SPORTS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2017
1B
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Ironman offi cer returns to form Bulldogs
HERMISTON
Triathlon
tested at
The Clash
Minnesota
tournament gives
Hermiston wrestling
all it can handle
East Oregonian
Bethany Baker/The World via AP
In a Dec. 21, 2016 photo, Robert Lounsbury, an Ironman triathlete, poses for a photo in Coos Bay. Lounsbury continues to train for
competitions after recovering from a bike accident left him with a concussion and several broken bones.
Oregon policeman recovers to compete after gruesome training crash
By JOHN GUNTHER
The World
Bethany Baker/The World via AP
In a Dec. 21, 2016 photo, Robert Lounsbury, an Ironman triath-
lete, continues to train in Coos Bay for competitions after re-
covering from a bike accident left him with a concussion and
several broken bones.
COOS BAY — As Robert
Lounsbury recovered in a hospital
bed with multiple breaks and
bruises after crashing his bike into
a parked city truck in October of
2015, one thing was clear to the
Coos Bay Police sergeant and
triathlete: He would compete
again.
“There was never a doubt I
would be back triathloning,” he
said. “I always knew I would be
back.”
Lounsbury fulfi lled that goal
on Nov. 20, when he raced to
a new personal best at an Iron-
man-length event in Arizona.
Lounsbury completed the
2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride
and marathon run in 10 hours, 16
minutes and 55 seconds.
It completed an amazing year
of recovery from a horrifi c acci-
dent, reported The World.
Lounsbury’s crash came when
he was training for the same
triathlon on Oct. 6 in 2015.
He doesn’t remember all the
details because he suffered a
concussion, but what he thinks
happened is he swerved to avoid
being hit by a car just after the
bike lane on Bayshore Drive ends
and instead hit the truck, while he
was pedaling nearly 25 mph.
The sum of injuries included
a broken collarbone, a broken
neck, 15 various breaks in his ribs
and a broken thumb that required
surgery. He also lost a tooth and
had his teeth knocked out of
place, requiring braces.
See IRONMAN/2B
NFL
Seahawks enter the playoffs with a whimper, not a roar
Regular-season finale
raises questions
about team’s ability
to win in postseason
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. — For the fi fth
straight season, the Seattle Seahawks
have won 10 games and are headed to
the playoffs, the longest such streaks
in franchise history.
So why does this division title
and playoff appearance feel so
underwhelming? It’s because unlike
the previous four playoff appearances
when the Seahawks were rolling
headed into the playoffs, this time
Seattle is limping into the NFC
wild-card game against Detroit on
Saturday night.
The latest example came in
Sunday’s
regular-season
fi nale
against San Francisco when Seattle
slogged its way to a 25-23 victory
that again raised more questions
than provided answers about what to
expect when the playoffs arrive.
But even with the lackluster
performance the latter half of the
season, Seattle coach Pete Carroll
believes the Seahawks have the
pieces for a playoff run.
“I think we’ve got great leader-
ship. We’ve got a lot of young guys
and we’re bringing them with us,”
Carroll said during his radio show on
KIRO-AM on Monday morning. “It’s
a great challenge, a great exercise in
putting it together.”
Seattle is playing on wild-card
weekend for the second straight year
See SEAHAWKS/2B
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett (72)
celebrates with defensive end Frank Clark after sacking
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick during
the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara,
Calif., Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.
The Hermiston wrestling team
traveled to Minnesota looking to
get battle tested against some elite
programs, and wasn’t let down by the
brackets at The Clash XV.
The Bulldogs won just a single
dual, going 1-5 against midwestern
opponents over the two days, but all
but one dual was competitive.
Hermiston’s fi rst match-up in
Bracket D also proved
to be its toughest as it
lost to St. Michael-Al-
bertville (MN) 65-9 on
Friday.
A loss to Platts- Wrestling
mouth (NE) by a
much more respectable 44-26 margin
followed, but the Bulldogs rebounded
to fi nish the day with a 34-31 win over
Pewaukee (WI) for seventh.
Saturday’s round robin consisted
of four-team groups based on their
previous day’s fi nish.
Hermiston would go 0-3 with
losses to Glenbard North (IL), 48-30,
Foley (MN), 43-28, and Kenyon-Wa-
namingo (MN) 42-31.
