E AST O REGONIAN
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2022
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Hermiston has eyes on wrestling title
Bulldogs have
top-ranked
wrestlers in
Cadenas and
Larson
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — When
Hermiston’s Sam Cade-
nas and teammate Dominic
Echeverria went out onto the
mat for the district champi-
onship match at 285 pounds,
they played a friendly game
of rock-paper-scissors before
Cadenas pinned his teammate
in 46 seconds.
Cadenas’ opponents at
the Washington Interscho-
lastic Activities Association
Region 4 Regional Tourna-
ment on Saturday, Feb. 12, in
Hermiston might want to opt
for a few games of rock-pa-
per-scissors than take the mat
against the top-ranked Cade-
nas, who is 28-3 on the season
with 22 pins.
“He’s not really one to
let the rankings get in his
head,” Hermiston coach Kyle
Larson said of Cadenas. “He
takes it one match at a time,
stays focused and does what
he’s supposed to do. He’s no
nonsense.”
The Region 4 tournament
will begin at 10 a.m. All tick-
ets must be purchased online.
The tournament will
include the four Mid-Co-
lumbia Conference 3A
schools, seven schools from
the Greater Spokane League
and seven schools from
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Hermiston senior Sam Cadenas, top, shushes freshman teammate Dominic Escheverria in
the 285-pound fi rst place match Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Mid-Columbia Conference
3A District wrestling tournament in Hermiston. Cadenas won by a pin in 46 seconds.
HERMISTON’S
REGIONAL WRESTLERS
106 — Carlos Cervantes; Isiah Havins.
113 — Eddie Cervantes; Pedro Pacheco.
120 — Aiden Favorite.
126 — Jaysen Rodriguez; Jeshaiah Garza.
132 — Daniel Garza; Isaac Ruiz.
the KingCo.
The top five competi-
tors from each weight class
will advance to Mat Clas-
sic XXXIII Feb. 18-19 at the
Tacoma Dome in Tacoma,
Washington.
Hermiston counts itself
as a team to contend for the
regional team title. The Bull-
dogs won the district title with
138 — Hunter Dyer; Trevor Kirkpatrick.
152 — Tama Tuia.
160 — Ben Larson; Zane Estes.
170 — Javier Garcia; Joe Gutierrez.
182 — Jaxson Gribskov; Javier Echeverria.
195 — Logan Royer.
220 — Jesse Vassey.
285 — Sam Cadenas; Dominic Echeverria.
414.5 points, with Southridge
second with 212.
“District was a testa-
ment to our language all
year,” Larson said. We are
always talking about bonus
points. If you are facing a
two-time state champion,
we are talking about not
getting pinned. We are look-
ing to get the bonus points,
getting pins.”
The Bulldogs will have 22
wrestlers sprinkled through-
out the regional brackets,
including nine district cham-
pions. Each bracket has 16
wrestlers.
“Across the board, we have
guys in every weight class
except 145,” Larson said.
“This is what we have been
battling for all year. I wouldn’t
trade any of my 22 for anyone
else. We are going to war. We
have some young guys in the
bottom who are starting to
come through. We are count-
ing on them and we believe
in them.”
Even though his team
steamrolled its way through
district, Larson knows the
GSL and KingCo are formi-
dable opponents.
“The GSL is sending some
phenomenal teams. Four of
the top five teams will be
here. Mead is ranked No. 1,
we are No. 2, U-Hi is No. 3
and Mt. Spokane is No. 4.
They are trying to win region-
als like we are. Mead is tough,
we have some work to do to
beat those guys.”
Along with Cadenas, the
Bulldogs have solid wrestlers
throughout the lineup.
Aiden Favorite won the
district title at 120 pounds,
as did Eddie Cervantes (113),
Jaysen Rodriguez (126),
Daniel Garza (132), Hunter
Dyer (138), Ben Larson (160),
Jaxson Gribskov (182) and
Jesse Vassey (220).
Rodriguez, just a fresh-
man, is 27-6 this season, and
has impressed Larson.
“Jaysen has been phenom-
enal all year,” Larson said.
Larson, who is just a soph-
omore, is ranked No. 1 in his
weight class. He is 29-5 this
season with 11 pins.
“Ben is doing awesome,”
Coach Larson said. “He is a
workhorse. He isn’t fl ashy or
fancy. He sticks to the funda-
mentals. He is going to get
you tired, and he is going to
wrestle you tough in the third
period.”
B1
ON THE SLATE
Schedule subject to change
SATURDAY, FEB. 12
Prep girls basketball
Condon at Echo, 2 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Heppner, 4 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Enterprise, 4 p.m.
Griswold at Joseph, 4 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Grant Union, 4 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
MCC/GSL District 8 Tournament:
Hermiston at GSL No. 2, TBD
Condon at Echo, 3:30 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Heppner, 5:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Enterprise, 5:30 p.m.
Griswold at Joseph, 5:30 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Grant Union, 5:30 p.m.
Prep boys wrestling
Pendleton at Intermountain Conference
District Championships, Crook County,
9 a.m.
