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Thursday, February 3, 2022
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Men’s wrestling falls two spots in latest NAIA poll
East Oregonian
La GraNde — In the latest
National association of Intercol-
legiate athletics coaches’ poll, the
eastern Oregon university men’s
wrestling program continued to earn
a spot among the top 20 teams.
The Mountaineers came in at
No. 19 in the latest NaIa Coaches’
Top-20 poll, which was released on
Jan. 27. The ranking is two spots
behind where the team found itself
in last week’s poll.
eastern received 44 votes, earn-
ing a tie with embry-riddle at No. 19.
The Mountaineers saw three wres-
tlers earn individual national rank-
ings.
senior Noel Orozco came in at
No. 4 in the 285-pound division,
while sophomore Kyle Knudtson was
also ranked No. 4 at the 184-pound
level. senior Keegan Mulhill earned
a No. 11 ranking at the 174-pound
weight class.
Orozco is coming off a strong
showing at the Missouri Valley Invi-
tational last weekend, placing second
overall in his division. The senior
went 4-1 on the weekend and scored
20 points for a limited eastern squad.
eastern is one of four Cascade
Collegiate Conference teams
ranked in the top 20, with Montana
state-Northern and Menlo College
both earning rankings in the top 10.
embry-riddle and eastern rounded
out the rankings for conference
schools.
The Mountaineers return to
action Feb. 5 in a road dual against
southern Oregon before traveling
to havre, Montana for the Cascade
Collegiate Conference Champion-
ships on Feb. 18.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Eastern Oregon University senior Noel Orozco, left, an All-American at 285 pounds, wrestles for the Mountaineers.
The men’s wrestling team ranked No. 19 in the Jan. 27, 2022, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
Coaches’ Top-20 Poll.
BMCC SOFTBALL
Roster under new direction
By JEFF BUDLONG
For the East Oregonian
PeNdLeTON — ben Knopf’s
first year as head softball coach at
blue Mountain Community College
has been anything but conventional.
Knopf was hired in July to take
over a program that did not have a
season the previous year. he needed
to build a roster that had nearly no
returners on it.
“I was on the recruiting trail two
days after being hired and brought
in 12 players in about 40 days,”
Knopf said. “I was very open and
upfront, and just told them that
we needed athletes. We just had a
conversation.”
It is a job he continues to do
today, building the team’s strength
and depth for seasons to come.
Knopf may be new to this job,
but he brings plenty of softball
coaching experience with him
having most recently worked as
an assistant coach in bottineau,
North dakota. he also had stops at
bend high school, eastern Oregon
university and 10 years coaching
travel ball.
The Timberwolves have one
returning player on the team, soph-
omore infielder ariana Knight,
and she is joined by transfer Jaycee
Jerome. Knopf also lost a pitcher
after she transferred to a division
I school. The roster is completed by
11 freshmen.
There are a lot of new faces, but
they did get a chance to get used to
each other during the fall when they
split eight games.
Knopf has been pleased with the
team’s dedication to prepare for the
season that begins March 4 with a
pair of home games against Clack-
amas. The Timberwolves’ first eight
games are all scheduled to take
place in Pendleton.
THURSDAY, FEB. 3
Prep girls basketball
Joseph at Griswold, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii vs. Crane, Baker High School,
6 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Joseph at Griswold, 7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii vs. Crane, Baker High School,
7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, FEB. 4
College women’s basketball
Eastern Oregon at Walla Walla, noon
College men’s basketball
Eastern Oregon at Walla Walla, 2 p.m.
College baseball
Eastern Oregon at Linfield, 2 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Stanfield at Union, 5:30 p.m.
Chiawana at Hermiston, 5:45 p.m.
Echo at Sherman, 6 p.m.
Heppner at Enterprise, 6 p.m.
Griswold at Elgin, 6 p.m.
Burns at Irrigon, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Wallowa, 6 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m.
Vale at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Nyssa at Umatilla, 6 p.m.
Hood River Valley at Pendleton, 7 p.m.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
The Blue Mountain Community College softball team is gearing up to start its 2022 spring season under the
direction of new head coach Ben Knopf and a lineup of 12 new players.
Knopf said his team needs
to continue to make progress in
all areas, but pitch selection and
running on the basepaths will be
key.
even with the progress made in
the fall, there were more challenges
that followed. Knopf left the team
after the fall to deal with a personal
matter, and the pandemic has made
it difficult to practice. Players have
missed time dealing with COVId-
19 as has Knopf, who tested positive
in late January.
“building that trust and making
those relationships is important,”
Knopf said. “We have been practic-
ing since the beginning of the winter
term, but it has been hit and miss
because of COVId-19.
“early on, I gave the girls a
bucket of balls and just told them
they had to get their cuts in on their
own. We were just trying to be
proactive and adjusting on the fly.”
Knopf has had to put it on his
players to work on their fundamen-
tals and continue to improve their
game as they can.
Knopf has a two- to three-year
plan, but believes the Timberwolves
can sneak up on teams this year who
may underestimate the new group.
