Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 14, 2015 10A
CLASS 5A PREP WRESTLING
SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 14
Boys Basketball: Dallas
at Woodburn, 7 p.m. South
Albany at Central, 7 p.m.
Wrestling: Woodburn at
Dallas, 6 p.m. Central at
South Albany, 7 p.m.
THURSDAY, JAN. 15
Boys Basketball: Falls
City at Livingstone Adven-
tist, 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball: Falls
City at Livingstone Adven-
tist, 5:30 p.m.
Women’s Basketball:
Western Oregon at Western
Washington, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY, JAN. 16
Boys Basketball: Cen-
tral at Dallas, 7 p.m. Perry-
dale at Western Mennonite,
7:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball: Falls City
at Gaston, 3 p.m. Perrydale at
Western Mennonite, 6 p.m.
Dallas at Central, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, JAN. 17
Wrestling: Dallas at
Parkrose Tournament, 9:30
a.m.
Men’s Basketball: Saint
Martin’s at Western Oregon,
7 p.m.
Women’s Basketball:
Western Oregon at Simon
Fraser, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY, JAN. 20
Boys Basketball: Santi-
am at Perrydale, 7 p.m. Jew-
ell at Falls City, 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball: Santi-
am at Perrydale, 5:30 p.m.
Jewell at Falls City, 5:30 p.m.
Dallas at South Albany, 7
p.m. Crescent Valley at Cen-
tral, 7 p.m.
Swimming: Dallas at
South Albany, 4 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21
Boys Basketball: South
Albany at Dallas, 7 p.m. Cen-
tral at Crescent Valley, 7 p.m.
Wrestling: Dallas at
Crescent Valley, 6 p.m. Sil-
verton at Central, 6 p.m.
—
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
WOU junior earns
conference honor
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon redshirt junior Andy
Avgi was named Great
Northwest Athletic Confer-
ence men’s basketball Co-
Player of the Week on
Monday.
Avgi averaged 20.5
points per game in wins
over Northwest Nazarene
on Thu-
rsday
and Cen-
tral Wa-
shington
on Sat-
urday.
Avgi
scored a
team-
high 18
Avgi
points
against Northwest Naza-
rene.
Against the Wildcats, Avgi
scored 23 points, 16 of which
came in the second half.
He ranks second in the
conference in total points,
points per game, total of-
fensive rebounds and offen-
sive rebounds per game.
Avgi shared the honor
with Momir Gatari of Mon-
tana State Billings.
Passing the torch
Brunner helped build Invitational from the ground up
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — If there’s one
thing Janet Brunner misses
the most, it’s the dimming of
the lights.
“I have many (fond mem-
ories), but probably one of
my favorites is sitting at the
tournament table with all of
the lights off except for the
mat light, watching the finals
of the only district tourna-
ment we have hosted for the
past 25 to 30 years,” Brunner
said.
For two decades, Brunner
served as tournament direc-
tor of what was then the Dal-
las Booster Club Wrestling
Tournament. Her dedication
helped turn the event into
an annual tradition that Dal-
las High is proud to present.
Taking over
It was 1993 when Brunner
officially became tourna-
ment director of what is now
the Brunner Invitational.
But the circumstances
were far from simple.
“Steve Lander was in his
first year as our head coach
after the death of longtime
coach Paul Olliff,” Brunner
said. “It was a very emotion-
al year for all of us. Losing
Paul was difficult and we all
pitched in to make the tran-
sition as easy as possible on
both the wrestlers and Steve.
“I had some experience in
running some pretty big
baseball tournaments, so
heck, why not a wrestling
tournament?”
In addition to the emo-
tional struggles, figuring out
if Dallas could even host a
tournament was a big chal-
lenge.
“We had so many people
who said we didn’t have the
facilities to do it,” Brunner
said.
Through the use of both
gyms at the high school, Dal-
las found the space.
There was just one thing
missing — volunteers.
Extended family
Planning for the Brunner
Invitational begins long be-
fore the wrestling season
starts.
“The tournament process
starts in September and
builds up to the tournament,
held the second Saturday in
January,” Alice Bibler, cur-
rent tournament director,
said.
From the invitational’s
first year, Brunner knew it
would take a community ef-
fort to pull off this event.
The community didn’t
disappoint.
See TORCH, Page 11A
Dallas Wrestling
• Dallas finished second at the Brunner
Invitational, behind Crook Class 4A state
powerhouse Crook County.
• Freshmen Noah Sickles (113 pounds)
and Treve Earhart (152) placed first.
• Read more on Page 12A .
CLASS 2A PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
CLASS 5A PREP GIRLS SWIMMING
Coach wants junior to get aggressive
CHS senior feels at home in water
Finding some attitude Finding her peace
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
STAT SHEET
7
The number of
times Central’s boys
basketball team
scored more than
50 points during its non-
league season. The Pan-
thers went 6-1 in those
contests.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Janet Brunner may no longer be running the Brunner Invitational, but she still volun-
teers and visits with old friends during the annual Dallas wrestling tournament.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Brant Barnes (22) looks for an opening against Regis on
Friday night. Barnes finished with seven points.
www.polkio.com/ns/sports
PERRYDALE — Junior
Brant Barnes doesn’t fill up
the stat book. Yet, he’s one
of Perrydale’s most impor-
tant players — and most
respected leaders.
“Any of our starting five
is hard to replace, but with
Brant in the middle, he
battles, gets rebounds and
alters shots,” Pirates coach
Mike Lowry said. “He’s just
a great kid.”
Barnes, a 6-foot-1 wing
on Perrydale’s boys basket-
ball team, may not be the
threat opponents focus on.
But the Pirates are working
on changing that and let-
ting him unleash his skills.
Barnes isn’t much of a
talker. He’s more likely to
pull teammates aside than
show a burst of emotion
during a game.
“I probably should (talk
more),” Barnes said. “I just
never know what to say.”
He more than makes up
for it with his play on the
court.
See ATTITUDE, Page 11A
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
While growing up, the water
had always been an escape
for senior Sabrina Cedillo.
Now, as a captain for the
Central High girls swimming
team, she’s out to share that
feeling with as many people
as possible.
Cedillo’s love for swim-
ming start-
ed early.
“When I
was youn-
ger, I actu-
ally taught
m y s e l f
how to
s w i m ,”
Cedillo
Cedillo
said. “I was a little fish and
it was hard to get me out of
the water. I would go to the
pool twice a day, every day,
every summer.”
By the time she was 5, she
passed her local pool’s swim
test to be able to go in the
deep end — without ever
taking a formal lesson.
“Water is my home,”
Cedillo said. “When I am in a
pool or in water at all, I un-
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
Up Next
• Central’s swim teams
are off until Jan. 22, when
the Panthers compete in
the Dallas Mini-Invita-
tional. The event will be
held at the Dallas Aquatic
Center.
wind and find myself at a
level of peace that I have yet
to find anywhere else.”
As she entered high
school, the pool threatened
to become something else
entirely.
“My first year of swim
team, I was very shy and
generally kept to myself,”
Cedillo said. “I often felt un-
comfortable, especially in
my swimsuit.”
The mix of swimming
competitively for the first
time and meeting a new
group of people she wasn’t
comfortable with meant the
pool was no longer her sanc-
tuary.
“I was just following
everyone,” Cedillo said. “I
didn’t understand any-
thing.”
See PEACE, Page 11A
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