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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2017)
Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 1, 2017 13A SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1 Boys basketball: Toledo at Perrydale, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: Central at Silverton, 7 p.m. Lebanon at Dallas, 7 p.m. Toledo at Perrydale, 5:30 p.m. Wrestling: Central at Lebanon, 6 p.m. Dallas at Woodburn, 6 p.m. Collins breaking out By Lukas Eggen WEDNESDAY, FEB. 8 Boys basketball: Dallas at Milwaukie, 7:15 p.m. Girls basketball: Cres- cent Valley at Central, 7 p.m. Dallas at Corvallis, 7 p.m. — Schedules Subject to Change QUICK HITS Dallas wrestlers excel at tourney SALEM — The Dallas Mat Club’s middle school wrestlers competed at the Oregon Kids Folkstyle Championships in Salem on Saturday and Sunday. Haydn Millard (cadet 94) placed first for Dallas. Ashton Brecht (cadet 285) also finished first. Dillon Stuhr (cadet 120) and Kadin Thorsted (cadet 132) placed fourth. WOU track and field earns honor MONMOUTH — Western Oregon’s track and field team was named the Red Lion/Great Northwest Ath- letic Conference Team of the Week on Monday. WOU set five school records at the University of Washington Invitational in Seattle and set two GNAC records. Junior David Ribich broke the GNAC mark in the men’s mile with a time of 4 minutes, 2.30 seconds. The distance medley relay team of Ribich, Dustin Nading, AJ Holmberg and Josh Dempsey also set a new conference mark in 9:45.45. Ribich was named the GNAC Male Track and Field Player of the Week for his performance in Seattle. It’s the second week in a row Ribich earned the honor. Ribich was also named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross-country Coaches As- sociation’s male athlete of the week for Division II on Tuesday. For more information: ww.wouwolves.com. www.polkio.com By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — The roar of the crowd. The unified chants. The infection energy that can turn even the quietest fan loud. The rumble from the stands can cause issues for any team by making it harder for players to communicate. The crowd noise presents a little big- ger challenge for Dallas senior basket- ball player Jake Collins. Collins was born with severe-to-pro- found hearing loss. Playing a sport where communica- tion is key, a hearing impairment may Collins seem detrimental to finding success — but Collins doesn’t let it hold him back. “I’ve never let my hearing stand in the way of any- thing,” Collins said. — From a young age, Collins never looked at his hearing impairment as a setback. With his hearing aids, Collins said in most circum- stances he can hear at normal levels. Over time he found ways to complement them and moved on with his life. See COLLINS, Page 14A FRIDAY, FEB. 3 Boys basketball: Central at South Albany, 7 p.m. Crescent Valley at Dallas, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: South Albany at Central, 7 p.m. Dallas at Crescent Valley, 7 p.m. Wrestling: Central at Junction City High School Duals, TBA. TUESDAY, Feb. 7 Boys basketball: Central at Crescent Valley, 7 p.m. Corvallis at Dallas, 7 p.m. Willamette Valley Christian at Falls City, 7 p.m. Damas- cus Christian at Perrydale, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: Willamette Valley Christian at Falls City, 5:30 p.m. Dam- ascus Christian at Perrydale, Feb. 7. Taking it one goal at a time Senior making noise for Dallas THURSDAY, FEB. 2 Boys basketball: Falls City at Livingstone Adven- tist, 7 p.m. Jewell at Perry- dale, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: Falls City at Livingstone Adven- tist, 5:30 p.m. Jewell at Per- rydale, 5:30 p.m. Men’s basketball: Saint Martin’s at Western Oregon, 7 p.m. Women’s basketball: Western Oregon at Alaska Fairbanks, 6:30 p.m. Wrestling: South Albany at Dallas, 7 p.m. SATURDAY, FEB. 4 Boys basketball: Perry- dale at Mapleton, 2:30 p.m. Girls basketball: Perry- dale at Mapleton, 1 p.m. Men’s basketball: Seat- tle Pacific at Western Ore- gon, 5 p.m. Women’s basketball: Western Oregon at Alaska Anchorage, noon. Wrestling: Dallas at Tod Surmon Tournament, TBA. COLLEGE BASKETBALL DALLAS BOYS BASKETBALL LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Dallas senior Jake Collins is one of the Dragons’ best defenders. MONMOUTH — Before each women’s basketball game, Western Oregon sophomore Ali Nelke takes a Sharpie to her wrist and writes a goal. “Be - fore each game in h i g h school, my team would pick a goal or mindset Nelke for that game and we would all write the initials of it on our wrist,” she said. “I have continued the tradition because it keeps me fo- cused, especially