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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 2017)
SPORTS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HERMISTON Prep Wrestling Bulldogs working for No. 11 Hermiston hopes to add another title to collection EO fi le photo By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian At 5:30 a.m. on school days, many Hermiston High students are still fast asleep in their beds, enjoying the fi nal minutes of rest before the dreaded alarm clock sounds to start their day. Meanwhile, at that same time the Hermiston wrestling team is already awake and at school, getting in their grueling morning workout. Whether it’s running sprints, laps around the gymnasium or even a fun game of basketball as a change-of- pace, the Bulldogs meet up to get their bodies going and their day started right. Now having a morning run on top of a typical strenuous two hour practice after school may seem excessive for a bunch of teenagers, but the Bulldogs embrace it. Sure they would like to grab a few extra hours of sleep before the school day or even on days when school is out, but it’s all part of the team’s winning tradition. “Of course you’re tempted (to sleep), but while you’re asleep someone else is already up and getting better,” Herm- iston junior, and state qualifi er Riverside’s Aristotle Rockwell won the 3A state title at 126 pounds in 2016, and is the No. 1 seed at 132 pounds this year. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston Bulldog senior wrestler Valen Wyse is looking to defend his state title this weekend at the state wrestling championship in Portland. at 182 pounds, Joe Gutierrez said after practice on Monday. “So it’s just kind of that drive that leads you.” “You have to have that drive to be better and that want to improve,” added Corey Mason, a senior and qualifi er at 220 pounds. “And just know if you don’t come to practice it’s a match you might lose or a state title you didn’t win.” It is habits such as those plus hundreds upon hundreds of hours in the weight room, in practice and in offseason training that have pushed the Hermiston Bulldogs to wrestling dominance in the state of Oregon over the past two decades. Since 2000, no school has won more wrestling team state championships than Hermiston’s 10 and only Burns at the 3A level has matched that total. Hermiston has won See BULLDOGS/3B 2017 OSAA State Wrestling Championships • When: Friday 8:30 a.m.- 9:30 p.m. & Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-10 p.m. • Where: Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. • Admission: $40 for two- day pass, $20 for single-session passes Oregon’s Dillon Brooks (24) shoots against Califor- nia’s Ivan Rabb, left, in the fi rst half of an NCAA college basket- ball game Wednes- day, Feb. 22, 2017, in Berke- ley, Calif. Men’s College Basketball Brooks sinks Bears Last-second 3-pointer caps Ducks’ comeback By JOSH DUBOW Associated Press BERKELEY, Calif. — Dillon Brooks hit a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds to play to cap a comeback from 16 points down and No. 6 Oregon beat California 68-65 on Wednesday night to keep its hopes alive for a Pac-12 title. The Ducks (25-4, 14-2) trailed by 16 points early in the second half and were down 10 with just over 4 minutes left before rallying for the win that moved them a half-game behind Arizona for fi rst place in the conference. Oregon holds the tiebreaker. #6 Oregon California 68 65 Brooks led the Ducks with 22 points and Chris Boucher added 18. Jabari Bird scored 20 points to lead the way for the Golden Bears (18-9, 9-6), whose hopes for an NCAA Tournament berth were dealt a big blow with this loss. Consecutive 3-pointers by Boucher, Dylan Ennis and Payton Pritchard cut Cal’s 10-point lead to one with just under 3 minutes left. Boucher then gave the Ducks their fi rst lead of the game with a layup that made it 62-61 with 1:48 to go. See DUCKS/2B AP Photo/Ben Margot Rockwell leads herd of locals to state meet Forty-three local athletes competing this weekend By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian BOARDMAN — The last name ‘Rockwell’ has become synonymous with great wrestling in Eastern Oregon. Riverside High alumnus Hans Rockwell is a four-time state title winner and now competes collegiately at Oregon State. And over the past four years, Aristotle Rockwell has elevated himself to elite status, qualifying for the state tournament in all four years, earning two runner-up fi nishes and fi nally a state champi- onship last season. Now Aristotle hopes to close out his high school career with his second career state championship, and his road begins on Friday morning. Rockwell breezed through his season to the tune of a perfect 31-0 record, and won his district title with two pins and a major decision victory last weekend. That combination helped Rockwell earn the No. 1 seed in the Class 3A 132-pound bracket for the weekend tourna- ment. “It’s (this season) had a lot of ups and downs defi nitely, being my senior