Spilyay Sports
Pe 8 Spilyay Tymoo December 13, 2001
Young wrestlers honing their skills
Mat Club prepares
youngsters for
competition
By Bill Rhotdet
Spilyay Staff
Wrestling on be a lonely
sport for the ill-prepared, but
members of the Madras Mat
Club are honing their skills at
t young age and learning to be
prepared for one-on-onc com
petition. Participants are also
exposed to a group atmo
sphere, which comes with the
territory whenever you have 55
youngsters sign-up for a local
program.
"We really have a bunch of
kids out," said third year direc
tor Rodney Smith. "We have a
lot of kids coming back and we
also have a lot of little kids."
Enrollment at the mat club
is up nearly 20 percent this
year, a figure coaches find en
couraging. Smith is also happy to re
port that 15 tribal members
have turned out for this year's
team, another substantial in
crease from a year ago.
Madras Mat Club, an affili
ate of USA Wrestling, has op
erated under its current format
for the past three years, a spin
off of the Jefferson County
Matt Club that used to include
wrestlers from Culver. Mem
bers are 6-13 years of age and
skill levels range from beginner
to those who are nearly ready
for a spot on the high school
team.
Following the USA Wres
tling schedule, the club rolls
put its mats in early Novem
ber, practicing twice weekly
throughout the season, which
runs until the end of February.
"We have them run and
stretch, and we work them
pretty hard," said Smith.
"They're sweating by the time
practice is over."
A coaching staff made up of
Smith, his brother Spud, Dave
Whittaker, Sean Jaca, Rod
V
y
n - - . ,'
: K
Alirc, Joe
Monroe and
Paul Brown of
fer individual
instruction in
the basics of
wrestling.
They teach
the young
grapplers
about rules,
procedures,
scoring, tech
nique and all
"of the "basic
moves. During
workouts the
wrestlers are
typically sepa
rated into
small groups
that match
them up in terms of age, size
and skill level.
The same is true during
Of! yvi
' Phots by Bill Rhoadet
In the photograph at top, Spud Smith offers wrestling advice to youngsters.
In the photo above, Mat Club Director Rodney Smith does the same.
competitions. Wrestlers are
grouped into two-year age di-;
visions and then placed into a
weight class and experience
category. The idea is to develop
skills from the ground up, pro-
Madras girls varsity host holiday tournament
This weekend, Dec. 14 and
15, The Madras White Buffa
loes will host another tourna
ment. This time it will be the
girls' varsity that will be play
ing. Invited are Cascade, Sis
ters, and Philomuth.
The first game will be Sis
ters playing Cascade at 5:45
p.m. while the Lady Buffs
takes the court against
Philomuth at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, Dec. 15, the
consolation game will be at 12
PM, and the championship
game will start at 2 p.m.
Remember to wear a Blue
shirt, sweatshirt to the game to
fill the gym in a sea of Blue as.
you cheer the Madras White
Buffaloes at all of their home
games. In a late addition, the
girl JV team will participate in
the Bulldogs Varsity invita-.
Winter
scene
It has been a
snowy
holiday
season so
far, with snow
falling, at
least in small
amounts,
about every
other day
since
Thanksgiving.
The snow
has made for
some scenic
vistas around
the
reservation.
The
photograph at
right was
taken
recently at
HeHe.
J
Ptwfo by Dew McMctun
tional in Culver. They will
play Dufur Friday afternoon
at 3 p.m. Culver takes on Bo
nanza following the first game.
The consolation game starts
at noon, on Saturday while the
Championship game will start
at approximately 2 p.m.
Madras boys
travel to Culver
This afternoon, the fresh
men boys take center stage
with a game against the Bull
dogs in Culver. Tip off is at 7
p.m.. Prior to the start of the
boys' game, the freshmen girls
' will tipoff at 5:30 PM.
This will be the only game
this season when the freshmen
boys and girls team will play
in the same venue.
MHS wrestlers
visit Estacada
Madras Wrestlers partici
pated in an 8-team invitational
at Estacada on Dec. 7. Tony
Hansen of Madras took first
place in the 130 pound division
by scoring two pin falls and a
technical fall on his way to the
title. Placing third was Orrin
Beals in the 103-pound divi
sion while Jacob Struck placed
third in the 140-pound divi
sion. These scores helped Madras
come in sixth place with a
score of 100.
viding as much practical expe
rience as possible along the
way.
Wrestlers have the option of
competing in weekend tourna
ments staged around the state.
They travel with their families
or arrange for transportation
through someone else in the
club.
All of the matches arc
scored, although emphasis is
on participation at the early
stages.
Most of the competitions
feature four-man brackets with
medals going to the first place
finisher and runner-up. Every
one who competes is assured a
ribbon.
