APRIL 1, 2003
Smoke Signals 7
Daniel Scott Follows In The Family Tradition
10 year-old Tribal member has been wrestling for half his young life.
By Peta Tinda
At ten years old, Tribal member
Daniel Scott has already been wres
tling half of his life.
Daniel, the son of Wendy Scott
and Dennis Linton, Sr., showed the
benefit of that experience by win
ning first place at the Oregon Clas
sic Wrestling Tournament on Janu
ary 11. He is in the fifth grade at
Willamina grade school. Ray Car
penter, Jr. is his coach.
Daniel was born into a family of
wrestlers, his mother said.
"Both of his uncles and his father
wrestled in high school," said Scott.
"His dad likes to say he was bred
for wrestling and born ready."
Daniel started wrestling in first
grade.
"He wrestled his whole first sea
son with big, ear-to-ear grin on his
face because he enjoyed it so
much," said Scott.
Daniel and his teammates prac
tice for three hours a day, four days
a week. He is a novice class wres
tler and weighs 65 pounds. He is
very devoted to attending practice,
his mother said. All of this has made
him one of the up and coming young
Willamina wrestlers to watch for.
"He's young, but he has good
technique," said Scott. "A lot of
people have said they like to watch
him wrestle."
The family is trying to raise funds
to send Daniel and his -teammates
to the World Wrestling Champion
ships, held in Reno, Nevada on
April 4 6. The family has gotten
several local businesses to let them
place jars around the Grand Ronde
and Willamina areas for people who
would like to make a donation.
"The whole family is so proud of
them," said Wendy.
"Everybody; grandparents,
teachers, coaches, everybody,"
If you would like to make a dona
tion please call 503-507-0122 week
ends. B
: " MY V
!
- -. 8
Young Matt Hofenbredl Already a Tough Competitor
Six year-old Tribal member takes top honors in Pee-wee Wrestling.
By Ron Karten
With the sun setting behind him,
the (relatively) tall dark stranger
came on the mat, seemingly out of
nowhere, with no record to speak
of, his stance crouched, his hands
casual at his sides but make no mis
take, these were hands that were
ready to grapple.
His eyes burned like two coals,
and the opponents that did not
scatter at the sight of him soon
knew what it was to come up
against the young and dangerous
Tribal member, the Dallas Mat Club
Pee-Wee wrestler, Matt
Hofenbredl.
"This is the first thing he's ever
done," said his father, also a Tribal
member, Lee Hofenbredl. "How
fast he picked it up was unbeliev
able. Not only for him but for all
the kids of his age."
This success
came as all the
more of a sur
prise to Lee be
cause Lee had
never shown
the slightest
interest in
wrestling. "A
friend of
(Matt's) was
getting in
volved in it, so he decided he wanted
to be involved, too."
"He's a very tough little wrestler,"
said Dallas Mat Club coach, Dr.
Steven Passantino, a chiropractor in
Monmouth. "He's very agile, very
athletic for a young boy his age, a
very good sense of balance, and ac
tually, for his age, he has a very
good grasp of wrestling technique,
7v v 1 3
Iwmn li
which made him unstoppable."
The success, which included the
Coach's Award for Outstanding
Performance and the Rookie of the
Year award did not come without a
learning curve, however.
"The first tournament he didn't
know what he was doing," said Lee.
"He'd take him down and let him
back up. Take him down and let
him back up. That's what they did
in practice."
Matt came in second at that first
meet in Willamina. Next week at
Nestucca, he wrestled and sweated
and grunted his way to the top.
And there were many first place fin
ishes to follow.
"When he got these first place
medals," said Lee, "that is what re
ally inspired him."
Then came a tough meet in Scio,
and Matt placed third. "It was
pretty tough for him when he lost,"
said Lee.
But by the time the season ended
in February, his 16-3 record was
the best of 30 kids, and his future
seemed assured.
"He's got a winning attitude, I
guess you could say," said Lee.
As for discussing his own success,
Matt remained mostly mum, occa
sionally mugging for the camera,
being the humble kind of victor so
prized in today's headline-grabbing
world. In fact, his principle com
ment on the season came in re
sponse to a question about whether
all that wrestling ever tired him out.
"ZZZZZ," he said, and fell back
on his chair in a dead faint.
Next sport to watch: "T-ball in
April," said Lee. B
derway; Track, Baseball And Softball
ished 13-9 last season, 11-8 in
league play.
"We had a solid year last year for
a fairly inexperienced team," said
Head Coach Jade Starr. Starr was
a pitcher in his college years, earn
ing an Honorable Mention Ail
American at Albertson College of
Idaho and inclusion in the All
Northwest team while at Walla
Walla Community College.
"We returned seven starters from
last year as well as a few first year
players... so we've added dramati
cally to our athleticism."
The team's first outing this year
late in March heralded good things
for the squad. On the back of a no
hitter by senior pitcher Dustin
Johnson, the Bulldogs trounced
Harrisburg, 11-0. Johnson was
Honorable Mention All-State last
year. "This year, he should be one
of the best in the league as well as
best in state," said Starr.
Two junior starters, James Hosley
at second base and Jason Bergen
at pitcher and first base, also are
back. Sophomore starters looking
to improve the team's standings this
year include Leo Ayala at third base
and Steven Price in center field.
"A couple of first year seniors that
will get playing time are Cory
Bryant there's a good chance
he'll be starting in the outfield for
us and (Tribal member) Nick
Kimsey will help us in some vari
ous areas we haven't quite fig
ured out where yet," said Starr.
"I consider us a contender for a
playoff spot among the top four
? ' " I
I . , 'J I I
.. J III 11 1
-- r''
I V e
-,. t
teams," said Starr.
"Santiam Christian is
going to be extremely
tough. Dayton will
be solid. Sheridan
will be solid. I would
like to put us up with
those teams but I
don't know if that's
where we're at. I
think we can compete
with any team on a
given day. It just de
pends on how hard
the kids work and
what level of commit
ment they put in."
Power Display Tribal member Nick Kimsey will finish his senior season at
Willamina High School playing for the varsity baseball team. Kimsey also played
football and basketball this year.