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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2015)
A9 WEDNESDAY March 4, 2015 Fuller pins all, sweeps to state title two-day tourna- ment held in Vet- erans Memorial Wallowa senior Micah Fuller Coliseum was completed a clean sweep of pins another senior, through the district and state OSAA Jared Wilcox of 2A/1A wrestling tournaments Satur- Joseph, who won day in Portland en route to claiming one of three close WKH ¿UVW LQGLYLGXDO VWDWH ZUHVWOLQJ decisions and did Fuller championship during the 20-plus not place. Wallowa High School coaching ca- Fuller, whose immediate plans reer of Mel Byers. after high school are to attend West 7KH RQO\ RWKHU TXDOL¿HU IURP Coast Baptist College, in Lancaster, Wallowa County competing at the Calif., then transfer to Treasure Val- By Rocky Wilson Wallowa County Chieftain ley Community College to resume his sports career in track, conclud- ed his season with a 33-3 won-loss record. Two of those losses came against Vale senior Sage Delong who SLQQHG IRXU RSSRQHQWV GXULQJ ¿UVW rounds of the OSAA 3A State Tour- nament while claiming that title at WKDW VDPH SRXQG FODVVL¿FDWLRQ Fuller’s only other loss came during the season’s opening tournament in Enterprise against John Propheter, of Heppner, whom Fuller defeated twice in subsequent matches. Seeded No. 2 in the state tourna- ment, Fuller pinned Bryan Corbett of Glendale in 4:38, Nathan Truax of Knappa in 4:23, and pinned No. 1 seeded Thomas Keeler of Gold Beach at 3:06 into the championship match. The only time the eventual victor from Wallowa said he felt threatened during the state meet came during WKH¿UVWURXQGRIKLVRSHQLQJPDWFK against Corbett when he got thrown on his back. ³7KLVGH¿QLWHO\LVWKHSHDNRIP\ wrestling career,” said Fuller. Wilcox, wrestling with a tight brace to protect a knee that will re- quire surgery, was highly competi- tive in all three of his matches, even during his second round loss by deci- sion to the tournament’s No. 1-seed- ed 152-pound competitor, Cale Edmunds of Oakridge. After deci- sioning No. 4-seeded Chris Ralston, RI0RQURHE\DVFRUHLQWKH¿UVW round, Wilcox lost a narrow 4-2 de- cision to Edmunds. See FULLER, Page A10 Local named to wrestling Dufur ousts Joseph boys HALL OF FAME Courtesy photo As a member of Eastern Oregon State College’s NAIA powerhouse 1966-1967 wrestling team that defeated most larger schools in the Pacific Northwest, Corak (back row, second from right) wrestled at 191 pounds. Corak to be inducted May 2 By Rocky Wilson Wallowa County Chieftain ENTERPRISE — Chuck Corak, an unassuming man who touched many lives during a wrestling and football coaching career that began in 1967, will be inducted into the 39-year-old National Wrestling Hall of Fame on May 2. Among a handful of honors that the Stillwater, Oklaho- ma-based organization hands out, Corak will receive a Dis- tinguished Lifetime Award for the 44 years of service he’s provided to the sport. See CORAK, Page A10 Rocky Wilson/Chieftain Soon to be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, former longtime Enterprise coach Chuck Corak and wife Carol have been a team for 49 years. By Rich Rautenstrauch Wallowa County Chieftain The Joseph boys’ basket- ball team made it into the state playoffs for the second straight year, but the Eagles were eliminated by the Dufur Rangers, 63-42, in the play- RIIV¶¿UVWURXQG7XHVGD\HYH ning, Feb. 24. Joseph kept it close until the middle of the third quarter when Dufur went on a shoot- ing spree, hardly missing a shot, and sank the Eagles’ hopes to continue their sea- son. Joseph coach Olan Fulfer observed, “Dufur played a near-perfect second half. I told the boys if they’re not missing their shots and we lost, then that’s basketball.” Joseph was down by only one point at the end of the ¿UVW SHULRG DQG WKDW was still the margin going into halftime with the score 24-23. Things really started to heat up in the third quarter with Dufur coming out and hitting three treys in a row. Joseph senior Noah DeLury answered Dufur’s call and sank three three-point shots of his own. With 3:40 left in the eight-minute period, the score was tied 35-35. With two minutes left in pe- riod Dufur was already up by seven points, however, which shows how quickly the Rangers were heating up on offense. All Joseph could do for the remainder of the game was to watch that sep- aration between the teams grow. “It kind of reminded me of the Nixyaawii game,” Fulfer reflected. “We came out strong and were playing Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain Joseph’s Aaron Borgerding prepares to shoot over two Dufur players during what would be the Eagles’ final game of the season, Feb. 24 in Joseph. well on both sides of the court. Dufur started hitting their shots and the boys lost their confidence and swag- ger. Dufur is a really good team. I give my boys credit. They played with pride ... and they never quit.” Fulfer said he had en- joyed watching his team im- prove during the course of the season, and he thought the players had enjoyed it too. “It wasn’t a chore. The boys love the game.” Joseph will be working hard during the off-season with college coaches com- ing in again to offer the kids some pointers, and the players will continue on in summer league. Fulfer says the outlook for next year’s team is a positive one. “We have a lot of return- ers and some freshmen com- ing up in the ranks. Our future looks bright,” The Eagles coach said. Young archer hits the mark Ribich runs By Rocky Wilson Wallowa County Chieftain A 13-year-old sev- enth grader from Enterprise Mid- dle School, Cole Gomes, in only his second year of shooting a bow and arrow, placed second at the three-day Ore- gon Bowhunters State Indoor Archery Cham- pionships held Feb. 20-22 in Bend. ,WPDUNHGWKH¿UVWWLPH*RPHVKDGFRP peted at the state level. Including all compe- tition categories, more than 400 archers par- ticipated. A self-taught marksman with a bow, the son of Ed and Julie Gomes plans to compete in two additional Oregon Bow- hunter-sponsored competitions in the up- coming months in hopes of claiming the “State Triple Crown Award” for his 12-14 age group’s Youth Male Bowhunter Free- style Division. Those meets will be held in Sherwood in June, and in La Grande in mid-July. mile in 4:13 David Ribich, a 2014 Enterprise High School grad whose distinguished high school track and cross-country career included peren- nial appearances on the winners’ stand at state FKDPSLRQVKLS PHHWV KDV TXDOL¿HG WR FRPSHWH in collegiate invitationals for Division I schools. Ribich, who runs the mile and 3,000 meters Courtesy photo/Rachel Gosney for Western Oregon University, ran the mile in LQWKH6HDWWOH3DFL¿F0HHWDW'HPSVH\ David Ribich (No. 311, middle of the pack), runs the mile at a Feb. 28 meet in Seattle. His time of Stadium in Seattle on Saturday, Feb. 28. See ARCHER, Page A10 See RIBICH, Page A10 4:13 was a personal best and five seconds shy of the school record. Wallowa County sunrise and sunset March 5 - March 11 (from the U.S. Naval Observatory) Thursday, March 5 Rise ..................................... 6:20 Set ....................................... 5:41 Friday, March 6 Rise ..................................... 6:19 Set ....................................... 5:43 Saturday, March 7 Rise ..................................... 6:17 Set ....................................... 5:44 106 SW Second Street, Enterprise 541-426-3181 • After Hours 541-426-3271 Owners – Kent and Sondra Lozier Locally Owned, Nationally Known & Community Involved Sunday, March 8 Rise ..................................... 6:15 Set ....................................... 5:46 Monday, March 9 Rise ..................................... 6:13 Set ....................................... 5:47 Keep your vehicle running in the cold weather with quality NAPA parts and accessories! Tuesday, March 10 Rise ......................................6:11 Set ....................................... 5:48 Wednesday, March 11 Rise ..................................... 6:09 Set ....................................... 5:50