Senior Valen Wyse led the Bull-
dogs with fi ve wins at 170 pounds,
all by pin in either the fi rst or second
round. His only loss was to St.
Michael-Albertville senior Jake Allar,
the 2016 Minnesota state champion
and 2016 Junior National freestyle
champion, by an 18-1 technical fall.
Senior Beau Blake won four times
and also picked up a forfeit at 285. He
earned three wins on points and then
capped his trip with a 25-second pin
over Kenyon Wanamingo’s Austin
Evert that was the quickest win of the
tournament for a Bulldog.
Sophomore Ruben Madrigal (106
pounds) also won four times, and
three-match winners were junior
Kenny Bevan (195), senior Julio
Leiva (182), and senior Jesus Rodri-
guez (126).
Hermiston’s win over Pewaukee
began with a second-round pin by
Wyse, but Pewaukee won the next
four in a row to go up 21-6.
Madrigal stopped the bleeding
with a 13-2 major decision, then
Gage Shipley (113) and Rodriguez
won with pins while Pewaukee took
the 120-pound bout with a pin to
make the score 27-22.
A double forfeit at 132 meant
neither team scored, and Pewaukee
went up 31-22 with a 10-1 major
decision at 138 pounds.
Senior Wade Kirkpatrick started
the comeback with a 7-1 win at 145
pounds, then senior Oscar Lopez
hung on for a 10-7 win to make it
31-28.
Needing at least a major decision
for the win, junior Zach Kirkpatrick
sealed it with a pin at the buzzer in
the second period over sophomore
Jacob Baker.
Hermiston will remain in dual
mode until heading to the Reser’s
Tournament of Champions at the
end of the month. The Bulldogs’ next
match is Wednesday, Jan. 11, when
they host The Dalles at 7 p.m. Then
they’ll head to the Oregon Classic
Jan. 13-14.
Sports shorts
McGriff wins 3rd weekly award
McCollum has career performance
LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon men’s
basketball forward Bryan McGriff was
been named the Red Lion CCC Player of
the Week for the third time this season on
Monday.
The senior from Las Vegas averaged
24 points and just below 12
rebounds a game in road wins
over No. 13 Northwest, 92-71,
and Evergreen, 98-92.
He was 6-of-8 from the fi eld
and 11-of-13 at the line for 25
points against Evergreen, and
McGriff
added 13 rebounds, fi ve assists
and a block as the Mountaineers (14-2, 6-0
CCC) extended their winning streak to eight
games and claimed sole possession of fi rst
place in the Cascade Conference.
For the season McGriff is averaging 21.8
points, 9.93 rebounds per game and has eight
double-doubles.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When the Minnesota
Timberwolves jumped out to a 12-point lead over
Portland at halftime, the struggling Trail Blazers
looked to be on their way to yet another loss.
Turns out C.J. McCollum had the young
Wolves right where he wanted them.
McCollum scored a career-high
43 points to carry the Trail Blazers to
a 95-89 victory Sunday night.
Mason Plumlee had 18 points
and eight rebounds, and Evan Turner
added 11 points for the Blazers.
They were without star point guard
McCollum
Damian Lillard for the fourth straight
game.
McCollum made 16 of 25 shots, including a
30-foot 3-pointer with just over 2:30 to play to put
the game out of reach.
“We were being soft as a team and I think it
showed in our performance,” McCollum said. “We
knew that we needed to come out and compete.”
“It’s been tough, and for
the fi rst time I’ve had
to tell myself, ‘Hey, you
can’t do that anymore.’“
— Gary Kubiak
Denver Broncos coach announc-
ing his retirement on Monay.
Kubiak, 55, experienced health
issues during the season, which
he said made him realize he
was no longer up to the rigors of
coaching in the NFL.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1920 — Boston Red Sox
owner Harry Frazee sells pitch-
er-outfi elder Babe Ruth to the
New York Yankees for $125,000
plus a $350,000 loan.
1931 — Nels Stewart of the
Montreal Maroons scores two
goals four seconds apart in the
third period of a 5-3 victory over
the Boston Bruins.
1973 — A 12-member group
headed by George Steinbrenner
buys the New York Yankees
from the Columbia Broadcasting
System for $10 million.
1993 — The Buffalo Bills
stage pro football’s biggest
comeback to beat the Houston
Oilers 41-38 in overtime in the
fi rst round of the NFL playoffs.
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