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B1
HONORING BUCKAROO GREATS
2021 Hall of Fame
class of inductees:
1 coach, 2 teams,
and 9 athletes
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — The
Pendleton Linebacker’s
Club has been honoring
athletes and coaches
for the better part of 30
years.
It all began with a golf tourna-
ment in honor of legendary Buck-
aroos coach Don Requa to raise
money for scholarships and fi nan-
cial support for the high school foot-
ball team.
For the past 17 years, the Line-
backer’s Club has honored foot-
ball players, coaches and staff with
inductions to the Buckaroo Football
Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2017, the
club made the move to include all
athletes and teams at the high school
in the Buckaroo Hall of Fame.
This year’s induction class is one
of the largest it has had with two
teams, one coach and nine athletes.
The list includes college champi-
ons, Olympic hopefuls and an NFL
contract.
The Hall of Fame Night is Aug. 20
at the Pendleton Convention Center.
Tickets are available at the door. The
cost is $35 per person.
The auction includes Portland
Trail Blazer tickets, University of
Oregon and Oregon State Univer-
sity football tickets, and Seattle
Seahawks tickets.
Tyasin Burns is the recipient of
the Don Requa Scholarship, while
Sam Coleman will receive the Alex
Stuvland Memorial Scholarship, and
Blake Swanson the Schindler-Bunch
Scholarship.
Teams
The teams being inducted this
year include the 1964-65 and the
1954-55 football teams.
The 1964-65 team went 9-0
during the regular season, but ran
into a tough Corvallis team in the
playoff s, falling 39-14. Terry Harri-
Pendleton Linebacker’s Club/Contributed Photo
Brent Merriman, wearing No. 25, averaged 24.5 points a game during his senior year. He graduated from Pend-
leton High School in 1975. He is part of the 2021 Buckaroo Hall of Fame class.
son led the state in touchdown passes
with 21, while Mike Temple led the
state in scoring with 106 points.
Requa’s 1954-55 team brought
him his fi rst Blue Mountain Confer-
ence title with the likes of Ralph
Allen, Doug Minthorn and Joe
Temple. The Bucks went 9-0 during
the regular season, and brought
Pendleton its fi rst conference title
since 1947. The Bucks lost to Lincoln
25-13 in the state quarterfi nals.
Coach
Debbie Kishpaugh
Pendleton dance coach Debbie
Kishpaugh is the lone coach on the
induction roster, and she is more than
deserving of the honor.
In her 35 years directing the
school’s highly successful Rhyth-
mic Mode dance team, the Bucks
have brought home nine state
titles, and dozens of dancers have
won individual awards.
Players
Steve Richards (1981-84)
Richards was a standout base-
ball player for the Bucks, and was
selected to play on the Class AAA
all-star series.
After high school, he went on
to play at Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College. He was co-MVP in the
Northwest Athletic Conference his
sophomore year — the fi rst time that
a BMCC player earned the award.
From Blue Mountain, Richards
went to Linfi eld University, where he
was the Wildcats’ Most Inspirational
Player in 1987-88 and team MVP as
a senior.
In his fi rst year with the Wildcats,
he hit .269 with 42 hits, including
seven doubles and 18 RBIs. During
his fi nal season in 1988, he hit .374
with 65 hits and 18 RBIs.
Richards was the Blue Mountain
Community College softball coach
from 2015-20.
Craig Christianson (1976-79)
A talented three-sport athlete for
the Bucks, he excelled in football,
basketball and track. He was part of
the 1977 football team that advanced
to the Class AAA state semifi nals
against Medford and suff ered a 13-7
loss.
It was in track where he excelled.
He once held the school record in the
high jump and discus.
The University of Idaho gave him
a full ride for football and track. Inju-
ries would derail his football career,
but his track career took off .
In 1986, he placed fourth in
the javelin at the U.S. Champion-
ships with a throw of 245 feet, 6
inches. He placed fi fth at the 1988
Olympic Trials, throwing against
the likes of Brian Crouser, Mark
Babich and Tom Petranoff .
Rob Burnside (1977-80)
Football, wrestling and track
kept Burnside busy during his high
school days.
He was a four-year letterman in
wrestling, and won district titles at
178 pounds in 1977 and 1979. The
Bucks were fi fth at state in 1978 and
third in 1979.
He and teammates Miles
Hancock and Jim Fitter took part in
the Oregon Cultural Exchange Team
in the summer of 1979. They traveled
to Italy to compete.
Burnside went on to wrestle at
Oregon State University, but a knee
injury cut his career short.
His love of wrestling never
wavered. He refereed middle
school and high school matches,
volunteered with the Pendleton
Youth Wrestling Program, and
helped Rollin Schimmel and others
construct the Pendleton wrestling
building.
A longtime fi refi ghter, he keeps
in shape by doing marathons, the
Pacific Crest Duathlon and the
Hood-to-Coast with his daughter
Tara.
Jim Malcom (1979-1982)
One of the top high school line-
men in his day, Malcom was a three-
year letterman and a starter for the
1980-81 playoff teams.
