Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 23, 2015 10A
SCHEDULE
SUNDAY, DEC. 27
Girls basketball: Dallas
at Nike Interstate Shootout
at Lake Oswego High
School, TBA.
MONDAY, DEC. 28
Boys basketball: Roo-
sevelt at Central, 7 p.m. Dal-
las at North Medford, 7:30
p.m.
Girls basketball: Dallas
at Nike Interstate Shootout
at Lake Oswego High
School, TBA. Falls City at
Siletz Valley, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY, DEC. 29
Boys basketball: Dallas
at Abby’s Holiday Tourna-
ment at North Medford,
TBA. Falls City at Alsea, 7
p.m. Perrydale at Gaston,
7:30 p.m.
Girls basketball: Wilson
at Central, 6 p.m. Dallas at
Nike Interstate Shootout at
Lake Oswego High School,
TBA. Falls City at Alsea, 5:30
p.m. Perrydale at Gaston, 6
p.m.
Men’s basketball: West-
ern Oregon at Oregon, 6
p.m.
Wrestling: Central, Dal-
las at Northwest Duals, 9
a.m.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 30
Boys basketball: Dallas
at Abby’s Holiday Tourna-
ment at North Medford,
TBA.
Girls basketball: Dallas
at Nike Interstate Shootout
at Lake Oswego High
School, TBA.
Wrestling: Central, Dal-
las at Northwest Duals, 9
a.m.
—
Unstoppable
Accident doesn’t deter McCallister from chasing his dreams
PHOTOS BY LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Kacey McCallister had both of his legs amputated when he was 6. He hasn’t let that stop him from pursuing athletic challenges.
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
WOU baseball to
welcome eight
MONMOUTH — West-
ern Oregon’s baseball team
announced eight players
joining its 2016 recruiting
class.
The Wolves will see
Justin Dolezal (Spokane,
Wash.), Cole Hamilton
(Salem), Spencer Bennion
(Pasco, Wash.), Trevor Gar-
rison (McKinley, Calif.),
Alex Roth (Glendale, Ariz.)
and Steve Wagner (Hen-
derson, Nev.) become part
of WOU’s team.
Western Oregon went
29-24 overall and 21-11 in
Great Northwest Athletic
Conference play.
The Wolves finished sec-
ond in the regular season
standings before defeating
Northwest Nazarene twice
to win the GNAC tourna-
ment title.
Dallas mat club
to recycle trees
DALLAS — The Dallas
Mat Club will hold its an-
nual Christmas tree recy-
cling day on Jan. 3.
Trees can be brought to
LaCreole Middle School,
located at 701 SE LaCreole
Drive, between 10 a.m.
and 3 p.m.
STAT SHEET
9
The total number
of points Western
Oregon’s men’s bas-
ketball team has
scored more than 80
points this season.
18
The number of
nonconfer-
ence games
the Western
Oregon men’s basketball
team has won in a row dat-
ing back to last season.
www.polkio.com
Kacey McCallister’s workouts range from doing stairs to
racing around the track in his racing wheelchair.
MONMOUTH — Mon-
mouth resident Kacey Mc-
Callister has lived his life
with one mission: always
push forward.
“One of my firm beliefs is
life is like a treadmill,” Mc-
Callister said. “You can’t
stand still. If you stand still,
you’re going backwards. I
believe we’re put on this
earth to get better at a lot of
things — to learn and
grow.”
McCallister has taken that
motto to heart — even when
fate threw a life-changing
curve his way.
A new perspective
It was a normal Sunday
morning when McCallister,
then a 6-year-old living in
Utah, saw his life change.
“I remember little pieces,”
McCallister, now 29, said. “I
remember we were eating
pancakes at my grandma’s
house in the morning. We
were at church before and I
remember getting a Christ-
mas tree cookie.”
M c C a l l i s t e r ’s f a m i l y
stopped to cross a two-lane
highway. Two cars and a
semi-truck approached.
“After the two cars, I took
off across the road,” McCal-
lister said.
He cleared one lane. He
failed to clear the second.
“The truck caught my legs
and rolled me under the
wheels of the semi,” McCal-
lister said.
He was transported to a
hospital in Salt Lake City.
Doctors saved his life, but
both of his legs were ampu-
tated.
His family — and his doc-
tors — weren’t about to let
this moment define him
negatively.
“The doctors told my
mom something very im-
portant,” McCallister said.
“They told her don’t do
things for him. If you do,
he’ll rely on that.”
See UNSTOPPABLE, Page 12A
Kacey McCallister hopes to earn a spot on the U.S. Para-
lympic team in the 1,500-meter race.
DALLAS WRESTLING
Molina explores new boundaries
Senior reaching new heights since transferring to Dallas High
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Marcos Moli-
na didn’t expect much out of
his senior wrestling season
after transferring from Cen-
tral as a junior.
“I figured I was going to be
an average wrestler,” Molina
said. “I thought I’d get a few
wins.”
Those expectations have
changed quickly. In his first
three tournaments, Molina
has finished first once and
second twice, including at
Liberty on Saturday after-
noon.
“It’s been a bit of a shock
to me,” Molina said. “With
the coaches working with
me, I’ve progressed way
more than I thought I
could.”
Dallas
• Dallas placed second
out of 18 teams at the Ore-
gon National Guard Tourna-
ment at Liberty High
School on Saturday.
• Joseph Foster (113-
pounds) and Jeff Dunagan
(170) placed first.
• Noah Sickles (132),
Treve Earhart (170) and
Marcos Molina (220) fin-
ished second.
Molina has surpassed
what he thought was possi-
ble on the wrestling mat, but
the sport has meant much
more to him than wins and
losses.
—
Molina was never one to
play sports.
See MOLINA, Page 11A
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Senior Marcos Molina has finished first or second in his first three tournaments.
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
DALLAS 121 Main St • 503-623-8155 • www.LesSchwab.com
INDEPENDENCE 1710 Monmouth St • 503-838-6340
Mon -Fri 8am - 6pm • Sat 8am - 5pm
www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports