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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2003)
8 MARCH 1,2003 Smoke Signals Bulldog Wrestlers A Big Presence at State O Cory Bryant is state champ again, team finishes 6th. A.' ,"'', - By Ron Karten Six Willamina High School wres tlers took their skills, confidence and upper body strength to the Oregon State Championships at the Port land Coliseum late in February. One came home as best in the state Cory Bryant in the 140-pound class. He came home first last year, too. "We ended up in 6th (place)," said Bulldog Wrestling Coach Ariah Fasana, "which I guess according to rankings is a little higher than we were expected to do. That's about where we belonged, but we could very easily have been fourth. We just needed to win one more match." In his own high school wrestling career, Fasana took state titles in the 98-pound and 112-pound weight classes in 1988 and 1989, respectively. "All our guys who placed did re ally well," said Fasana. Cory Bryant was state champion. - mr'"' : Mamt....-.. : The Best Willamina Senior Cory Bryant repeated as State Wrestling Champion by de feating Dayton's talented and tough Joe Silva. Bryant, shown here in the District Champi onships, dominated Silva in the championship match after splitting four matches with Silva prior to the State Championships at the Coliseum in Portland. "He's a two-timer now. He wrestled really smart," said Fasana. Bryant had squared off against Dayton's Joe Silva before and they were 2-2 against each other before the state finals. "(Bryant) handled him very easily. Was in control the whole match. He knows how to get ready before a big match. Knows to bring his best game to big tour naments. He does a great job at preparing himself," said Fasana. Bryant beat wrestlers from McKenzie and Nyssa on his way to defeating Dayton's Silva on points, 10-4. His performance included one pin along the way. Following in weight or der, Jared Staben, 112 pounds, defeated oppo nents from Oakridge and Central Linn before run: ning into Nyssa's Monte Nicholes who went on to win the state title in this weight category. "Jared (Staben), at 112 pounds, for just being a sophomore, he did pretty well," said his coach. "He ended up fourth." Tribal member Lee Wilson, 119 pounds (see sidebar), ran into a buzz saw in last year's state champ, Central U VV-- Linn's Lee Fincher in his first match. "Lee placed fourth also," said Fasana. "He had a really tough weight bracket, so that was really good." Wilson's half-brother, Vince Fagundes, 130 pounds, made the semi-finals, outpointing Glendale's De Pham and pinning Central Linn's David Anthony, before run ning into a 15-5 defeat by Enterprise's Austin Himes. "Vince (Fagundes) was fourth also. He's a junior, he'll be back next year. He went to state last year but this was the first year he placed." Steve Schussman, 135 pounds, like some of his teammates, drew a tough early match, and went down to Santiam Christian's Britton LaTulippe. And Jake Harper, 152 pounds, had an even harder time with Elgin's Cody Burgess in his first match, but did accumulate his 100th high school win during the tournament. Tribal Member Lee Wilson Wrestles At Oregon State Wrestling Championships Forth place finish sets up a promising future for high school senior. Profile by Ron Karten Tribal member Lee Wilson had about five pounds to lose the day before this year's Oregon State Wrestling Championships, and it's not like he's got that much extra to lose to begin with, but in his quietly confident way, the prospect which daunts millions of Americans on a daily basis wasn't even an item on his schedule. "Maybe I'll have an orange for dinner. You know," he said, "I eat light the night before." Wilson, who has only wrestled for the Willamina Bulldogs for the last two years, made his first appearance at state this year. With a bye for the first round, he ran into last year's champ in the second and the result was not good but Wilson is a fellow who takes the ups and downs in stride. "My goal was to place in the top four," he said of the state champion ships. "I beat the second-seeded kid. I did pretty good, I think." A senior this year, Wilson has come around in other ways, as well. His c 3.0 grade point average (GPA) last term and what he anticipates will be a 3.7 in the current term show a lot of improvement, according to his coach, a. "He's matured a lot," said Fasana. "He does a good job at taking care of -q what he heeds to get done. He gained a lot of experience (this year), and in wrestling, experience is huge." - As a newcomer at his first meet last season, Wilson recalled that Neah- kah-nee's Justin Kamerer pinned him. "I made a mistake on the shot failures in the sport, he said, "It's mostly natural." (shooting is the term for the duck and dive move by which wrestlers go for i use upper body strength. I don't really have a great shot, but a an opponent's legs to take him down from standing positions). I lost my pretty decent shot." And when wrestling with others who also have good grip." . upper body strength, like Fagundes, Wilson says, "I try not to tie up. I For this year's Classic Wrestling Tournament, Wilson worked hard to wajt for them to make a mistake." get ready to meet Kamerer again. "I knew I could wrestle him," he said. After school and when wrestling's done, you might find Wilson either "I had confidence. I knew I would go in and just try not to make any washing dishes or bussing them at the casino or working with the Tribe's mistakes." The result - Wilson won by points, 11-9. grounds keeping crew. "This year," Wilson said, "(Nestucca's) Brandon Boyce beat me 3-1 at He spends time working with his dad at his home-based shop restoring our home meet. At districts, I beat him 13-10. That built my confidence." cars or tinkering with his Yamaha 125 motorcycle. He also likes to take The whole wrestling effort came out of the horsing around kids do at the bike out in the woods, home. "I thought it was fun when I was little," he said. For years, he has Wilson also puts in volunteer time at the local food bank operated by been "rough-housing" with his younger, half-brother Vince Fagundes. his grandparents, Tribal members Marvin and Michelle Kimsey. Fagundes brought the wrestling skills to school competition first, and Wil- Friendly and pleasant to speak with, he takes a nice, simple view of his son watched him. Wilson's uncle, Barry Wilson, the team's assistant coach, worid, knowing where he excels, willing to work at improving where he also encouraged him along the way. doesn't, and he seems pretty pleased with his recent successes. Since the Tribe's gym has been available, Wilson said he uses Tribal "it's pretty good to know that I can wrestle with the top guys at state," fadUtiegrobx JWCfiA JKfifilsJlllUt looking back at his successes and . he said. l- .-- , .;,;JL JJZlJ . . ft ) I II III I ' I - t vf I , I - if' 1 t m .!. Outlook For The Future Is Bright - Tribal member and Willamina High School Se nior Lee Wilson finished fourth in the State Wres tling Championships at Memorial Coliseum in Port land this year. Wilson, who gets good grades and vol unteers at the local food bank, has made his family and friends proud.