His senior year, he earned fi rst-
team all-conference honors on both
sides of the ball and earned an invite
to the 1982 Shrine Game.
Malcom still is in the Pendleton
baseball record book as a pitcher
(ERA) and hitter (batting average).
After high school, he played one
year of football at Columbia Basin
Junior College, then played two
years of baseball at BMCC.
He went onto Oregon State
University where he played rugby
and earned a business degree in
forest products.
John Vorvick (1977-80)
Another football great in the
Requa era, the 6-4, 215-pound
Vorvick was a dominating tackle
for the Bucks. He was a fi rst-team
all-conference and first-team
all-state lineman his senior year. He
See Greats, Page B2
OSU tackle feeling ‘natural’ with off season weight gain
By NICK DASCHEL
The Oregonian
Oregon State University/Contributed Photo
Oregon State off ensive lineman Brandon Kipper (68) prepares to make a
block during a game against Cal Poly in September 2019.
CORVALLIS — The scales
show formidable weight gains
throughout Oregon State’s roster
from a year ago. It’s no surprise the
off ensive line is among the leaders
in piling on pounds.
The Beavers’ starting off ensive
line of a year ago, intact from right
tackle to left tackle, has increased
its mass by a collective 48 pounds.
Right guard Nous Keobounnam is
up 17 pounds to 292, center Nathan
Eldridge up 15 pounds to 297, and
right tackle Joshua Gray up 11
pounds to 300.
Right tackle Brandon Kipper
tops them all at 310 pounds, a meaty
15-pound increase from his spring
practice weight. Since his fresh-
man year, when Kipper started at
Hawaii, he has added 40 pounds to
his 6-foot-6 frame.
“I’m physically seeing the
changes from myself and the guys
around me and I’m excited to get on
the fi eld and see how the changes
aff ect us on the fi eld,” Kipper said
before the start of Oregon State’s
preseason camp.
Kipper said this season’s weight
gain felt diff erent.
“This is the most weight I’ve put
on where I felt natural, where it felt
good,” Kipper said.
Kipper felt the COVID-19 atmo-
sphere and protocols impacted him
physically during the 2020 season.
He found it diffi cult to eat at a level
to maintain a 300-pound-plus body.
Kipper’s focus during 2021 is
nourishment, and adding weight at
a level where it felt right.
“I feel more natural being this
heavy, so it’s not something that
my body is suddenly shocked by,”
Kipper said. “I never felt so good in
my life being 310, 315.”
Kipper was an all-conference
lineman in 2019, but failed to earn
honors last season. The fi fth-year
junior, who has started 19 of the 23
games he’s played at Oregon State,
spent plenty of time pouring over
game video of his play. In fact,
that’s an area where Kipper hopes
to improve in 2021.
“This is my fi fth year, and I’ve
watched a lot of fi lm. That being
said, there’s always more you can
learn from the fi lm,” Kipper said.
“I’ve really taken the time this
off season to try to improve every
aspect of my game.”
SPORTS SHORT
Ducks defensive backs facing charges for alleged shooting
By JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian
EUGENE — Two of Oregon’s
starting defensive backs are facing
charges following their alleged
shooting of three people with an
airsoft gun late Tuesday, Aug. 3.
Ducks nickel safety Jamal
Hill and boundary cornerback
DJ James are each facing three
charges of reckless endangering,
assault, unlawful discharge of a
fi rearm, and disorderly conduct,
according to Eugene Police.
Police said a man reported
being shot in the face with a “real-
istic-looking airsoft gun at 14th
and Willamette by someone in a
sedan that had driven past him,”
at 11:44 p.m. Aug. 3. Two other
people reported similar incidents
in a close time and proximity,
including one riding an elec-
tric scooter who claimed he was
“almost hit by the vehicle as it left
the area,” police said.
The vehicle was spotted by
responding offi cers near 11th and
Willamette and Hill and James
were cooperative, said police, who
cited them for the aforementioned
charges in lieu of arrest.
“We have high standards and
expectations for the student-ath-
letes in our program,” Oregon
coach Mario Cristobal said via a
spokesman. “We were made aware
of the situation and are in process
of gathering all of the related
information, after which we will
take appropriate action.”
Under Oregon law, reckless
endangering is a Class A misde-
meanor, disorderly conduct is a
Class B misdemeanor, unlawful
use of a weapon is a Class C felony
and assault can be either a misde-
meanor or felony depending on the
degree charged.
Class A misdemeanors are
subject to a $6,250 fi ne and/or one
year in jail, Class B misdemeanors
are subject to a $2,500 fi ne and/or
six months in jail and Class C felo-
nies can result in up to fi ve years
in prison and/or a $125,000 fi ne.
Ashley Landis/The Associated Press, File
Oregon safety Jamal Hill (19) celebrates after a play during the
fi rst quarter of the Pac-12 Conference championship Dec 18, 2020,
against Southern California in Los Angeles.