SPORTS
TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2016
1B
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PENDLETON
Olympics
Fighting the right way
AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
Ibtihaj Muhammad of the Unit-
ed States salutes the referee
prior to competing with Ole-
na Kravatska of Ukraine in the
women’s individual saber fenc-
ing event at the 2016 Summer
Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Bra-
zil, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016.
Fencer’s
notable fi rst:
Muhammad only
athlete to ever
compete in hijab for
United States
By ARNIE STAPLETON
Associated Press
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Abraham Campos, left, warms up with sparring partner Justin Milani on Monday at Solid Base Jiu-Jitsu while preparing for a fi ght
later this week in Boise.
Gym in Umatilla.
Campos came in a scrawny,
tall and troubled kid. Picard heard
stories from Campos involving
him packing weapons and often
getting into fi ghts to fend for
himself. He was raw, both in
skill and attitude, and didn’t stick
around for long.
As he continued getting into
trouble at school, his parents grew
increasingly worried. At their
urging, Campos eventually agreed
to attend Oregon Youth Challenge
Program, an alternative school and
boot camp program in Bend. He
spent 22 weeks there, and returned
home determined to get his life on
track.
“I started thinking about the
decisions I was making that were
not just affecting me, they were
affecting my family and everybody
else around me,” Campos said.
“That’s when I started focusing.”
Campos enters Friday’s feath-
RIO DE JANEIRO — The
third day of Olympic competition
featured a couple of notable fi rsts:
Rafaela Silva captured host Brazil’s
initial gold medal of the Rio Games
and fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad
became the only American ever to
compete in the Olympics wearing a
hijab.
The U.S. men’s basketball team
surged after a slow start, beating
Venezuela 113-69 on Monday night
and Serena Williams struggled
before beating France’s Alize
Cornet 7-6 (5), 6-2 in her bid for
a second consecutive singles gold
medal.
Silva, who grew up on one
of Rio’s hillside shanty towns,
won judo’s 57-kilogram division,
then, overwhelmed with emotion,
performed the Brazilian version of
the Green Bay Packers’ “Lambeau
Leap” to celebrate with her compa-
triots Monday.
It was, at the least, a momentary
reprieve for the host country bracing
for what once seemed unthinkable:
an early exit by its men’s soccer
team from the Olympic tournament.
See CAMPOS/2B
See OLYMPICS/2B
Campos finds positive outlet for aggression in MMA
By WILL DENNER
East Oregonian
Nearing the most important
fi ght of his career to date, Abraham
Campos said he’s now making the
right choices.
Training out of Pendleton
mixed martial arts gym Solid
Base Jiu-Jitsu, Campos has dedi-
cated himself to eating healthy,
and improving his stamina and
technique in preparation for a
bout with Idaho’s Andrew Cruz.
Campos and Cruz will square off
at Front Street Fights 9 in Boise on
Friday.
The stakes of this fi ght are
unlike any Campos has faced
previously.
Front Street Fights is a
feeder organization to Bellator
MMA — widely considered the
most elite circuit below UFC. If
Campos beats Cruz, who owns a
2-0 professional record, he could
gain signifi cant momentum in his
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Abraham Campos, left, practices a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu moved
called a triangle with Justin Milani on Monday in Pendleton.
fi ghting career.
“I look at it like the most
important fi ght of my career and I
take it very seriously,” he said.
Campos, 22, has come a long
way professionally and personally
since he fi rst set foot in an MMA
gym seven years ago.
Johnny Picard, owner of Solid
Base, met Campos in December
2009 when both started training
the same week at Straight Blast
HERMISTON
Talley brings momentum into Farm-City Pro Rodeo
In this Aug. 13,
2015, fi le photo,
Timber Moore
of Aubrey, Texas,
ropes his calf in
8.5 seconds in
tie-down roping
at the Farm-
City Pro Rodeo
in Hermiston.
Moore isn’t the
only defending
Farm-City cham-
pion entering the
week ranked No.
1 in the PRCA
world standings.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Past Hermiston
winners performing
well on tour
PRCA Media &
East Oregonian
DODGE CITY, Kan. —
Jacob Talley’s 2016 season
has offi cially gone from a
dream to a reality.
The 25-year-old steer wres-
tler from Keatchie, Louisiana,
won the 40th annual Dodge
City Roundup Rodeo Aug.
7, continuing his career-best
year.
He clocked a time of 4.2
seconds to win the short round,
and took the average title with
a time of 13.6 seconds on
three head.
“I knew I had a good steer
drawn — they had been 3.8
and 4.4 on him this week —
so I just had to score well,”
Talley said of his run in the
short go. “He did exactly what
I thought he would do, and
he was outstanding on the
ground.”
Talley’s emergence into the
See FCPR/2B
28th FCPR
WHAT: One of the fi nal
stops on the PRCA’s
Wrangler Million Dollar
Tour
WHEN: Wednesday-Sat-
urday, 7:25 p.m. (Spe-
cialty act Metal Mulisha
begins at 6:45 p.m. the
fi rst two nights)
WHERE: Farm-City
Arena at the Umatilla
County Fairgrounds
COST: $17 general ad-
mission, $20 reserved,
$5 children
Sports shorts
Congealed fi eld cancels NFL game
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — The Pro Football
Hall of Fame will issue refunds to ticket
buyers who went home from the NFL’s annual
preseason kickoff without having watched any
football.
The competitors for roster spots
with the Colts and the Packers
won’t get the game back, though.
After Brett Favre stole the
show with a humorous, insightful
and moving speech during the
induction ceremony for his class on Saturday,
the talk of league turned the next night to the
fi eld. That’s because part of it was congealed,
rendering the Indianapolis-Green Bay game
unplayable.
The traditional exhibition in Canton, Ohio,
an extra preseason contest for each team and
source of local pride, was canceled when NFL
and team offi cials deemed the turf unsafe due to
hardened paint and loosened rubber pellets.
“In this offense, the
quarterback is the point
guard, and a point guard
who looks for assists.
The quarterback is not a
position where you can
really do anything by
yourself. It’s cool to play
quarterback in an offense
with this many weapons
around it.“
— Dakota Prukop
One of three quarterbacks compet-
ing to be Oregon’s starter this sea-
son. The Ducks opened fall practice
Monday morning.
Kennewick team falls to Japan
in Cal Ripken championship
ABERDEEN, Md. (AP) — Kennewick
American’s run at the Cal Ripken 12s World
Series ended Saturday with a 7-0 loss to Japan
in the championship game in
Aberdeen, Md.
“I’m pleased as punch,”
Kennewick coach Bryan Knapik
told the Tri-City Herald via
telephone. “We had a great
tournament. We are No. 1 in the nation. Japan
was by far the best team we have ever played.”
It was the fi rst time a team representing the
Pacifi c Northwest had reached the title game.
Kennewick American ended its season with an
impressive 36-5 record.
Adding to the accolades, Kennewick’s
Simeon Howard doubled in his fi rst at-bat,
breaking a World Series record for hits in a
tournament with 13. Howard also was named
MVP of the U.S. side of the bracket.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1936 — Jesse Owens
becomes the fi rst American to
win four Olympic gold medals
as the United States sets a world
record in the 4x100 relay at the
Berlin Games. The record time
of 39.8 seconds lasts for 20
years.
1992 — The Summer
Olympics ends with the
Unifi ed Team holding a
112-108 lead in medals over
the United States, the closest
race since America won 90-86
in 1964 at Tokyo.
2012 — Maggie Steffens
scored fi ve times and the U.S.
women’s water polo team beat
Spain 8-5 to take the Olympic
tournament for the fi rst time.
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