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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2018)
SPORTS THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HERMISTON Prep Football Bower PHS’s Bower commits to Pacifi c After a number of offers, Bower decided to stay local and play for Boxers East Oregonian PENDLETON — The Buckaroos’ quarterback, Nick Bower, cemented the next step in his football career Tuesday by commit- ting to Pacifi c University. The senior started building a relationship with head coach Keith Buckley and the rest of Pacifi c’s coaching staff since his junior year, and the amount of interest from Buckley played a key role in Bower’s decision. “It felt like home,” Bower said regarding his visit to the campus in the heart of Forest Grove. Pacifi c is a Division III school about 320 miles from Pendleton. Buckley, who is the only coach the Boxers have had since reviving the football program in 2010, has a 23-16 overall record and has gone 16-11 in conference play over the past four years. Bower’s efforts off the fi eld and in the classroom, earned him a $18,000 schol- arship. The Pacifi c Presiden- tial Scholarship is a merit based scholarship awarded to students each year, which Bower was given behind a 3.78 GPA and 1180 SAT score. Bower and receiver Shaw Jerome, who committed to Western Oregon in December, will be hosting a signing party on Feb. 7 at Big Johns Pizza. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hood River’s Nathan Quintanilla grimaces as Hermiston’s Zack Kirkpatrick pulls back on his chin in the 172-pound bout in the Bulldogs’ dual-meet win against the Eagles on Wednesday in Hermiston. Hermiston wins lone home dual of the four next bouts to cut the defi cit to 27-21. The Bulldogs needed a fi nal push, and got that when senior Adrian Tuia (145) took the mat. He was pitted against By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ Cade Parker and East Oregonian Parker kept things close for the fi rst two HERMISTON — The rounds. Hermiston wrestling team Tuia got out to an hosted its lone dual meet of early 4-1 lead after the year as Hood River Valley earning four takedown Staff photo by E.J. Harris came to town Wednesday points with Parker Hermiston’s Daniel Faaeteete rolls back onto Hood night. With a few marquee getting only one for bouts in the lineup, the Bull- River’s Tanner Fletcher in the 160-pound match of an escape. The scored the Bulldogs’ dual-meet win against the Eagles on dogs and Eagles were poised Wednesday in Hermiston. stayed in Tuia’s favor to put on a show, and they did at 4-1 through the not disappoint. second round. Then, dominant wrestling team on this “I think we gave the crowd a side of the state, was up early. A after notching two points on a good match,” senior Joey Gutierrez couple pins from the heavyweight reversal, Tuia ran away with the bout said. “Everybody was yelling class, two forfeits and a win by fall to win by a 8-2 decision. screaming for all of the matches. It in the 113-pound division gave the Three more Hermiston victories was all-in-all pretty good.” followed to give the Bulldogs’ the Bulldogs an early 27-3 lead. Hermiston, the historically But Hood River claimed three 45-21 win. A good start and just as good of a fi nish put the Bulldogs over the edge Two freshmen, Tyler Wagner (152) and Daniel Faaeteete (160), drew some of the loudest cheers from the crowd. First up was Wagner, who faced Hood River’s Tristan Keely. After a dislocated fi nger on Keely’s hand and a bloody nose that ended up saving Wagner from getting pinned, the Bulldog grinded it out for nearly the entire six minutes before winning by fall in 5:03. “He was in a fi ght,” head coach Kyle Larson said. “He could have easily, as a freshman, put his head down and got pinned ... right there but he fought and fought and fought and fought until the blood got him off his back. “He was fi ghting, never gave up, easily could have given those guys six points, came through and then fi nished the match strong even after he lost all of his breath getting choked out on his back. Still came back, scored more points and won the match like he should. It See BULLDOGS/3B Prep Wrestling Bucks cruise to staggering win Riverside comes out victorious in Echo dual East Oregonian PENDLETON — On Wednesday, the Pendleton Buckaroos hosted The Dalles in their fi rst of two dual meets this season. The team was just days off a third place fi nish in the Colton Holly Memorial Tournament, and were ready to return to the mat. But at Warberg Court, half the squad didn’t have to move a fi nger as Pendleton defeated the Riverhawks 64-6. The fi rst 30 points were earned by forfeit. It wasn’t until the eighth bout that wrestlers from the each school faced each other. Pendleton’s Koby Jones (132) was up against Josiah Andersen, and took him down in 2:34. Three of the next fi ve Buckaroo wins would come by fall. Alex Rendon (138) didn’t need a full round to pin Andrew Richman, ending his bout in 1:37. Blake Davis (145) continued Pendleton’s shutout with a win by fall over Glenn Breckterfi eld in 4:32. Isaac Urbina (152) was the fi nal Buck to win by fall, getting out of his match with Austin Green in 1:36. Ian Bannister (160) faced The Dalles’ Yordi Sanchez, and won by 15-2 major decision. After another forfeit to put Pendleton up 64-0, The Dalles would fi nal score its fi rst points. In the last match of the night, JR Scott (182) trapped Kirk Liscom in just 45 seconds. The points allowed the Riverhawks to avoid a shutout, but by then Pendleton had already marked his record with a win. The Bucks will compete again on Friday at the Panther Duals in Redmond. ECHO — On Tuesday, Echo welcomed River- side, Irrigon and Elgin for a duals meet. The statistics See WRESTLING/3B Staff photo by Kathy Aney Pendleton’s Ian Bannister muscles Yordi Sanchez, of the Dalles, onto the mat Wednesday on his way to winning the 160-pound match at Warberg Court. Sports shorts Edgar falls short of Hall again SEATTLE (AP) — Edgar Martinez toiled for six years in the minors before fi nally becoming a major league regular in 1989. He certainly knows all about waiting — and his bid for the Baseball Hall of FACES Fame has been no different. The former Seattle Mariners designated hitter and third baseman fell short again Wednesday, fi nishing with 70.4 percent of the vote in his ninth try. Players need 75 percent from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Martinez to make it to Cooperstown, and next year will be Martinez’s last on the ballot. Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman were elected. But it was the second consecutive year that yielded a signifi cant jump for Martinez in his attempt to join Frank Thomas as the only inducted players who were primarily designated hitters. Kremlin rejects talk of boycotting the Olympics “It takes some kind of sick perversion to not only assault a child but to do so with her parent in the room.” — Angela Povilaitis Prosecutor in sports doctor Larry Nassar case after he was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing young athletes. Story on Page 3B. MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin dismissed talk of an Olympic boycott on Wednesday despite some of Russia’s top athletes being barred from competing at the Pyeongchang Games. Several of the country’s top medal hopes, including six-time short-track speedskating gold medalist Viktor Ahn, were barred from next month’s games amid the country’s ongoing doping scandal, which has already forced Russia to compete under a neutral fl ag. Asked whether the Kremlin might consider a boycott in light of the new restrictions, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said “right now it is important to avoid words like ‘boycott.’” THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1982 — Ray Wersching kicks a Super Bowl record- tying four fi eld goals to help the San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21. 1999 — David Duval shoots a magic number — a round of 59 that matches the best score in PGA Tour history. Duval surges from seven strokes off the pace for a one-stroke victory over Steve Pate in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. 2010 — Kelly Kulick becomes the fi rst woman to win a PBA Tour title, beating Chris Barnes in the fi nal of the 45th Tournament of Champions. 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