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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2018)
A16 Sports wallowa.com January 31, 2018 Wallowa County Chieftain Outlaw, Eagle wrestlers scale to the top before district Joseph captures first at Pine Eagle By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain The county’s two wres- tling teams can’t seem to find a peak they can’t scale. Last week, the Outlaws traveled to Idaho while Joseph/Wallowa traveled to Pine Eagle. Both teams returned with plenty of hardware. The Pine Eagle tournament Jan. 26, was essentially a mir- ror of what’s expected at dis- trict. The Eagles took home the crown after wrestling nine other teams. Even with a lim- ited number of wrestlers, the Eagles flew past John Day, which brought twice as many wrestlers. “We wrestled really, really well,” said coach Tim Kiesecker. “I’m happy about our first place in the tourna- ment. We won it with just five kids!” The Eagles garnered three first-place finishes in the tour- nament with superstar Steven Beckman taking his usual first- place win at 106 pounds. Cole All the kids are peaking just about right. It’s really been a pleasure. I’m proud of all of my kids, the way they’ve come together.’ — Coach Tim Kiesecker Kiesecker, who dropped a weight class to compete at 195, walked away with his second consecutive gold medal finish and Zeb Ramsden took home the gold at 120. Austin Brockamp and Jonah Staigle caught the silver at 160, and 182, respectively “All the kids are peaking just about right,” Kiesecker said. “It’s really been a plea- sure. I’m proud of all of my kids, the way they’ve come together.” The Outlaws Idaho travels saw coach Troy Farwell split the team with Cole Farwell and Shane Lund competing at the R.D. Brown Invitational in New Plymouth, Idaho, while the rest competed at the Cald- well JV Tournament. Coach Farwell attended the Caldwell tournament while his wife, Lisa Farwell, accompanied Lund and Farwell to their tour- nament, where several coaches took charge of the two boys. Lund and Farwell took the top spots at 120 and 126, respectively. “They wrestled against some much larger schools,” Coach Farwell said. “I’m proud of the way they performed.” The Caldwell tournament saw Trace Evans take home the gold at 132-pound B class while Evan Johnson took third in the A class at the same weight. Drew Widener took sixth at 195, and Klint Norton took second at 285. “The whole team wrestled well,” Farwell said. Both squads will compete at districts Friday in Joseph. Eagles top Wallowa, Echo; fall to Powder Valley By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain The Eagles boys and girls basketball teams played three games this past week, winning two. The matchups proved once again that the Powder Valley basketball teams holds some strange voodoo over the Eagles. Pound for pound, Joseph con- sistently has better, faster ath- letes who are better ball-han- dlers and have shooting skills than the Badgers, but still, the Eagles fell hard. Eagles ladies Despite some initial poor shooting by the Eagles in the Jan. 23 matchup with Wallowa, the Eagles managed to catch fire and declaw the Cougars, 60-27. Coach Lance Homan said he was proud of the way his team fought through a tough game. He also gave credit to Wal- lowa’s defense for playing hard and contesting shots. He also said he enjoyed playing at home in the middle of the week. Senior Alexis Sykora led all comers with 19 points while Satori Albee and Madelyn Nel- son each contributed 14 points to the mix. Homan singled out Nelson’s performance, saying that her hard work at shoot- ing practice is yielding great results. Friday’s game against the Badgers was a tossup from the get-go. Again, the Eagles had trouble getting the ball through the hoop but stayed in the game because of their grit, even though the Eagles trailed the Badgers for the entire contest. In the fourth quarter, the Eagles crept up to the Bad- gers but the visitors held a three point lead, 45-42, with only a few seconds remaining. The game looked lost until fresh- man wunderkind Sabrina Albee sank a shot from outside the paint at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime. The four-minute period was anti-climatic for the Eagles, who had burned up their energy reserves in the fourth quar- ter. The ladies tried hard and scored, but the energy wasn’t there. Albee led the scoring with 23 points while Sykora added 16. Nelson and Haley Miller had seven points each. “The environment in the gym was amazing and our kids responded well to the pres- sure,” Homan said. “Powder is a very good team and a team that is playing really well. This was a great game to be a part of and I as much as anyone hates to lose, but I look forward to another matchup if it happens.” Firecracker Albee had 23 points while Sykora scored 16 in the effort The girls got their revenge on hapless Echo with a 56-27 bru- talizing of the Cougars