La Grande, McLoughlin at 4A Special
District 4 Championships, Sisters, 10 a.m.
WIAA Region 4 Regional Tournament at
Hermiston, 10 a.m.
Heppner at Pine Eagle, 10 a.m.
Prep Swimming
Pendleton at Intermountain Conference
District Championships,
Hood River, 9 a.m.
College men’s basketball
Blue Mountain at North Idaho, 4 p.m.
Northwest at Eastern Oregon, 5 p.m.
College women’s basketball
Blue Mountain at North Idaho, 2 p.m.
Northwest at Eastern Oregon, 3 p.m.
College track and fi eld
Eastern Oregon at Whitworth
Invitational, 8 a.m.
College baseball
Eastern Oregon at Pacifi c (2), noon
College softball
Eastern Oregon at Willamette, 2 p.m.
College women’s lacrosse
Eastern Oregon at Whitworth, noon
SUNDAY, FEB. 13
College baseball
Eastern Oregon at Pacifi c (2), noon
College softball
Eastern Oregon at Willamette (2), 11 a.m.
TUESDAY, FEB. 15
Prep boys basketball
Pendleton at Crook County, 6:30 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Crook County at Pendleton, 6:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 16
College men’s basketball
Treasure Valley at Blue Mountain,
7:30 p.m.
College women’s basketball
Treasure Valley at Blue Mountain,
5:30 p.m.
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT:
4A tourney moves to Coos Bay area
OSAA boss talked
with Pendleton
offi cials before
making decision
By JOHN GUNTHER
OSAAtoday
COOS BAY — The
Coos Bay area will be pull-
ing double duty next month,
hosting a pair of basketball
state championship tourna-
ments.
In addition to the 3A tour-
nament jointly hosted by
Marshfi eld and North Bend
high schools each winter, the
two schools also will host the
4A event a week later.
The Oregon School Activ-
ities Association executive
board voted to have the Bay
Area host the latter event at
its meeting Monday, Feb.
7, after Forest Grove High
School requested not to be
home for the event this year.
The school plans to go back
to hosting it next year.
“I think it’s great,” said
North Bend Athletic Direc-
tor Mike Forrester, who
committed to the event along
with Marshfield Athletic
Director Greg Mulkey. “If
it’s good for our community,
then it’s a good deal.”
The 3A tour nament,
which fi rst came to the Bay
Area a little more than a
decade ago, has been a shot
in the arm for the South
Coast economy each winter,
as well as an event to bring
the host schools and commu-
nity together.
When it became clear
Forest Grove might not be
The most valuable and
respected source of
local news, advertising
and information for
our communities.
eomediagroup.com
able to host the 4A event,
OSAA Executive Direc-
tor Peter Weber contacted
Mulkey about the possibility
of the Bay Area playing host.
“My first reaction was,
absolutely, why wouldn’t we
want to do it?” Mulkey said,
echoing Forrester’s thoughts.
“It’s great for the commu-
nity.”
He noted it also will be a
big challenge, putting on the
two events in back-to-back
weeks.
“It’s a daunting task,”
Mulkey said.
But it’s one he feels the
community is up for, given
its track record hosting the
3A event.
“That’s what’s so great
about our tournament,”
Mulkey said. “Because of
our community’s support
and our reputation for
putting on the (3A) tourna-
ment — that’s why he called
us.”
Weber said he also talked
with offi cials in Pendleton,
which hosts the 2A tourna-
ment each year.
“Those are sites with the
infrastructure built in to
run these three-day tourna-
ments,” Weber said, noting
each uses two facilities. In
Pendleton’s case it’s Pend-
leton High School and
the Pendleton Convention
Center.
One thing that tipped
things in the Bay Area’s
favor was that many of the
schools that might be partic-
ipating are geographically
closer to Coos Bay than
Pendleton, being in or near
the Willamette Valley or
southern Oregon.
One of those schools,
obviously, is Marshfield,
which won the 4A Showcase
event last June on its home
fl oor in the Pirate Palace.
Weber said he under-
stands how some people
might be concerned about
Marshfi eld getting to host
and play in the event.
“Obviously, it’s not an
ideal situation,” he said.
“We’ve had it come up in a
few other circumstances.”
Those include Liberty
hosting and participating
in the state volleyball tour-
nament and Central Catho-
lic being able to play in the
championship football game
at Hillsboro Stadium, where
it also plays its home games.
“It’s not ideal, but at the
end of the day, the board
focused on being able to
put the tournament on,”
Weber said, again referring
to being able to provide a
positive experience for the
student-athletes.
That’s something the Bay
Area has shined at with the
3A event, and Mulkey is
hoping to provide the same
features for the 4A tourna-
ment, including each team
having a greeter to help
during the event and also a
community member who
will provide a meal for the
team during the tournament.
Also in the plans, just like
the 3A event, is a dinner for
the coaches and separate
meal for all the players on
the eve of the tournament,
followed by a three-point
shootout at North Bend High
School.
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