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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THuRSDAY, FEbRuARY 21, 2019
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Four Knappa players earn all-league
The Daily Astorian
NORTHWEST LEAGUE ALL-LEAGUE
League champion Colum-
bia Christian swept the top
awards, but second-place
Knappa landed four players
on the Northwest League’s
all-league boys basket-
ball squad, announced
at last weekend’s league
tournament.
Columbia Christian had
two players on the first team,
two on the second team and
one honorable mention,
as all five starters for the
No. 1-ranked Knights were
selected all-league.
The Knights also swept
the individual awards, as
sophomore Ben Gregg was
named the league’s Player
of the Year, and Bart Valen-
tine was Coach of the Year.
Columbia’s
Elijah
Munyan was selected as the
Player of the Year: Ben Gregg,
Columbia Christian
Defensive Player of the Year: Elijah
Munyan, Columbia Christian
Coach of the Year: Bart Valentine,
Columbia Christian
FIRST TEAM
Ben Gregg, So., Columbia Christian
Josh Elinsky, Sr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Timber Engblom, Sr., Knappa
Riley Marshall, Sr., Gaston
Malakai Munoz, Sr., Portland Christian
Elijah Munyan, So., Columbia Christian
Eli Takalo, Jr., Knappa
SECOND TEAM
Brad Antal, Sr., Portland Christian
Dominic Blake, Sr., Columbia
Jakob Handegard, Sr., Vernonia
Ian Knox, Sr., City Christian
Isiah Mariscal, Jr., Columbia
Caleb Predmore, Sr., Faith Bible
Third team
Chase Dorsey, Sr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Moritz Hartwich, So., Columbia
Isaac Johnson, Jr., City Christian
Tristan Lund, Sr., Gaston
Mitchell Richwine, Jr., Nestucca
Ty Vanderburg, Sr., Knappa
Honorable mention
Eoghan Collopy, Jr., Portland Christian
McKinley Faria, Jr., City Christian
A.J. Pieper, Sr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Joe Ramvick, Jr., Knappa
Nik Rex, Sr., Faith Bible
Kale Sullivan, Jr., Vernonia
Sportsmanship: Nestucca
All-league (defense)
Elijah Munyan, So., Columbia
Sakari Haynes, So., Portland Christian
Eric Lambert, Jr., Neah-Kah-Nie
Tristan Lund, Sr., Gaston
Ytbarek Solomon, Sr., City Christian
Ty Vanderburg, Sr., Knappa
NWL’s Defensive Player of
the Year.
Knappa had two first-
team selections, with senior
Timber Engblom and junior
Eli Takalo joining five oth-
ers on the first team.
Logger senior Ty Van-
derburg made the third
team and also made the
league’s
all-defensive
team, and junior Joe Ram-
vick was named honorable
mention.
Krissy Barendse-Goodman/For The Daily Astorian
The Northwest League’s all-league boys basketball team is introduced in last Saturday’s league
tournament. Columbia Christian’s Ben Gregg, left, is greeted by Knappa’s Timber Engblom.
Logger junior Eli Takalo is at right.
Blazers in familiar territory
but with 2 new additions
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
Angela Barendse
The Knappa middle school wrestling club had three wrestlers
in Monday’s tournament, and all three placed in the top four of
their respective weights. From left to right, Blaine Ogier, Josh
Bangs and Corbin Roe, the champion at 80 pounds.
Middle school
wrestlers score wins
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
Middle school wrestling
teams from Clatsop County
and one from Ilwaco all took
part in the Columbia Pacific
district tournament for mid-
dle schools, held Monday in
Tillamook.
The team championship
was won by Tillamook with
396 points, ahead of teams
from Scappoose (310), Banks
(223.5) and Warrenton (211).
Astoria was sixth out of
the 14 schools that took part.
Ilwaco was eighth, Knappa
10th and Seaside 14th.
Astoria had two individual
champions, including Aiden
Giles, who took first at 175
pounds.
Giles scored a pair of quick
pins against Jake Hobbs of
Banks (14 seconds) and Ilwa-
co’s Dillon Shaw (18 seconds),
then pinned teammate Sal
Wienecke in the final, in 3:39.
Astoria teammate Wil
Hofmann only had to wrestle
one match to take first at 275
pounds, a 9-3 decision over
Tillamook’s Andrew Niemi.
