A3
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2021
SPORTS
BOYS BASKETBALL
Knappa pounds
Heppner, 70-32
The Astorian
Corey Conant
At the district meet last week, team champion Warrenton qualifi ed nine wrestlers for the unoffi cial state tournament. The
Warriors have since added a 10th wrestler to the list.
District champ Warriors hope for state title
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
The Warrenton Warriors
are the new kings of Dis-
trict 2 wrestling. And with
the youth on this year’s ros-
ter, Warrenton’s district title
last week could be the fi rst
of many.
Warrenton district cham-
pionships were common in
the 1970s, when the War-
riors won fi ve straight from
1973 to 1977 (under three
diff erent coaches). Dennis
Warren took the Warriors to
additional district titles in
1988 and 1990.
That marked the end of
Warrenton’s district champi-
onships, until the 2021 War-
riors won last Saturday’s
District 2 title at Clatskanie,
topping a fi eld of eight
teams.
The Warriors fi nished
with 230.5 points, ahead of
second-place Rainier (214),
with Yamhill-Carlton (177)
a distant third. Defending
champion Dayton fi nished
back in the pack with 115
points.
“We knew that we had
a shot because we were as
deep as any team in our
league, but our league is very
deep,” said Warrenton coach
Corey Conant. “Rainier,
Willamina, Yamhill-Carl-
ton, Dayton and Taft all have
competitive programs, and
Amity and Clatskanie have
some very high-talent indi-
viduals on their teams.”
Meanwhile, Warrenton’s
highest fi nish at state is sec-
ond place, accomplished in
1976, ‘77 and ‘89. If all goes
right, the Warriors will break
through with a state champi-
onship later this week, when
3A schools meet for the sea-
son-ending tournament Sat-
urday in Redmond.
As the champion from
the state’s toughest district
— why not Warrenton? Last
year’s District 2 champion,
Dayton, fi nished second at
state in 2020.
Warrenton had just fi ve
wrestlers in the 2020 state
tournament, and the War-
riors doubled that and will
be well-armed with 10 ath-
letes this year. (Only La
Pine, with 12, will have
more wrestlers).
The group is led by senior
Sam Irwin, the huge favorite
at 195 pounds. The defend-
ing state champion would be
Warrenton’s fi rst two-time
state champion in over 50
years of school records.
Irwin had to wrestle a lit-
tle over a minute to win his
district title. The bracket at
195 only had four wrestlers,
with Irwin scoring victories
by fall in the semifi nals over
Yamhill-Carlton’s Hunter
McAvoy in 23 seconds, then
pinned Yamhill’s Hunter
Stephenson in 56 seconds
for the title.
Warrenton’s other two-
time champion was senior
Nic Pior at 145. He pinned
wrestlers from Clatskanie
and Willamina in his fi rst
two matches, then defeated
Dayton’s Jimmy Larsen 8-5
in the fi nale.
At 170, sophomore James
Mickelson pinned No. 1
seed Parker Cavan, of Wil-
lamina, (5:18) and won by
fall over Rainier’s Donovan
Smith (1:51) to reach the
fi nals, where he would have
faced junior teammate Alex
Tapia. The Warriors opted
“to save that match for the
state tournament,” Conant
said, as Tapia was given the
victory by forfeit.
Tapia pinned Eli Jones,
of Taft, in 23 seconds, then
topped No. 2 seed Andrew
Allen, of Willamina, 4-2, to
reach the fi nal.
Elsewhere, junior Jorge
Lopez took third at 138, fi n-
ishing 3-1 and beating high-
er-seeded wrestlers along the
way.
Freshman David Niehu-
ser was third at 152, where
he pinned Yamhill’s Eli Pot-
ter and Kyle Troutman, of
Dayton, before a loss in the
semifi nals.
Warrior junior Josh Nie-
huser (3-1) was third at
182, where senior Duane
Falls (2-2) took fourth, and
also earned an at-large spot
at state. Niehuser defeated
Falls 10-4 in the third-place
match.
And at 220, junior Josh
Smith was third, “and contin-
ues to show huge improve-
ment and toughness in his
second year,” said Conant,
who was voted district
Coach of the Year, “which is
a huge honor and testament
to our staff and the work we
have put in together. Trent
Klebe, Steve Stratton, Len-
nie Wolfe and I all share the
award.”
Early this week, the tour-
nament added the 10th
and fi nal Warrior, Austin
Atwood, to the 126-pound
bracket.
The Warriors “needed
contributions from up and
down the lineup, and we
needed to earn bonus points
from falls, which is exactly
what the kids went out and
did,” he said. “It was satis-
fying to see their hard work
pay off . Not every wrestler
met their goal, but we set
very high goals for ourselves
and can live with the results
of our best work.”
The Knappa boys bas-
ketball team sent the stron-
gest statement Monday
night to the rest of the 2A
fi nalists — the Loggers are
on a roll.
It wasn’t even close, as
Knappa jumped out to a
15-0 lead over Heppner, on
its way to a 70-32 win, in a
game played at Rockwood
Commons in Portland. It
was the most lopsided win
of the fi rst round.
The Loggers advanced
to the fi nal eight, where
they were scheduled to
play Wednesday at Salem
Academy.
After losing the season
opener to 4A power Sea-
side, Knappa has won 11 of
its last 12, including the last
seven straight.
Tanner Jackson and
Shane McMahan scored 18
points apiece for the Log-
gers, but “the story was
our defense,” said Knappa
coach Paul Isom. “We were
about to jump on them early,
starting the game on a 15-0
run fueled by our defense
and creating turnovers.
“Tanner particularly was
just a monster tonight,” he
said. “He was fl ying around
making plays all over the
court. And everyone fed off
that. Every guy who played
came in with a ton of energy
and we were able to pres-
sure basically the whole
game and make everything
diffi cult for Heppner.”
Still, Isom said, “Credit
to Heppner. They came out
in the third and made a run
like we knew they would.
They are a well-coached
team with a bunch of great
athletes. But it seemed like
every time they went on a
four- or six-point run we
would come down and hit a
big shot or create a turnover
and get an easy bucket. Just
a great team win.”
Seaside qualifi es fi ve
wrestlers for state
The Astorian
The Seaside wrestling
team qualifi ed fi ve wres-
tlers for the 4A state tour-
nament later this week.
Tillamook cruised to the
District 1/4A title with 353
points last week, followed
by Estacada (223), Banks
(214), Woodburn (161.5),
North Marion (135), Sea-
side (103.5), Molalla (45)
and Astoria (21).
Leading the way for the
Gulls will be junior Law-
son Talamantez, the district
champion at 220 pounds.
Talamantez wrestled just
twice in the district tourna-
ment, pinning Woodburn’s
Axel Avendano in 3:27 in
a semifi nal, then pinning
Tillamook’s Jackson Con-
treras in 50 seconds in the
title match.
Junior Everett Roll-
ins placed third out of fi ve
wrestlers at 160 pounds,
and the Gulls had three
wrestlers take fourth, with
sophomore Xander Knox
(113), freshman Robert
Howes (126) and senior
J.J. Stanley (285) all qual-
ifying for state.
Former Astoria runner competes in
US Olympic Track & Field Trials
The Astorian
Astoria had a connection
in this year’s U.S. Olympic
Track & Field Trials, which
continues this week at Hay-
ward Field in Eugene.
Kaylee Mitchell, who
recently completed her red-
shirt sophomore year at Ore-
gon State University, ran in
Sunday’s fi rst heat of the wom-
en’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Wearing her Oregon State
uniform, Mitchell fi nished
32nd in 10 minutes, 26.69
seconds. Heat 1 was won by
Emma Coburn, of New Bal-
ance, in 9:21.32.
Mitchell was off her per-
sonal best pace of 9:48.30,
which she set May 14 at the
Katherine B. Loker Stadium
in Los Angeles.
“I’m incredibly proud of
this journey that Kaylee has
been on,” said Louie Quin-
tana, Mitchell’s coach at Ore-
gon State. “It’s certainly not
Oregon State University
Former Astoria runner Kaylee Mitchell running a steeplechase
event earlier this season for Oregon State University.
the result she was looking for,
but just gaining the experience
of competing at the Olympic
t rials is huge. She is a soph-
omore and she will be back
and better at these big meets.
There are big things ahead for
the Beavers.”
Mitchell’s personal best
was accomplished at the Pac-
12 Championships, and set
a new Oregon State school
record.
Mitchell attended Asto-
ria High School in 2015 and
2016, before transferring to
Sprague High School after her
sophomore year.
Last spring, she fi n-
ished seventh in the Pac-
12 cross-country champion-
ships, leading the Beavers to
a school-record fourth place
team fi nish.
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