Smith said some members
of the club travel almost every
weekend. Others may choose
to attend one tournament and
then confine their efforts to the
twice-weekly practices.
Coaches try to promote
tournaments held within the
central Oregon region, particu
larly the Jan. 26 event held in
Madras. Last year the local
event drew 160 wrestlers, some
from as far away as Portland.
"People come from all
over," said Smith. "The sport
has been booming and the kids
keep getting better."
For anyone interested in
joining the club, entry forms
are still available during Tues
day and Thursday evening (6
7:30 p.m.) practices held at the
Buff Elementary Annex just
south of Madras High School.
Registration for USA Wres
tling affiliates is $35.
Coaches generally confine
their instruction to topics that
can be direcdy related to wres-
Astoria takes
basketball
tourney trophy
By Orlando Doney
Spilyay Staff
,:tling, but Smith points out
many of those lessons have
applications for other sports.
The self-reliance and men
tal disciplines taught in wres
tling are attributes an athlete
can put to use in any other
sport.
"It's an individual sport that
teaches self-confidence," said
Smith. "Wrestling helps kids in
all sports."
MHS girls
again defeat
Grant Union
In a game that took place in
January or February about 10
years ago. Grant Union of the
Greater Oregon League made
a house call to the Buffalo
Dome on Dec. 7.
Though the years have
passed and Madras is now in
the Tri-Valley league, the re
sults are the same. Madras 58,
Grant Union 36
Once the ball was tossed up
for the tipoff, the Lady Buffs
established the tempo of the
game and the Prospectors were
playing catch up the rest of the
night. After the first quarter,
Madras led 17-10. When the
teams went into the dressing
rooms for halftime, the White
Buffaloes led 36-20.
As the second half started
the defense for both teams took
center stage as only each team
scored 9 and 8 points respec
tively. Madras led 45-28.
The fourth quarter and the
score let the players on the
bench get some valuable game
situation experience for both
teams.
Time expired and the
scoreboard showed a final score
of 58-36 in favor of the White
Buffaloes. Nicole Main led
Madras scorers with 16 points
on 10 of 16 shots while going
two for two from beyond the
arc.
Two weeks ago, the boys'
varsity basketball team hosted
the Bob McKenzic Memorial
tournament in the Buffalo
dome. The first game pitted
Astoria against the Henley
I lorncti Both teams were try
ing to improve their won-loss
record in Madras and to see
where they stood against com
petition from other confer
ences. Astoria has a history of
playing solid basketball and
this year is no different Rated
5,h in the state in the 3A polls,
Astoria made quick work of
Henley in the first game Fri
day evening.
I Icnley rebounded the next
day as they played Sisters, and
went home with the third
place trophy.
The Hornets are a young
team due to graduation of sev
eral players from last year's
team.
While the Oudaws were un
dermanned due to some of
their players who are partici
pating in the state 3A football
playoffs.
The struggle for Central
Oregon bragging rights ex
tended to include Sisters, still
considered a young school, but
that did not deter them from
playing hard. Madras sent Sis
ters to the consolation game
Friday evening with a resound
ing loss.
Saturday's championship
game between Madras and
Astoria saw the Buffaloes fall
behind early. With strong de
fense and hustle, Astoria held
an 18-12 lead at the end of the
first quarter.
Behind consistent outside
shooting, Astoria led at half
time 50-34. After the intermis
sion, Madras returned to the
floor and went back to what
they do best, applying pressure
on the ball, challenging every
pass, and playing aggressive
defense.
Thus started a second half
comeback. Unlike the first
game of the season against
Crook County that ended in a
two point Madras victory in
overtime, Astoria was able to
leave town with the Bob
McKenzie Memorial Champi
onship trophy and a 77-69 vic
tory over the White Buffaloes.
MHS sports
schedule
Upcoming events for Ma
dras White Buffaloes teams:
Girls Basketball
Dec. 18 Mt.View
(FJVV) 5:155:157:00 PM
Dec. 19 Sweet Home
(FJVV) 5:455:457:30 PM
Dec. 22 HOME vs. Henley
(FJVV) 121:303:00 PM
Boys Basketball
Dec. 15 Cascade
(FJVV) 5:455:457:30 PM
Dec. 18 HOME vs. Mt.
View (FJVV) 5:455:45
7:30 PM
Dec. 20 HOME vs. Sisters
(FJVV) 5:455:457:30 PM
Madras Wresding
Dec 15 Mac High Tour
nament 0VV)
Dec. 21 Summit
(JVV)
Dec. 28 Culver
(JVV) 7PM
Freshmen and Sophomore
Wrestling
Dec. 12 Culver
5 PM
Dec. 19 LaPine
5 PM