Knappa’s Corbin Roe wres-
tled two matches to win the
title at 80 pounds, where Roe
pinned Michael Seaver of St.
Helens in 15 seconds, then
won by fall over Tillamook’s
David Weathers in 2:26.
Warrenton scored big points
with several top five placers.
With a 17-3 record, War-
renton’s Raul Molina took sec-
ond at 125 pounds.
Molina pinned four straight
opponents, with falls over
Clatskanie’s Stormy Turk
(1:48), Logan Boyd of Rain-
ier (1:27), a quarterfinal pin
vs. Caden Harris of Banks
(2:17) and a semifinal pin
over Rainier’s Angel Becerra
(2:31).
In the title match, unde-
feated Austin Stockwell of St.
Helens pinned Molina in 57
seconds.
Warrenton teammate Bran-
don Runolfson took second
at 140, where he had three
straight pins over wrestlers
from Vernonia (Kaden Mer-
gel, 1:06), Astoria (Stian Mat-
thews, 2:38) and Tillamook
(Devin O’Conner, 2:10),
before Tillamook’s Gilbert
Whitlatch scored a 13-1 major
decision over Runolfson.
And Warrenton’s Kai-
son Smith placed second at
160, where he had a 44-sec-
ond pin over Timmy DeSanto
of Scappoose, an 8-6 deci-
sion over Clatskanie’s Domi-
nic Navarro, and a 59-second
pin against Daevon Vereen of
Banks in the semifinals.
Ben Rintoul of Scappoose
scored a 38-second pin over
Smith in the title match.
Other Warrenton plac-
ers included David Niehu-
ser (third, 102), Richard Bola-
nos (third, 140), Alex Horrace
(third, 195), James Mickel-
son (fourth, 132) and Ryder
Sturgell (fifth, 102).
In addition to their two indi-
vidual champions, Astoria’s
meet was highlighted by sec-
ond-place finishes for Sal Wie-
necke at 175 and Glen Lewis
at 220.
Other placers included Gun-
nar Olson (third, 110), Andrew
Davidson (fourth, 90), Stian
Matthews (fourth, 140) and
Conner Colvin (fourth, 175).
For Knappa, Blaine Ogier
was second at 85, where he
won three straight by pin
over Gage Hillman of Ilwaco
(1:08), Nestucca’s Zakai Chat-
elain (29 seconds), and George
Bergstrom of Banks (1:28).
In the championship match,
Carson Jackson of Scappoose
pinned Ogier in 53 seconds.
Also for Knappa, Josh
Bangs was fourth at 102.
Seaside’s Isaac Hale took
sixth at 150.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
FRIDAY
Girls basketball — 1B regional: Clallam Bay vs. Naselle, 6 p.m., at Mark Morris HS
Boys basketball — 2A state playoff: Coquille at Knappa, 6 p.m.
Wrestling — State meet, Memorial Coliseum, Portland
SATURDAY
Girls basketball — 3A state playoff: Amity at Warrenton, 6:30 p.m.; 2B regional: Daven-
port vs. Ilwaco, 4 p.m., at Mark Morris HS
Boys basketball — 1B regional: Naselle vs. Sunnyside Christian, 2 p.m., at Ellensburg HS
Wrestling — State meet, Memorial Coliseum, Portland
PORTLAND — The
Trail Blazers find them-
selves in much the same
position as last season head-
ing into the post-All-Star
break stretch run.
They’re coming off a
confidence-boosting win
over Golden State.
One thing is new this
year, however. The Blazers
made a couple of key moves
before the break to shore up
their bench and to help pro-
pel them into the playoffs.
Portland resumes its sea-
son tonight at the Brook-
lyn Nets, the first of a gruel-
ing seven-game road swing.
The game will likely mark
the Blazers debut of Enes
Kanter, signed just before
the break.
Kanter was waived by
the Knicks following the
trade deadline. He was once
a starter in New York but he
fell out of the rotation when
the team turned its focus to
younger players. The cen-
ter from Turkey averaged
14 points and 10.8 rebounds
in 115 games over two
seasons.