on the following night in a game that saw the bench get significant playing time. The girls were on fire most of the night, executing flawless basketball with very few bumps in the road. “The girls really came out looking like they had some- thing to prove,” Homan said. “I was proud of our girls and how they responded after a really hard fought game against Pow- der the night before.” Albee scored 11 points in the first quarter alone although Sykora scored the bulk of points thereafter. Homan said the thought Sykora had no equal in the league at the post position. Sykora nailed 24 points. The weekend left the girls in third place with an 8-3 record and 14-4 overall with a sixth- place state ranking. Eagle boys The Joseph boys struggled against Wallowa, unable to find a rhythm or groove. Four min- utes into the game, the Eagles had scored only once, and Wal- lowa held the lead until late in the second quarter. Above left: Trey Wandschneider hits from the outside during the Joseph and Powder Valley game Jan. 26 in Joseph. Above right: Powder Valley’s Dawson Smith attempts to block an outside shot by Eagle Tyler Homan during the Jan. 26 match- up between the two teams (Ellen Bishop/Special to the Chieftain). Right: Eagles player Haley Miller goes for two during the Ea- gles’ 60-27 victory over the Wallowa Cougars on Tuesday, Jan. 23 (Steve Tool/Chieftain). Final score was 59-48. Cougars standout Christo- pher Nobles did more than his share on offense and defense, scoring 14, eight of them free throws. He also blocked a number of shots and broke up numerous plays. The Eagles couldn’t get shots to fall and even free throw shooting proved a challenge at times. The game was much closer than that with the Cougars going on a hot streak and pull- ing to within five in the fourth quarter before the Eagles boys took matters in hand and won going away. Chase Murray led the scor- ing with 19 points while Cae- van Murray added 14 points. Time for a Computer Tuneup? Spyware Removal • 541-426-0108 103 SW 1st St., Enterprise Tyler Homan had eight points while Jean Luc Palma had seven in the bucket. “We came out super flat, I think because we were look- ing forward to the weekend too much,” coach Olan Fulfer said. “The kid’s heads weren’t in the game at all.” Fulfer added it was a good game for the younger players because they learned they have to play through those kinds of games to keep growing. Fulfer also said that the Cougars had improved tremendously since the two teams met last. When the boys took on Powder Valley, both teams looked sluggish, although Powder Valley jumped to an early lead because of their slightly superior shooting. The Eagles couldn’t find the bucket although part of that stemmed from the failure to bring the ball upcourt, which allowed the Badgers plenty of time to set their defense. Cole Kiesecker This week’s athlete of the week is Joseph Charter School senior Cole Kiesecker, 17. The senior dropped a weight class to compete at 195 lbs. and taken home the gold in his last two meets, helping push the Eagles over the top for a tournament win last Saturday in Pine Eagle. Kiesecker plays football and has competed in track and golf. He is also the FFA vice president and will enter the Air Force upon graduation this year. Proudly Sponsored By: Eastern Oregon’s Full Service Propane Supplier 201 E. Hwy 82, Enterprise 541-426-0320 www.edstaub.com By the third quarter, the game stood at 21-13 for the Badgers and at times, the con- test seemed to be which team could make the most errors, particularly in the turnovers department. The buzzer brought a mer- ciful end to the game with the Badgers coming out on top 44-35. “We got wide-open looks at the basket, but we just couldn’t hit the shots,” Fulfer said. Caevan Murray led the scor- ing with 11 while Tyler Homan and Chase Murray had six points each. The Eagles brought an entirely new attitude to Satur- day’s game against Echo, who had defeated the boys earlier in the season. On fire from the start, the Eagles led 12-8 after the first quarter and poured on the coal the rest of the night, leading 31-18 at the half and 47-27 starting the fourth quarter. Guard Jean Luc Palma played stellar offense and defense with his “in-your-face- all-over-the-place style of bas- ketball. The final quarter saw a lot of playing time for the Eagles’ bench, which has more depth than any team in the league and held up their end with a final score of 56-39. “We run hot and cold, Jekyll and Hyde, depends on the day,” Fulfer said. “Last time we played these guys we couldn’t do anything right. I’m hoping we can play that well consis- tently and be able to move on.” Caevan Murray led the scor- ing with 23 points while Homan added seven and Palma and Chase Murray contributed six. The weekend left the boys in third place in the district with a 7-4 record and 11-6 on the year for an 18th-place state ranking. 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