Lin was the
big point-scorer for Seaside, as the senior
finished second in both the 200 freestyle
(2:20.71) and also the backstroke (1:10.13).
Astoria’s Tori Smith was second behind
Tillamook’s Nina Zweifel in the 200 indi-
vidual medley, and Astoria sophomore
Grace Peeler took second in the 500 free-
style (6:31.15).
In the relays, Astoria’s Constance Rouda,
Peeler, Smith and Everett Towsey-French
placed second in the 200-yard medley relay.
“It was a good opportunity to see the
increased level of competition as we pre-
pare for districts,” said Seaside coach Shane
Spell. The Seaside swimmers “raced tough
after a challenging week of practice. We’ll
use this week to fine-tune some things, rest
up a little bit more and see what can happen
at districts in Newport. Lots of great compe-
tition ahead, and also a great opportunity to
really push themselves for a strong finish.”
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls basketball — Banks at Astoria, 5 p.m.;
Valley Catholic at Seaside, 5 p.m.; Willamina
at Warrenton, 7:30 p.m.; Knappa at Nestucca,
6 p.m.; Jewell at Falls City, 5:30 p.m.
Boys basketball — Banks at Asto-
ria, 6:30 p.m.; Valley Catholic at Seaside,
6:30 p.m.; Willamina at Warrenton, 6 p.m.;
Knappa at Nestucca, 7:30 p.m.; Jewell at Falls
City, 7 p.m.
Knappa youth wrestlers
Cutter Barendse, left, and
Gary Newberry III both placed
fourth in their respective
weight divisions in last
weekend’s state tournament.
Knappa Kids wrestling