Wallowa County Chieftain
Sports
wallowa.com
December 20, 2017
Outlaws, Eagles both shine
at wrestling tournaments
Joseph
teams
fare well
vs. Cove
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Both Eagles basketball
teams whomped hard on the
Cove Leopards, who barely
escaped with their lives during
a Dec. 15 matchup at Joseph.
The Eagles girls toasted
the Leopards 49-28 in a game
that included junior varsity
players getting plenty of floor
time as the defenseless Leop-
ards could do little to stop the
Eagles onslaught. The end
of the game seemed more a
mercy than a victory.
No game stats or com-
ments on the game were given
to the Chieftain in time for
publication.
The
boys
performed
equally well as they beat the
spots off the luckless Leop-
ards, 61-27. The Leopards kept
it interesting in the first few
minutes, but quickly lost any
semblance of control midway
through the first quarter.
The Eagles fast-paced game
and merciless press forced
numerous turnovers. Senior
Caevan Murray proved a huge
force on the floor, dominating
both offensively inside and out
while snatching a number of
offensive rebounds from the
Leopards, who looked dazed
when they did have possession
of the ball.
Murray led the scoring with
15 while Tyler Homan fol-
lowed with 10 in the net.
“Pretty much everybody
scored,” said coach Olan
Fulfer.
Both teams fell victim to
razor-edge losses at Powder
Valley the following day.
The Joseph boys and girls
played stellar ball throughout,
with the girls nearly knock-
ing off the top-ranked Bad-
gers, coming out on the bot-
tom end of a 46-44 score. The
boys came up just short in a
79-76 overtime shootout that
saw nearly all the starters foul-
ing out.
The lady Eagles played
tough on both sides of the
court in their loss to the Bad-
gers. No comments or game
stats were made available to
the Chieftain in time for this
week’s publication.
The weekend left the ladies
with a 1-1 record in league
play and 5-1 overall. They next
play Dufur on Dec. 28.
The Eagle men were short
two key players who were
benched for disciplinary rea-
sons. Nonetheless, the amaz-
ing Murray once again exerted
his court dominance with a
26-point performance of his
own, including a three-pointer
at the regulation buzzer to send
the game into overtime.
“Powder Valley is the
toughest game in the state for
our kids to play,” Fulfer said.
“They have a rowdy crowd
and a small court. When
they’re pressing us, it’s tough
because the crowd is right at
the sidelines.”
Next to Murray’s 26 points,
Homan cleaned up with 17 and
Jean Luc Palma nailed 13.
The game left the Eagles
1-1 in Old Oregon League play
and 4-2 overall.
They next play at Country
Christian on Dec. 29.
Courtesy photo/Kristen Ruckdashel
Miguel Lizosoain shoots for the hoop during the Joseph
versus Cove boys varsity game Dec. 15. Lizosoain is an ex-
change student who has worked hard to play on the varsity
team. He had played little basketball before his arrival, and
his host parents Chantay and Lem McBerney have practiced
with him.
Both the Outlaws and
Eagles had made their mark
at separate tourneys Dec.
8-9 weekend. The Out-
laws traveled to La Grande
for the Muilenberg Invita-
tional, while the Eagles vis-
ited Culver.
The Outlaws, competing
with 19 schools, many much
larger, came away from the
tournament with the small
schools trophy, while Shane
Lund (12-0), Cole Farwell
(12-0) and Dylan Staigle (10-
4) each made their mark in
the 120 lb, 132 lb and 138 lb
weight classes respectively.
Coach Troy Farwell noted
that Lund and Cole Farwell
won tops in their weight divi-
sion while seeing some stiff
competition.
“Shane wrestled Alex
Kehr, a really tough kid from
La Grande, and Cole wres-
tled two kids who challenge
him a lot,” the coach said.
His quarter-final and semi-fi-
nal matches were the tough-
est he had. In his quarter-final
match (Zyle Blas of Bethel),
he was down by two going
into the final minute, and with
30 seconds to go, got a rever-
sal to tie it up.” A near-fall
followed, along with a Far-
well victory.
Coach Farwell said that
he’s looking forward to the
rest of the season. He said
he and the team enjoy wres-
tling teams from other areas,
so they’re not wrestling the
same kids over and over. No
one on the team has twice
wrestled the same opponent.
“These are the kinds
of matches we go up there
for,” Farwell said. “We get
matches that push us, and it’s
Courtesy Photo
The combined Joseph/Wallowa wrestling team with their
trophy for best small-school team at the John Rysdam Me-
morial tournament in Elgin on Dec. 15-16. Austin Brock-
amp, left, Zeb Ramsden, coach Tim Kiesecker, Steven
Beckman, team supporter Micah Fuller, Gus Ramsden and
Cole Kiesecker.
exciting when we come away
with a win.”
The Outlaws traveled to
Elgin for the John Rysdam
tournament Dec. 15-16, com-
ing away with mixed results.
They finished sixth of 11
teams on the opening day
with first-place performances
of Lund and Cole Farwell in
their brackets. Wrestlers Klint
Norton and Dylan Staigle
also placed in the top three.
The following day was
a bit of a letdown. Although
Lund and Farwell won their
categories, two members of
the team didn’t make weight,
which sent the coach scram-
bling to find matches for them
“We did OK,” said coach
Farwell. He added that Stai-
gle turned in an impressive
performance at 138 lbs.
The Outlaws next wrestle
at Pasco, Wash., Dec. 23.
The combined Joseph/
Wallowa Eagles also wrestled
well at Culver on Dec. 8-9
and the Rysdam tournament
on Dec. 15-16.
Culver saw the team led
by Steven Beckman winning
at the 113 lb. slot, while Zeb
Ramsden placed third in the
120 lb category. Overall the
Eagles placed 10th in a field
of 14.
The Rysdam tournament
proved more fruitful for the
Eagles with the team winning
the small school trophy. The
Eagles were led by another
first-place performance of
Beckman’s and third-place
finishes by Zeb Ramsden,
Gus Ramsden and Austin
Brockamp in the 120, 160 and
170 pound brackets, respec-
tively. Cole Kiesecker placed
fourth in the 220 pound slot.
Joseph placed fourth in a field
of 11 teams.
“They all wrestled really
hard and they wrestled well,”
said coach Tim Kiesecker.
“There were a lot of 4A
schools.” He added that the
larger schools also brought
along their first-string wres-
tlers to compete. “It was a
tough tournament,” he said.
The Eagles next wrestle at
Pomeroy, Wash. on Dec. 29.
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Steve Tool/Chieftain
Eagles senior Alexis Sykora adds two points to the Eagles’
systematic massacre of the Cove Leopards, 49-28.
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