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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2003)
FEBRUARY 15, 2003 SMOKE SIGNALS Willamina Bulldogs Bi 43 4iJ lib ; -I 'pi V J , . r f ' '' Watch And Learn My Son - Willamina Wrestling Coach Ariah Fasana, a two time state champion for the Bulldogs during his high school career and an NCAA All American for Portland State University, watches from the sidelines with his son, Justin, 3, and Assistant Coach Barry Wilson. Relentless Bulldog Senior Jake Harper, 150 pounds, works on pinning his opponent from Corbett. Willamina Wrestlers Have Their Work Cut Out For Them Solid team has good balance throughout. Style Points Willamina Junior Joel Warnicke, 160 pounds, is shown just seconds away from pinning his opponent from Corbett. By Ron Karten Wrestling season started early in December for the Bulldogs of Willamina, and the team's fourth place finish among eight in the first tournament held at Banks indicated the challenge still ahead for this young team. "Last year was the first time in five years that we haven't been in the top four," said Coach Ariah Fasana. That team had only three seniors, so with five this year, Fasana sees the team do ing "a tad better," for a team that is still pretty young. Tribal member Lee Wilson, who wrestles at 119 pounds, started the season at the 8-team Banks tournament with three solid wins and no losses. Tribal member Brett Leno, also weighs in under 119 pounds. Leno wrestled up to the 125-pound class, at Banks and suffered at the higher weight class. He turned in a 1-2 performance. The team competed in many meets over the season, including the Alsea Bay Classic in Waldport, which fielded 16 teams, and the Or egon Wrestling Classic in Redmond, featuring 16 2A squads, 32 3A squads, 32 4A squads, col leges and pee-wee wrestling, too. "We won a few small tournaments," said Fasana, "and we've been among the top four at all of the tournaments. That's a pretty good in dication of where we stand at the state level." Willamina, a 1A squad in the 14-school Dis trict 1, wrestles against 3A squads like Banks and 4A squads like St. Helens and Dallas dur ing the season, and early in February, the team had a 14-4 record. Districts were set for February 14 and 15 in Lady Hoopsters: Bulldogs Have To Beat The 4th Quarter Blues Willamina Girls enter last games of the season against top teams Amity and Santiam Christian. Y I ' x ! V ) l V By Ron Karten With four games left in the season as Smoke Signals went to press, the Lady Bulldogs were precariously tied for second place in the West Valley League with tough games coming up against Nestucca and the Delphians. Lose ei ther one of them and they're back in third. At times like this, it may be best to remember that these are the same athletes that started out the season with a 9-1 record. In the last two games of the season, the Bull dogs face Amity on February 18 and Santiam Christian on the 20, two of the toughest teams in the league. And then it's on to the playoffs set for the end of February 25, 27 and 29 the first at Willamina and the last two at Cen tral High in Independence. "Overall," said coach Ron Caligure, "they're doing great." "Caitlin Zimbrick is consistently scoring in double figures," he said, "and getting the re bounds. She is playing head and shoulders above everybody . i creann wuson, Caitlyn Chewning, Jessica White they have been real consistent for us." And surprises for the coach this year 0jTS? included Britney Wilson, Megan Zimbrick, Crislyn Chewning and Shalise Holsclaw. "When they're in the game," he said, "they're fundamentally sound." "When the season started, I thought that we'd probably play a little tougher against Santiam Christian and Amity," said Caligure. "I thought we'd be right in there. We played well for the half, maybe three quarters, then, I don't know, we kind of tired. That fourth quarter got to us." But hope springs eternal. "We're definitely going to be in the league playoffs," he said. "You never know what can happen there." r . . ,i x-f, ?t i . 2 Team Sport The Willamina Lady Bulldogs Basketball Team is in 2nd place in their league with an eye on getting into the post season. At press time, the team was heading into the most important games of the season against Amity and Santiam Christian. 'J