year I’ve felt a lot of pressure on my shoulders,” Rockwell said on Wednesday. “Now that state is right around the corner I feel more prepared than ever, I’ve had a couple of close matches but as long as I perform to my ability I will be able to dominate this weekend.” Rockwell will be joined by six of his Riverside teammates at the state tournament, including fellow senior Anthony Kernal who is the No. 4 seed in the 220 pound bracket. Kernal (17-10) is in his third trip to the state tournament, where he most recently earned a sixth place fi nish in 2016. See WRESTLING/2B Women’s College Basketball Wiese putting fi nal touches on legendary Beavers career In this Jan. 29, 2017, fi le photo, Oregon State guard Syd- ney Wiese, middle, breaks through Oregon defense to score during a game in Corvallis. Anibal Ortiz/The Gazette-Times via AP, fi le OSU senior already Pac-12 record holder for 3-pointers made By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press CORVALLIS — Four years ago, Sydney Wiese put her trust in Oregon State coach Scott Rueck. She’s never once doubted the decision. “Coach Rueck had the vision of doing something that had never been done at Oregon State before. And I had faith, with his character and the way he was handling the recruiting end, that it would be possible,” Wiese said. “It was defi - nitely a leap of faith but I wanted to be part of something special — and that’s defi nitely what it has been the past few years here.” Weise is playing out the fi nal season of a legacy-making career for the Beavers. She has been a constant in recent years as the team has enjoyed a dramatic rise as one of the nation’s elite. In December, she passed Stanford’s Candice Wiggins to claim the Pac-12 record for career 3-pointers and she currently has 352 to rank 18th on the NCAA’s all-time list. She more recently passed Leilani Estavan’s school record for career assists with 592 and climbing. She’s seventh in school history with 1,696 career points. The 10th-ranked Beavers (25-3, 14-2) close out the regular season this weekend at home with games against Stanford and California. Oregon State is tied with the No. 8 Cardinal atop the conference standings. After the conference tourna- See WIESE/2B Sports shorts Ex-Ducks coach resurfaces in Pac-12 SEATTLE (AP) — Matt Lubick has returned to the Pac-12 at Washington, the assistant coach’s fourth job in three months after brief stops at two other Power Five conference teams since the end of last season. Washington coach Chris Petersen on Wednesday announced the addition of Lubick as wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator. Lubick spent the past four seasons at Oregon, serving as offensive coordinator last year before Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich was fi red Nov. 29. Lubick Lubick then took a job as receivers coach at Ole Miss, but was there only two weeks before going to Baylor in early January. His departure from Baylor came just a week after new Bears coach Matt Rhule announced titles for his assistants. Lubick was to be co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach. “I take it from the students all the time ... but from an adult? And then to turn his back on me like he’s a coward? And he is a coward, but North Carolina is a classy place and he doesn’t speak for the rest of the people.“ — Rick Pitino Louisville’s men’s basketball coach after a North Carolina adult male fan was ejected after saying something vulgar to Pitino in the locker room tunnel at half- time that the coach didn’t like. MLBPA approves pitchless intentional walks for 2017 NEW YORK (AP) — There won’t be any wild pitches on intentional walks this season. The players’ association has agreed to Major League Baseball’s proposal to have intentional walks without pitches this year. While the union has resisted many of MLB’s proposed innovations, such as raising the bottom of the strike zone, installing pitch clocks and limiting trips to the mound, players are willing to accept the intentional walk change. There were 932 intentional walks last year, including 600 in the National League, where batters are walked to bring up the pitcher’s spot. “I’m OK with it. You signal. I don’t think that’s a big deal,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “For the most part, it’s not changing the strategy, it’s just kind of speeding things up. I’m good with it.” THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1968 — Wilt Chamberlain becomes fi rst player to score 25,000 points in the NBA. 2002 — The Americans end nearly a half-century of Olympic frustration for the U.S. men’s bobsled team, driving to the silver and bronze medals in the four-man race. 2013 — Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche makes history just by stepping into the UFC cage. Rousey wins the UFC’s fi rst women’s bout, beating Carmouche on an armbar, her signature move, with 11 seconds left in the fi rst round of their bantamweight title fi ght at UFC 157. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com