A14
WEDNESDAY
February 7, 2018
Beckman for the pin —
and win. Joseph Wal-
lowa wrestler and state
champion at 106 lbs, eas-
ily pinned his opponent
at the District wrestling
tournament on Feb. 2, at
Joseph.
Joseph/Wallowa finishes
second in district action
9 WRESTLERS
HEAD TO STATE
Story and photos
by Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Joseph Charter School
hosted some championship
wrestling on Feb. 2, but there
wasn’t any strutting, blustering,
ridiculous threats of violence or
phony wrestling moves.
It was the district wrestling
tournament, which determines
the best of the best wrestlers
and decides who goes on to
compete at the state tournament
in Portland in two weeks.
Joseph will send five wres-
tlers to state and Enterprise
four. Joseph, with only seven
wrestlers competing, placed
second in the 10-team tourna-
ment with 131.5 points, a half-
point ahead of Crane. John Day
won the tournament with 214
points but had to bring 23 wres-
tlers to do it. Enterprise placed
fourth with 130 points.
For Joseph, state champion
Steven Beckman won at 106
pounds, as did Gus Ramsden
at 145 and Austin Brockamp
at 160. Zeb Ramsden placed
second at 120, as did Cole
Kiesecker at 220. Guylen Sny-
der and Jonah Staigle placed
third at 152 and 182, respec-
tively. The top two wrestlers in
each class received the nod for
state competition.
For Enterprise, Shane Lund
picked up his 46th win of
the year and first place at 120
pounds, as did teammate and
reigning state champion at 126
Cole Farwell. Trace Evans also
took first at 132. Dylan Staigle
took second at 138, while Evan
Jonson placed third at 132 as
Enterprise wrestler Cole Farwell, competing at 132 pounds,
is victorious over his Union opponent at the districts wres-
tling tournament Feb. 2. Farwell won the weight class and will
try to repeat as state champion in two weeks.
Wallowa High School student Austin Brockamp, of the Joseph/Wallowa team is all smiles af-
ter vanquishing his opponent by fall in the championship round of the 160-pound weight cat-
egory at wrestling districts. Feb. 2. The win allows Brockamp to move on to the state tourna-
ment in two weeks.
did Klint Norton at 285. Char-
lie Evans and Hafizh Al Farizi
placed sixth at 138 and 182,
respectively.
Lund, a three-time district
champion in his junior year,
said while competition was
tough, last year’s competition
was tougher.
“Furtado from Adrian was
really tough. It took everything
I had to keep up with him,” he
said. Lund also gave credit to his
finals competition, Joseph/Wal-
lowa freshman Zeb Ramsden.
“Zeb Ramsden is a phe-
nomenal wrestler,” he said.
“Especially for a freshman.
He’ll probably place at state.”
Lund said he would prac-
tice against teammate Cole
Farwell to prepare for state.
“He beats me every day in
practice and makes me get bet-
ter,” Lund said with a laugh.
State champion Beckman,
who won his second district
title, said he felt more confi-
dent this year than the last.
“This year, I know what
I’m capable of,” he said. “I’m
more comfortable in big-
ger matches, and I hope it
keeps going through the state
championships.”
He added that he’ll prepare
for state by getting to his opti-
mum weight and training as
hard as he can.
Although the Eagles’
Guylen Snyder didn’t qualify
for state, his third-place win
was a testament to persever-
ance. Snyder spent much of
the match on the bottom end
of an 8-3 score but started to
mount a comeback late in the
second round, narrowing the
score to 8-5 at the start of the
final round.
His opponent scored two
points on a reversal, but Sny-
der, working steadily, nar-
rowed the score to 10-8 before
placing his opponent in a near-
fall predicament and gaining
an 11-10 victory in the final
seconds of the match.
“We just keep preaching
never give up,” Joseph/Wal-
lowa coach Tim Kiesecker
said. “It’s not over ‘till it’s
over. It totally ruined that
other kid’s day.”
Snyder
commented,
“You’ve got to draw on every-
thing you have at the end. It’s
all mind.”
Kiesecker was pleased
with his team’s performance.
“Having it at home makes
it nice,” he said. Kiesecker
also offered thanks to all the
volunteers and sponsors who
helped put on the event. “Plac-
ing five of our six wrestlers
who competed makes for a
pretty good average.”
Kiesecker has plans to
keep his team sharp over the
next two weeks.
“It’s about perfecting what
they already do,” he said. “I
don’t try to change their skills
this late in the season. It’s all
about conditioning and keep-
ing in top shape.”
Outlaws coach Troy Far-
well said that this year saw his
team bringing more wrestlers
than the previous year.
“We did a little better as
a team this year,” the coach
said. “It was a good tourna-
ment, but I wish we’d have
done just a little bit better team
wise. They deserved a trophy
–– they’ve worked hard all
year.”
SPORTS CALENDAR
JOSEPH
WALLOWA
ENTERPRISE
BOYS BASKETBALL
BOYS BASKETBALL
BOYS BASKETBALL
Friday, Feb. 9 –– Joseph vs.
Griswold at Griswold, 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 9 –– Wallowa vs. Echo at
home, 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 9 –– Enterprise vs.
Imbler at home, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10 –– Joseph vs.
Nixyaawii at home, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10 –– Wallowa vs.
Powder Valley at Powder Valley, 5:30
p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10 –– Enterprise vs.
Grant Union at home, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 9 –– Joseph vs. Griswold at Griswold,
6 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Friday, Feb. 9 –– Wallowa vs. Echo at home, 5 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 9 –– Enterprise vs. Imbler at home, 6
p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10 –– Joseph vs. Nixyaawii at home,
4 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10 –– Wallowa vs. Powder Valley at
Powder Valley, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10 –– Enterprise vs. Grant Union at
home, 4 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
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