With so many new faces, every-
one will get a chance to make their
mark, including a pair of pitchers in
Jamisin Manzanares and elizabeth
Tuholski.
success will not be measured by
wins and losses, but how much the
team grows throughout the season
and comes together as a group,
Knopf said.
Knopf believes the biggest
success for the Timberwolves this
season is just having the opportu-
nity to get back on the diamond.
“a lot of these girls were in
high school during COVId, so
they missed that season,” he said.
“everybody has been itching for
normalcy, and I think softball kind
of represents that. If we can get out
there and play as many games as
possible it is going to bring some
peace of mind to the team, school
and community.”
eOu’s Malatare is conference player of the week
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
La GraNde — eastern
Oregon university men’s basket-
ball player Phillip Malatare had
himself quite a week. The point
guard hit the game-winning shot
in an unexpected upset victory
and averaged 21 points per game
as the Mountaineers went 2-1.
The Cascade Collegiate Confer-
ence named Malatare its men’s
basketball player
of the week in an
an nou ncement
Monday, Jan. 31.
Malatare
led the way in
a 93-91 over-
time victory over
No. 13 College of
Malatare
Idaho on Jan. 25,
which was arguably one of the
team’s biggest wins in recent
years. It was Malatare’s 11 over-
time points and game-winning
fadeaway that led the charge
for the huge upset victory. The
guard drove to the right wing and
connected on a shot from just
inside the arc with three seconds
ON THE SLATE
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Eastern Oregon University’s Phillip Malatare drives to the basket
during the first half of the match Oct. 30, 2021, against Montana West-
ern University at Quinn Coliseum, La Grande. The Cascade Collegiate
Conference named Malatare its men’s basketball player of the week in
an announcement Monday, Jan. 31, 2022.
remaining in overtime.
The native of arlee, Montana,
finished with a game-high 27
points off 10-20 shooting in the
win over the Yotes, adding five
assists and two rebounds.
eastern lost a tough matchup
to bushnell 82-75 on Jan. 28, but
bounced back with a 84-74 win
over Corban on the following day.
Malatare led the Mountaineers in
scoring against bushnell, tally-
ing 22 points — he added five
rebounds and dished out three
assists.
In the win over Corban,
Malatare contributed 14 points,
four assists and three rebounds.
The point guard fed the ball to the
hot hand, as junior Xavier Love-
lace led all scorers with 29 points
on the night.
Malatare shot 52.3% across
the three game swing and went
15-18 at the free-throw line. The
junior is averaging 20.4 points,
5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per
game this season.
The recent victories improved
eastern’s record to 14-10 on
the year, sitting at sixth in the
Cascade Collegiate Conference
standings. The Mountaineers
are set to travel this weekend,
facing Walla Walla on Feb. 4 and
Lewis-Clark state on Feb. 5. east-
ern previously defeated Walla
Walla 88-70 on dec. 18 and lost
to Lewis-Clark state 76-72 on
dec. 17.
Prep boys basketball
Hood River Valley at Pendleton,
5:30 p.m.
Stanfield at Union, 7 p.m.
Echo at Sherman, 7:30 p.m.
Chiawana at Hermiston, 7:30 p.m.
Heppner at Enterprise, 7:30 p.m.
Griswold at Elgin, 7:30 p.m.
Burns at Irrigon, 7:30 p.m.
McLoughlin at Baker, 7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Wallowa, 7:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Pilot Rock,
7:30 p.m.
Vale at Riverside, 7:30 p.m.
Nyssa at Umatilla, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, FEB. 5
College baseball
Eastern Oregon at Linfield, 1 p.m.
College women’s basketball
Blue Mountain at Columbia Basin,
2 p.m.
Eastern Oregon at Lewis-Clark State,
3 p.m.
College men’s basketball
Blue Mountain at Columbia Basin,
4 p.m.
Eastern Oregon at Lewis-Clark State,
5 p.m.
College women’s wrestling
Eastern Oregon at Southern Oregon,
6 p.m.
College men’s wrestling
Eastern Oregon at Southern Oregon,
7 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Burns at Riverside, 1:30 p.m.
Echo at Bickleton, 2 p.m.
Vale at Umatilla, 3 p.m.
Hermiston at Walla Walla, 3 p.m.
Nyssa at Irrigon, 3 p.m.
Heppner at Union, 4 p.m.
Griswold at Wallowa, 4 p.m.
Joseph at Nixyaawii, 4 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Stanfield, 4 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Vale at Umatilla, 2:30 p.m.
Burns at Riverside, 3 p.m.
Echo at Bickleton, 3:30 p.m.
Nyssa at Irrigon, 4:30 p.m.
Hermiston at Walla Walla, 5 p.m.
Heppner at Union, 5:30 p.m.
Griswold at Wallowa, 5:30 p.m.
Joseph at Nixyaawii, 5:30 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Stanfield, 5:30 p.m.
Prep boys wrestling
Heppner, Pendleton, Echo/Stan-
field, Hermiston, Irrigon, McLoughlin/
Weston-McEwen, Pine Eagle, River-
side at Bank of Eastern Oregon Invita-
tional, TBA