“As far as the rotation,
that should be pretty seam-
less. He’ll get the backup
five minutes,” Blazers coach
Terry Stotts said. “He’s a
proven NBA player. He can
score, he can rebound. He’s
played in big games. So it
shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Kanter will join a sec-
ond unit that, as it stands,
includes Jake Layman, Seth
Curry, Evan Turner and
another newcomer, Rod-
ney Hood. Acquired at the
AP Photo/Kathy Willens
New York Knicks center Enes Kanter signed with the Trail Blazers just before the all-star
break.
trade deadline in a deal with
Cleveland, Hood has played
in four games with the Blaz-
ers, averaging 9.72 points a
game.
The moves give Port-
land better depth as the team
heads into the critical part of
the season. The Blazers are
34-23 and in fourth place
in the Western Conference.
They’re seven games back
of first-place Golden State,
the team they bested by 22
points last week.
“To go into the All-Star
break and be confident
knowing that we beat one
of the best teams, if not the
best team in the NBA, it’s
huge for us,” forward Zach
Collins said.
There are still 25 games
left, but for the past two
years the Blazers have
mounted
post-break
rallies.
Last year at this time,
Portland was 32-26, sitting
in sixth place in the West,
and also coming off a vic-
tory over the Warriors. The
win touched off a 13-game
winning streak that helped
the team secure the West’s
third seed for a fifth straight
playoff appearance. The
team’s streak matched the
franchise record.
The previous season,
Portland lost three straight
games to go into the break
at 23-33, and an overtime
loss at Detroit shortly there-
after put the Blazers 11
games under .500. But Port-
land caught fire from there
and went 13-3 in March.
Damian Lillard was named
the conference’s Player of
the Month, averaging 29.1
points in 16 games, and
Stotts was named Coach of
the Month.
Following the latest vic-
tory over the Warriors, Lil-
lard said he was happy with
the team’s position head-
ing into the remainder of
the season, even if they let
a few slip away.
“I like it, I think it’s better
than it has been in the past
going into the break,” he
said, referring to the team’s
current record. “A big win
going into the break. So
that’s a positive, but obvi-
ously for us we look back
at the opportunities we let
slip away. The Dallas game,
the Miami game at home. ...
But all things considered, I
think we all like where we
are.”
Seager enters 2019 after physical, dietary makeover
By JACK MAGRUDER
Associated Press
PEORIA, Ariz. — Seat-
tle third baseman Kyle Sea-
ger enters the 2019 season
after a physical and dietary
makeover. He learned to
embrace flexibility train-
ing, spinach, and a long-
term health plan.
Seager played the sec-
ond half of last season with
a broken left big toe, and
while that did not knock
him out of the lineup, it
affected his ability to plant
and drive forward and led
to a .221 batting average
and a .273 on-base percent-
age, career lows.
Even after a seventh
consecutive 20-home run
season, he felt it was time
to try something new.
“It really opened my
eyes and pointed out I
needed to make some
adjustments,” Seager said.
“I needed to make some
changes physically. I knew
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Kyle Seager waits to bat during spring training in Peoria, Ariz.
my body wasn’t recovering
like it should.”
Seager, who leads major
league third basemen with
1,079 games since 2012,
said his new program with
North
Carolina-based
trainer Jason Lindsey con-
centrated on stretching
and flexibility rather that
weight work.
“The first aspect was
physically cleaning up
all the areas that were so
inflexible,” Seager said.
Seager did stretches and
exercises in the early morn-
ings before driving his chil-
dren to school and con-
tinuing on to his training
session. He did more exer-
cises at night.
Seager learned that his
broken toe, generally traced
to a late June at-bat, was
not caused by a foul ball
but by his general inflexi-
bility, as were other issues.
“My back would get
tight on me throughout
the season,” Seager said.
“It always has done that. I
thought you play third base,
you do 150 squats a day
basically over there, you
are going to get tight. You
swing a lot. Going to Jason,
he pointed out a lot of other
areas of my body that were
tight and that were caus-
ing issues. It (flexibility)
is important for swing,
defense, everything.”
Manager Scott Servais
said Seager’s changes have
been noticeable in early
batting practice.
“It (swing) looks a lit-
tle bit different,” Servais
said. “It is probably what
we saw more out of Kyle
earlier in his career. Hope-
fully, he can get his body
in better positions and get
it moving better and get
the results he is looking
for.”