Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 2, 2016 13A
Champ: Swinehart takes 2nd
at 145 pounds for Panthers
Continued from Page 10A
Senior Collin Swinehart
fell just short of a state title,
placing second at 145
pounds.
While Swinehar t fell
short of his goal, the sen-
ior’s run to the state finals
in back-to-back years
served as a great accom-
plishment for his team-
mates to aspire to, Holstad
said.
“There’s not many guys
who get to the state finals
once, let alone twice,” Hol-
stad said. “When I think
back on his career, I won’t
think on that last match. I’ll
think about the whole
breadth of his career. I’ve
been taking him to tourna-
ments since he was a little
kid. I won’t remember one
match. There’s a whole lot of
good.”
Juniors David Negrete
(182) and Sam Crow (195)
placed fourth to round out
the Panthers’ state placers.
Negrete placed fourth
after losing his first two
matches at state during his
sophomore year.
“I was excited because I
placed higher than I ex-
pected,” Negrete said. “Last
year, I didn’t really try. I just
gave up. This year, I didn’t
quit.”
Crow came in with high
expectations — and deliv-
ered on his goal.
“I was determined to get
third or fourth,” Crow said.
“Last season, I was hardly
at any tournaments and I
won as many matches as I
lost. This year was good, I
think.”
In total, eight Central
wrestlers competed at the
state tournament. Holstad
said each one was deserving
of praise.
“All the guys battled with
heart,” Holstad said. “Sam
and David, they wrestled
well. They did Panther Na-
tion proud.”
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central senior Collin Swinehart attempts to escape from
an opponent during the state wrestling championships.
DALLAS GIRLS BASKETBALL
Dragons close out regular season with win, loss
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
Dallas guard Stefani Tallon’s return has helped give the
Dragons depth during the regular season.
DALLAS — Dallas’ girls
basketball team hopes the
third time’s the charm in the
play-in round.
The Dragons, which host-
ed a play-in game against
Churchill Tuesday after
press time, closed out the
regular season with a 54-41
win over Lebanon on Feb. 23
and a 54-44 loss to Silverton
on Friday to clinch fourth
place in the Mid-Willamette
Conference.
More importantly, for the
first time all season, the
Dragons have been com-
pletely healthy.
“We’re starting to get back
into the flow and getting
used to each other again,”
coach David Brautigam said.
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Tuesday’s play-in game.
“You can see the difference
in our scoring, in our energy
and in the kids.”
Regardless of how far Dal-
las advances, for one player,
the chance to experience the
postseason is one she won’t
take for granted.
Junior Stefani Tallon
played a major role in the
girls soccer team’s success
last fall. But a broken collar-
bone suffered during the
team’s play-in game against
Springfield meant Tallon
missed out on the team’s
post-game celebration and
the team’s first round playoff
game in soccer.
The injury also caused her
to miss nearly the entire
nonleague basketball sea-
son.
“It was so hard,” Tallon
said. “I was at all the prac-
tices. Watching the girls play
every single day was really
hard. Looking forward to
coming back kept me
going.”
When she returned, the
junior did all she could to
make up for lost time.
“My shoulder was really
weak,” she said. “It was like
the first day of tryouts for
me. I was out of shape be-
cause I hadn’t run in two
months. I had to work hard
to get back into the group,
getting to their level and
matching that.”
The winner of Dallas’ play-
in game advances to the first
round of the state playoffs on
Friday — a possibility that
Tallon said would be the ful-
fillment of a longtime dream.
Dallas has been in this posi-
tion before, but each of the
previous two times have re-
sulted in losses.
“That’s a big deal for us,”
Tallon said. “It would mean
a lot to advance. I’ve been
playing with these girls since
I started playing basketball.
To do something we’ve been
dreaming about all these
years would be good.”
Check out the Itemizer-
Observer’s Facebook and fol-
low @IOSports on Twitter for
the Dragons’ play-in game
result.
Dragons: Eight Dallas
Sletten finishes second wrestlers place at state
DALLAS GIRLS WRESTLING
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
PORTLAND — Dallas
senior Angie Sletten knew
dropping down from 113
pounds to the 106-pound
weight class in wrestling
would be difficult.
But the benefits were too
much to pass up.
“I thought I’d be stronger
at 106 pounds,” Sletten
said.
That decision paid off, as
Sletten placed second at
state in the girls 106 pound
class.
Sletten pinned McNary’s
Brooke Burrows in the
semifinals before losing by
decision to Sweet Home’s
Marissa Kurtz.
Sletten, a three-sport ath-
lete, came
a long
way from
her first
d a y s
wrestling.