on one of my most recent goals.” Lately, she has been writing M.T.D. — make them defend. See GOAL, Page 15A CENTRAL WRESTLING Crow ready for his final act at Central By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — Cen- tral senior wrestler Sam Crow isn’t sure how many times he’s replayed the match in his head — but it’s been a lot. As a junior, Crow ap- peared headed for a spot in the finals in the 195-pound class at the Mid-Willamette Conference district wrestling championships when he was upset in the semifinals. Crow would finish third, but the loss stung. “It said third on my sleeve, but I knew it proba- bly should have said first,” Crow said. “I think about that match all the time.” It was a reminder that if you’re not at your best at all times, anything can happen out there on the mat. The senior is hoping for a happier ending this season — though he knows a path to a district title may come down to beating Dallas sen- ior wrestler Tanner Earhart. “The big focus right now Wrestling • Central’s wrestling team finished sixth at the Robert Paul Invitational on Saturday. • Noah Worthington (106 pounds) and David Negrete (220) finished first. Sam Crow (195) placed second and Luis Martinez (106) fin- ished fourth. • Central travels to Lebanon Wednesday (today) and will compete at the Junction City Duals on Friday. is on Tanner (Earhart),” Crow said. “I’ve lost to him twice already in two very close matches that were winnable. That’s where the focus is right now.” Crow, who finished sec- ond at the Robert Paul Invi- tational on Saturday, is fine tuning ahead of the district championships Feb. 10-11. As Crow prepares for his final run at districts — and hopefully state — he’s been recharged and ready to go — though the reason may sur- prise. NEAL OLSON/ for the Itemizer-Observer Central senior Sam Crow hopes to win a district title. Crow missed nine match- es while snowboarding at Mt. Hood during much of Central’s winter break. At first glance, it may seem like a strange choice, but for Crow, who also played on the Panthers’ football team last fall, it was a much-needed chance to relax. See CROW, Page 14A Oregon faces dwindling referee numbers By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer Get involved POLK COUNTY — Throughout the state of Oregon and across all sports at the high school levels, find- ing enough referees is proving to be a big challenge. “It’s all across the country, not just Oregon,” Jack Folliard, executive di- rector of the Oregon Athletic Offi- cials Association, said. Oregon has seen its pool of refer- ees decrease significantly. Folliard said during the 2010-11 school year, there were 3,407 indi- vidual officials. Last school year, that number shrunk to 2,866 — a decline that has affected sports across the board. Folliard said ideally the number of referees across all sports would be 3,500-4,000. “We always have a specific amount of attrition each year,” Fol- liard said. “The difference is we’re not filling the bucket so to speak.” Folliard said it’s hard to pinpoint just what has caused the decline — though he does have his theories on what may be contributing to it. “Society has changed,” he said. “I think people are much more active with families and other things. Refs • Anyone over the age of 18 can become a referee. • Oregon Athletic Officials Asso- ciation Executive Director Jack Fol- liard said interested parties should check at least one to two months ahead of time of the sports season they want to ref to begin the regis- tration process. • For more information: www.- oreofficials.org. LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Oregon has seen a decline in referees across all sports, according to Oregon Athletic Officials Association executive director Jack Folliard. have to start at the freshman level. That means mostly 4 p.m. games, so they’d have to get off work earlier. Another reason, frankly, is I think there’s more abuse of officials by parents and fans. It’s not over- www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209 whelming, but it’s certainly out there.” There will always be enough refs to cover varsity games, Folliard said, but it’s the earlier games that see the biggest strain. “If you think about basketball for example, there’s a varsity game of course,” Folliard said. “But there’s also a junior varsity game. Some schools have two JV squads and a freshman team. You can have two or three sub varsity games in one night.” Dallas athletic director Tim Lar- son said they have not had to cancel games due to a shortage of available refs, but have had to stack soccer matches or move to a different day. See REFS, Page 14A www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports
