S PORTS
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Hood River News, Saturday, April 18, 2015
A7
Hood River’s Jason Shaner sixth at
World of Wrestling Championships
Competing for Elite Edge Wrestling Academy, Shaner is beating the best
By BEN MITCHELL
Over the course of three days, Shaner wrestled in 12
matches — sometimes wrestling in matches back to back —
Still fresh off his sixth-place finish at the OSAA state and was victorious in nine of them. And despite entering the
wrestling championships in late February, Hood River Val- tournament unseeded, Shaner still took down a wrestler
from Utah who was ranked No. 7 in the
ley High School freshman Jason Shaner
nation, and another whom he had seen
has added another notch in his
before — Hillsboro’s Peyton Bell, who
wrestling belt: standing on the podium
won the 113-pound weight class at the
at a national wrestling championship.
state championships this year.
Last weekend, Shaner, competing for
And unlike many other wrestlers he
Hood River’s Elite Edge Wrestling Acad-
competes against, Shaner, who also
emy, placed sixth out of a bracket of 117
plays football at the high school, has
wrestlers in the 115-pound 13-15 age
only been wrestling since the seventh
group at the World of Wrestling Cham-
COACH SEAN BAKER
grade.
pionships in Reno, Nev., and was named
“The most amazing thing is that this
All-American due to his win at a na-
tional championship. With well over 3,000 competitors repre- is only his third year wrestling,” Baker says. “It sometimes
senting 46 states and three countries, the event is considered takes kids 10, 11 years to place in this tournament.”
Shaner had been to the championship last year, where he
the largest youth wrestling tournament in the nation, ac-
cording to Shaner’s coach at Elite Edge Wrestling Academy,
See SHANER, Page A8
Sean Baker.
News staff writer
‘The most amazing thing
is that this is only his
third year wrestling’
Photo courtesy of the Shaner family
JASON SHANER poses with his sixth-place medal from last week-
end’s World of Wrestling Championships, as well as a certifi-
cateshowing his status as an All American, awarded to those who
are able to place in a national championship.
Another rally for
HRV softball team
Eagles have 7-7 overall record
heading into league games
By BEN MITCHELL
News staff writer
Photos by Ben Mitchell
LAX ON A ROLL
The HRV boys lax team enjoyed two wins in a row this week and are now
5-2 on the season heading into divisional games that start next week. On
Tuesday, the team soundly defeated the Century Jaguars 22-3, and then
headed to Rex Putnam High School on Thursday to defeat the Kingsmen by
a score of 8-5. In Tuesday’s game, Cody Wheat and Torsenn Brown led the
team with four goals apiece, Jackson Lebsack chipped in with three, and
Henry Barton led the team in assists. “It was good to see the boys really
start sharing the ball and looking for the extra pass,” coach Matt
Luchsinger said. “I think that we did a really great job with controlling the
ball and moving it down field after a ground ball.” The Eagles next play
Lincoln in Hood River on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Clockwise from top, Jackson
Lebsack makes a cut around a Century defender in Tuesday’s game; Cody
Wheat passes the ball to a teammate, and Torsenn Brown scores a goal
during the first half.
BARAJAS BREAKS ANOTHER RECORD
SEBASTIAN BARAJAS
Junior Sebastian Barajas is continuing on his quest to become what HRV track
and field coach Donnie Herniesen calls “the most dominant thrower in the histo-
ry of HRVHS,” after breaking yet another school record, this time in shot put.
During Tuesday’s dual meet at Hermiston, Barajas threw the 51 feet, 10 inches,
breaking the previous record set in 2013 by Eli Fults of 51-2. Before that, the shot
record hadn’t been broken in over 30 years. After breaking the school’s discus
record a couple weeks ago, Barajas now holds both the shot and discus records.
In general, Herniesen said the meet produced weather that “was really not con-
ducive to great marks for most of our athletes,” noting that the “kids were frozen
and wind blasted.” He noted that short sprinters Jestena Mattson on the girls
team and Parker Irusta on the boys team, “continue to lead our sprints group and
rank at or near the top of the 5A sprinters in Oregon.”
Mattson had a season-best time of 12.26 seconds in the 100 meter, which was
good for first place, and helped lead the team to wins in both the 4x100 meter and
4x400 meter relays along with teammates Emily Viuhkola, Kassidy Davidson,
Maya Anderson (4x100), and Audrey Marble (4x400).
Parker Irusta also had a good day in the 100 meter, setting a personal record of
11.34 and placing second. He placed first in the 200 with a time of 23.49 and com-
peted in the 4x100 with Irvin Castillo, Tyrone Stintzi, and Irusta; the team placed
second with a time of 44.72.
After hosting the annual Blossom Invitational Friday (meet had not been run
by press time), HRV travels to The Dalles to face The Dalles and Dufur at 3:30 p.m.
Call them the comeback kids.
For the second game in a row, HRV softball
has overcome a six-run deficit in the third in-
ning to defeat their opponents, thanks to some
productive bats and equally productive gloves
in late innings.
After rallying to defeat La Salle, 9-6, on Mon-
day, the Eagles torched the Redmond Panthers,
16-7, on Wednesday, to sit at .500 on the season
through 14 games.
HRV got down early in the away game, giving
up two runs in the first and four more in the
second without being able to respond with any
of their own.
That changed in the top of the third, when
the Eagles erupted with a seven-run inning that
was kicked off by a right-field fly-ball triple
from Jessica DeHart that allowed Jessica
Hardy to score. On the very next play, Zoe Munn
did the same thing, sending a fly ball to right
field and advancing to third base, which sent
DeHart home. Hits from JoJo Karr, Jessie Karr,
and Jenni Packer helped send more runners
‘It’s fun to watch them battle and
enter league (play) on a solid
streak of games’
ERIC KELLER
home that inning, with the cherry on top com-
ing from Kaylin Winans, who smashed one to
center field for a two-run homer that ended the
scoring for HRV in the third. After down 6-0,
HRV had a 7-6 lead.
The Eagles continued to pour it on in the
fourth and fifth innings, scoring three runs and
two runs, respectively, to double up on Red-
mond’s score, 12-6. The Panthers finally re-
sponded in the bottom of the fifth with what
would be the team’s last run of the game to
make it 12-7. HRV added another four runs in
the top of the sixth, and Redmond was unable
to respond in the bottom of the sixth.
Not every player on the HRV roster had a hit
Wednesday afternoon, but every runner scored
at least once. Leading HRV was Munn with
three (three hits in four at bats, double, double,
triple), followed by DeHart (2, 2 for 2, single,
triple), Packer (2, 2 for 2, single, single), Jessica
Hardy (2, 1 for 3, single), Wells (1, 2 for 4, single,
double), Jessie Karr (1, 1 for 3, single), Breanna
Weekly (1, 0 for 4), Hannah McNerney (1), Mak-
ena Zeller (1, 1 for 2, single), Winans (1, 1 for 4,
HR), and JoJo Karr (1, 3 for 4, single, single,
double), who also led the team with five RBI.
Wianans pitched the entirety of the game for
HRV, giving up nine hits. Weekly led the team
See EAGLES, Page A8
Riverside Gymnastics Academy heads to state
Gorge Gymnastics members qualify for State
Local athletes with Riverside Gymnastics Academy com-
peted last week at the Precision Elite Spring Invitational in
Clackamas, leading up to the Oregon State Spring Champi-
onship, which is being held at Athletic Edge Gymnastics in
Salem, April 24-26.
All of Riverside Gymnastics Academy’s compulsory team
girls qualified for state (20 girls). A minimum score of 32.0
was required to qualify. Six of the girls representing RGA are
from Hood River.
Results from the invitational are as follows:
Level 3 Team: third place with a score of 111.1 (arrived at
from taking the top 3 scores on each individual event).
Audrey Fuentes: first on floor with a 9.475 and third all-
around in the senior division with a 37.3.
Ava Krentz: first on vault with a 9.5; second on bars with
a 9.075, and second all-around with a 36.35 in the junior di-
vision.
Level 4 Team: second with a 111.25.
Regina Sanchez Macias: first on bars with a 9.5, floor
with a 9.3, and the all-around title with a 36.725 in the ju-
nior division.
Jacy Johnston: first on bars with a 9.5, (her personal best
in this event), first on floor with a 9.3, second on vault with
a 8.825, and second place all-around with a 36.35 in
the Children C division.
Coach Jacque Johnston said, “The girls are in a great
place to peak at the State Championship (next week).
They’ve been working hard in the gym, which is paying off
at the competitions. I’m super proud of all of them.”
Eight members of the Gorge Gymnastics team competed in Clackamas at the
Spring Invitational on April 11th. In their first competition as Level 3’s, the gym-
nasts earned a sixth-place overall finish as a team. The highlight of the meet in the
Child Division came from a second-place finish in vault by Poppy Clegg with a
score of 9.525. She also placed eighth all-around with a score of 33.1.
Also competing in the Child Division was Dylan Vaivoda-Kerr who earned a
fifth-place finish on uneven bars with an 8.4, sixth place on the floor exercise with
a 8.725, and sixth all-around with a score of 34.025.
In the Junior A Division, Bailey Jenkinson wowed the judges with her floor rou-
tine earning her a third place finish with a score of 9.425. She also tied for sixth
on vault with a 9.15 and sixth all-around with a 35. Also competing was Eva Horst
who placed fourth, right behind Jenkinson on floor exercise with a score of 9.375.
She also placed seventh on balance beam with an 8.45 and was seventh all-
around with a score of 34.975.
Competing in the Junior C Division was Carrie Walker, who scored an 8.675 on
floor exercise to place seventh, and she also placed seventh all-around with a
score of 33.725. Competing alongside Walker was Luci Stevenson, who placed
fourth on uneven bars with a score of 8.45 and placed eighth all-around with a
score of 32.65.
Competing in the Senior A Division was Sara Campbell, who tied for seventh on
floor exercise with a score of 8.95 and placed 10th all-around with a score of 33.7.
Also competing as a senior was Saige Brennan, who led the team with a third-
place finish on uneven bars with a score of 8.85, fourth on floor exercise with a
9.175, seventh on vault with a 9.3, and fifth all-around with a 35.875.
All eight members of the team earned scores high enough to qualify them for
the Oregon State Championships to be held at The Athletic Edge in Salem during
the last weekend of April. The girls train at Hood River Sports Club under coaches
Steve Roney, Amy Hay, and Cynthia Wells.
Contirubted photo
MEMBERS OF THE GORGE GYMNASTICS TEAM dis-
play their medals after receiving high marks at the Spring
Invitational in Clackamas last weekend. All eight mem-
bers of the team have earned the right to compete at
state next week.