SPORTS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018
1B
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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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