14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 4, 2015
Polk County Sports
Making their
presence felt
Dallas and Central sent a combined 23
wrestlers to the OSAA Class 5A State
Wrestling Championships in Portland
on Friday and Saturday.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central senior Alberto Meza works to break free from Lebanon’s Arien
Craggett in the 195-pound semifinals. Meza earned an 8-3 decision.
Dallas sophomore Tanner Earhart gets lifted from the mat by Blaine Hays of Sandy. Earhart
won via a 9-4 decision en route to a fourth-place finish.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas freshman Treve Earhart attempts a takedown against Churchill’s Gavin Car-
roll in the 152-pound semifinal on Saturday. Earhart lost a 5-2 decision.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central junior Collin Swinehart looks to escape from Crater’s Logan Meek in the 138-
pound semifinal on Saturday. Swinehart earned a 6-3 decision to advance.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas’ Cody Janssen tries to maintain control aginst Hillsboro’s Gabe Schade on Sat-
urday in the third round of the consolation bracket. Janssen lost via major decision.
Perfect: Central makes
big statement at state
Continued from Page 10A
“I just wanted to place,”
Tuipulotu said. “I didn’t
have any idea I was going to
go to the finals.”
Tuipulotu’s performance
may have surprised himself,
but Holstad said this could
be the beginning of a spe-
cial run for the sophomore.
“I think this experience is
going to be big for him
coming into the next couple
years,” Holstad said. “I don’t
see this as his last stop at
the finals. He’s a special ath-
lete.”
Oscar Amezcua (160) and
David Negrete (182) did not
place.
The Panthers finished
ninth in
the team
standings
with 85
points.
More im-
portantly
to Hol-
stad, Cen-
Tuipulotu
tral fin-
ished second among Mid-
Willamette Conference
teams, a fact he hopes helps
the Panthers’ wrestling pro-
gram continue to build.
“It’s nice to finish above
the other teams in our
league except for Dallas,”
Holstad said. “This is where
it counts. We had solid per-
formances from these guys.
Hopefully
it will be
conta-
gious with
the other
guys.”
As for
Ta n n e r ,
his focus
T. Swinehart will be on
finishing his senior project
and freestyle wrestling in
the spring. But for now,
Swinehart is content to cel-
ebrate a four-year dream
come true.
“It just feels good to ac-
complish my goal,” Swine-
hart said. “My goal was to
win a state championship
and I did it.”
Title: Dallas places fifth Family: Teammates rally
Continued from Page 10A
Miller pinned Hood River
Valley’s Jason Shaner to
place fifth.
“I knew it was my last
match,” Miller said. “It was a
thank you to the coaches for
making me better.”
Janssen’s state tourna-
ment began with a bang, up-
setting top seeded Gabe
Brauchler of Redmond.
“I just wanted to place at
state,” Janssen said. “That’s
how you make a name for
yourself. I didn’t want to
leave unnamed. I knew I
could beat him going into it.
I just did my thing that I
worked on in practice and it
just worked out.”
Dallas finished fifth in the
team standings with 141 1/2
points. Hermiston won the
team title with 161 points.
“The boys did great,”
Dragons coach Tony Olliff
said. “We had some first
time state participants
place, which is a very tricky
thing to do. We had some re-
turners get back on the
podium and we had a num-
ber of wrestlers contribute
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas senior Matt Hofenbredl looks for the fall against
Sandy’s Kyle Grahn in the 132-pound semifinal.
to our total team effort.”
Junior Angie Sletten fin-
ished third in the girls 113-
pound bracket. Sletten
pinned Saylor Neher of
Cleveland in the third place
match.
“As soon as I saw the ref’s
arm go up, I started crying I
was so excited,” Sletten
said.
Sletten may be the team’s
only girl, but she’s hoping
her story can inspire others
to join the male-dominated
sport.
“Girls will come over to
me and hug me and talk to
me,” Sletten said. “That’s just
inspiring to me.”
Dallas’ trip to the state
wrestling championships
may have featured unex-
pected twists and turns.
But wrestling does more
than provide students a
chance to play a sport,
Janssen said. It provides
something else entirely.
“Wrestling will knock you
down,” Janssen said. “You
just have to get back up.”
Continued from Page 10A
The Dallas High
wrestling program has
dealt with tragedy before.
Each time the Dragon
family, and the wrestling
community at large, pulled
together. His teammates
left the arena with him.
His teammates made sure
it was OK.
A press release issued
Monday by Dallas High
Principal Steve Spencer re-
vealed just how big of a
family Dallas wrestling is.
“On behalf of the Matt
Hofenbredl family, Dallas
High School Wrestling pro-
gram and Dallas School
District, I wish to express
sincere thanks to everyone
who has shared in our grief
this weekend. The outpour-
ing of condolences and
prayers from the statewide
wrestling community and
attendants at the tourna-
ment have been immense
and are greatly appreciated.
In what should have been a
time of highest celebration
following Matt Hofenbredl’s
victory in the finals of the
132-pound OSAA Class 5A
wrestling championships,
his family lost Larry ‘Grand-
pa’ Hofenbredl to a sudden
cardiac event.
“We are grateful to the
many first responders at the
scene, especially Dallas As-
sistant Coach Josh Chris-
tensen, Silverton Athletic
Trainer Jennifer Kroeg,
David
Sarmiento
Trauma/Critical Care Liai-
son from Bend Anesthesia
Group, and Ryan Miller of
Dallas.
“During this time of loss,
we take comfort in knowing
that Grandpa Hofenbredl
passed doing something he
loved above all else, sup-
porting his grandchildren
and Dragon Wresting. He
will be missed as a staple of
support in the stands, not
just for Matt, but for all of
the Dragon wrestlers.”
Visitation is Friday from 9
a.m. to 6 p.m. at Dallas
Mortuary Tribute Center.
Celebration of Life is Satur-
day at noon at the Dallas
High School Gymnasium.
There’s little question
Larry Hofenbredl was an
important part of Dallas
wrestling.
“Grandpa Hofenbredl
was a loyal supporter and
contributor to the Dallas
wrestling program from the
roots to the tips,” Dallas
coach Tony Olliff said. “A lot
of coaches got to coach and
wrestlers got to travel be-
cause of his contributions.
We would have preferred
Matt’s third state title to be
a 100 percent happy event
for us, but we have no way
of knowing if perhaps it
might have been a 100 per-
c e n t h a p py e v e n t f o r
Grandpa Hofenbredl.”
As difficult as Saturday’s
shocking event was, it’s Dal-
las’ sense of family that
showed up in a big way, his
teammates leaving the
arena as quickly as possible
to be there for their friend
and classmate, something
that wasn’t lost on Hofen-
bredl.
“I can’t thank everyone
enough who has been here
for me and helped me,” he
tweeted.