The sen-
ior was a
team cap-
Sletten
tain for
the second year in a row
and proved she was just as
dedicated as the guys.
“When you first join the
team, you have to earn your
spot,” Sletten said. “It’s not
as easy as thinking I’m
going to come out for
wrestling. It’s you’re coming
out for wrestling and we’re
going to push you as hard
as you can to prove this is
what you really want.”
Sletten plans to wrestle in
college, and while there
have been ups and downs
during her wrestling career,
she wouldn’t change any-
thing about her journey.
“There are days you’ll go
to the locker room and cry
and feel defeated,” Sletten
said. “The next day, you’ll
see it’s OK. Hard work pays
off.”
As Sletten prepares for
what’s next in her wrestling
career, her time at Dallas
has been one of the best
choices she’s ever made.
“There’s nothing more re-
warding than getting your
hand raised,” Sletten said.
“It’s one of the great experi-
ences in life. There’s noth-
ing like wrestling. It chal-
lenges you in many differ-
ent ways.”
Continued from Page 10A
Senior Ean Woodruff (138)
also placed fourth. Noah
Sickles (126), Cody Janssen
(152), Treve Earhart (160)
and Marcos Molina (220)
finished fifth, while Dawson
Barcroft (106) placed sixth.
Sickles placed despite
having a torn meniscus.
The Dragons’ effort com-
pared to the district tourna-
ment, where Dallas saw its
run of six-straight titles
snapped, was night and day,
Olliff said.
“It was fun to see the con-
trast between the district
tournament and the state
tournament for most
wrestlers,” Olliff said.
Dallas may not have had a
state champion in 2016, but
Olliff said he was pleased
with the effort each of his
wrestlers showed to end the
season.
“The trophy is shared by
every state participant,” Olliff
said. “Every wrestler we took
contributed at least one win.
I’m proud of those boys and
proud of that trophy.”
DALLAS BOYS BASKETBALL
Dragons finish season 7-17
Itemizer-Observer staff report
SILVERTON — Dallas’
boys basketball team ended
its season with a pair of
league losses.
The Dragons fell to
Lebanon 65-58 on Feb. 24
before losing to Silverton
59-50 on Friday.
Senior Everett Minahan
scored a team-high 15
points against Silverton.
Jason Richey added 11
points.
The Dragons finished the
season with a 7-17 record
overall and a 3-11 mark in
Mid-Willamette Conference
play, finishing eighth in the
team standings.
Dallas ended on a nine-
game losing streak and
dropped 12 of its final 13
games.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas senior Marcos Molina finished fifth at 220 pounds at the OSAA State Wrestling
Championships, helping Dallas to a fourth-place finish in the team standings.
Panthers: Central has won five of its last seven games
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Central guard Peter Mason attempts to go up for a lay up during Central’s 52-45 victory
over Woodburn on Friday night. The Panthers clinched a home play-in game.
Continued from Page 10A
But the Panthers would
not be denied.
“There was no way we
were going to lose,” David
Avila said.
Thanks to a South Albany
loss on Friday, Central
moved into the top half of
the league standings — a far
cry from where the Panthers
stood just weeks ago. Central
started league play with a 1-
6 mark and tied for last
place.
“We’re trying to write our
own story,” Kevin Cable said.
“We want to write our story
that we are a team that came
back and can get to Gil Coli-
seum for the state quarterfi-
nals, semifinals and finals.”
The Panthers finished the
regular season with a 10-13
record overall and a 6-8
mark in league play, winning
five of their last seven
games.
“ We’re
starting to
come to-
g e t h e r
m o r e ,”
coach Tim
Kreta said.
“It’s been a
long jour-
K. Cable
ney. Every
game is
emotional-
ly draining
and physi-
cally drain-
ing. I com-
pliment
these guys
for sticking
with our vi-
Bal
sion and
buying in when it wasn’t
easy. I’m proud of these
guys.”
Central now turns its at-
tention toward the postsea-
son, which begins with a
game against Eagle Point,
the fifth-place finisher in the
Midwestern League.
Eagle Point went 6-17
overall and 3-6 in league
play. The Eagles lost eight of
their last nine games. The
winner advances to the first
round on Saturday against a
yet-to-be-determined oppo-
nent.
“Eagle Point is a very
quick and explosive team,”
Kreta said. “In the game film
I’ve seen of them, they will
get up and run with the ball
and finish strong toward the
hoop or kick it out for a 3-
pointer. They play in a tough
league, and their record
doesn’t look to speak to who
they are. … They have mo-
ments like Silverton with
their fast break, Woodburn
with their pressure and Cres-
cent Valley with some of
their motion offense. We
have our work cut out for
us.”