Polk County Sports
14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 8, 2017
Slamming it down
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
Omlid gets triple-double
Itemizer-Observer staff report
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon junior Tanner Omlid
recorded a triple-double on
Saturday, leading WOU’s
men’s basketball team to an
84-70 win over Seattle Pacif-
ic.
Omlid
recorded
18 points,
15
re-
bounds
and 11
steals — a
s c h o o l
record. It
was the
Omlid
Wo l ve s’
first triple-
double
since 2003.
J . J .
Chirnside
scored a
career-
high 17
points, and
Ali Faruq-
Chirnside
B
e
y
recorded 17 points, three re-
bounds, three assists and
three steals.
Western Oregon also de-
feated Saint Martin’s 82-73
on Thursday. Omlid scored a
game-high 23 points and
had five rebounds, six steals,
three assists and two blocks.
Demetrius Trammell added
16 points.
WOU (13-9 overall, 10-4
Great Northwest Athletic
Conference) plays at West-
ern Washington Thursday at
7 p.m. and at Simon Fraser
Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Wolves entered the
week in third place in the
conference standings be-
hind Western Washington
and Alaska Anchorage.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
DROPS TWO: Western Ore-
gon’s women’s basketball team
lost a pair of GNAC games last
we e k . Th e
Wolves fell
to Alaska
Fa i r b a n k s
79-65 on
Thursday
and Alaska
Anchorage
91-50 on
Saturday.
Jasmine
Miller
Miller led
WOU against Alaska Fairbanks
with 12 points and five re-
bounds. Sophomore Kaylie
Boschma scored a team-high
17 points against Alaska An-
chorage. The Wolves played
Concordia Tuesday after press
time. Western Oregon hosts
Montana State Billings Thurs-
day at 7 p.m.
SOFTBALL COMPETES IN
LAS VEGAS: Western Oregon’s
softball
team com-
peted at the
D e s e r t
Stinger Clas-
sic in Las
Vegas. The
W o l v e s
opened the
tournament
Huffman
with a pair of
losses on Friday, falling to
Azusa Pacific 3-1 and Chico
State 7-4. WOU split its games
on Saturday, earning its first
win of the season in a 5-4 victo-
ry over Minot State before los-
ing to Cal State San Bernardino
5-4. The Wolves closed the
weekend with a 1-0 win over
Cal State Monterey Bay on Sun-
day.
Ryanne Huffman and Ku’ulei
Siolo each had two hits against
Minot State. Zoe Clark hit an
RBI groundout in the top of the
fifth inning to score what
turned out to be the game-
winning run.
Huffman hit an RBI double in
the first inning, while Ashlee
Lynch hit a solo home run to
get WOU on the board.
Against Cal State, Emma Al-
fonso hit a three-run home run
to give WOU a 4-2 lead, but Cal
State scored the final three
runs of the game.
Western Oregon plays a
doubleheader at Hawaii Pacific
on Monday and at Chaminade
on Feb. 15 in Honolulu.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Western Oregon junior Tanner Omlid goes up for a slam dunk against Seattle Pa-
cific on Saturday night. Omlid finished the game with 18 points, 15 rebounds and a
school and conference record 11 steals. The Wolves won 84-70 to improve to 13-9
overall and 10-4 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
Ford: Will swim the freestyle at districts
Continued from Page 13A
“I might not know my
teammates at first, but I
know people they know,”
Ford said. “We all have con-
nections somehow in high
school. Later in life, I won’t
have that. It’s going to be all
new and I don’t know how
that’s going to work out. It’ll
be different.”
She’ll compete in the 50-
and 100-yard freestyle races
in districts.
Ford, Isaiah Dressel and
Ryan Kennedy represent the
Dragons’ best chances to get
to state in individual events,
coach David Morelli said.
Morelli hopes some of the
less experienced swimmers,
including Joseph Cook and
Tyler Boggs, can earn a spot
in the consolation final in
their respective events.
“I think our guys have
been a little tired the last
two weeks,” Morelli said.
“We’ve been resting them
up a little bit, working on
some little things and get-
ting them to be in a spot to
have their best perform-
ances at districts.”
The Dragons lack the
numbers to place high in the
team standings, but Morelli
is hopeful for strong individ-
ual performances and, for
those swimmers set to re-
turn next season, a good
learning experience.
The first-place winner in
each individual and relay
event automatically quali-
fies for state. Any remain-
ing open lanes will be filled
by the next fastest time
from all district meet finals
up to a total of 12 partici-
pants.
Ford hopes to be one of
those 12 in multiple events.
After a high school career
that saw her break school
records, it would be the best
way she knows to write the
final chapter of her high
school career.
“It would be the perfect
end to my high school ca-
reer,” Ford said. “I came in
as a freshman going to state
and to leave it going to state,
it’d make everything per-
fect.”
Central: Holstad proud of team’s progress
NEAL OLSON/ for the Itemizer-Observer
David Negrete hopes to return to the state wrestling tournament.
Continued from Page 13A
“We have six wrestlers who should qualify
and three more that have outside shots if
they wrestle their best,” Holstad said. “I think
our 106, 120, 132, and 160 to 285 wrestlers
are pretty solid. We are hoping that our
wrestlers at the other weights will rise up
and be very competitive for the tourna-
ment.”
There are others who need a breakout
performance, but could find themselves
headed to state if they do.
“I hope Manuel Martinez at 120 and Alan
Vargas at 132 will have good tournaments,
and think they have an outside chance to
qualify,” Holstad said.
With stiff competition at every weight
class, the Panthers know that while everyone
is gunning to become a district champion,
learning to recover quickly from a loss is key.
“I think they have learned to start strong
and not let a loss derail them,” Holstad said.
“It is really important at this tournament to
get through the consolation bracket to qual-
ify (for state).”
This weekend is where the countless
hours of training and conditioning will have
to pay off.
“Our attitude before the tournament and
our ability to persevere during the tourna-
ment will be the keys to our success,” Hol-
stad said.
The Panthers are ready to prove their
wrestlers are among the best in the
MWC.
Regardless of what happens, Holstad said
each and every one has shown growth that
they should be proud of.
“I’m proud of all our wrestlers,” he said.
“They have shown improvement throughout
the tough schedule that we have wrestled
this year.”
FALLS CITY BASKETBALL
Mountaineers earn a pair of victories
Itemizer-Observer staff report
FALLS CITY — Falls City’s boys
and girls basketball teams earned a
pair of wins last week. The boys de-
feated Oregon School for the Deaf
61-17 on Jan. 31 and Livingstone
Adventist 48-36 on Thursday, while
the girls beat OSD 37-16 and Liv-
ingstone 37-21.
The boys led OSD 36-12 at the
half. Austin Burgess led the Moun-
taineers with 15 points. Jeremy
Labrado added
10 points and
Jacob Oberg
scored nine
points.
“Je re m y s e t
the defensive in-
tensity in the
second quarter
Labrado
and his team-
mates followed him, and picked up
their defensive energy,” coach
Micke Kidd said. “Jacob Oberg is
getting healthy and back into
shape. He really stepped up his
game the last couple of weeks.”
Labrado scored 15 points
against Livingstone. Burgess
recorded 13 points, and Reid Sim-
mons added 11 points, including
back-to-back 3-pointers to open
the second half.
Emma Burgess led the girls
against OSD with nine points, and
Gracie Tadlock
added eight as
Falls City built up
a 23-6 lead at the
half.
“Nevaeh Lofte
has been really
showing im-
provement and
Houghtaling receiving more
and more playing time,” Kidd said.
“She works hard, rebounds well and
is extremely active in the paint.”
Anna Lammers and Amara
Houghtaling led the Mountaineers
against Livingstone with 10 points.
The Mountaineers played
Willamette Valley Christian Tuesday
after press time. Falls City closes the
regular season at C.S. Lewis on Fri-
day (5:30 (girls) and 7 p.m.) and at
Jewell on Saturday (2:30 and 4 p.m.).
The Casco League tournament
runs Feb. 16-18.
Dallas: Dragons want district title back
Continued from Page 13A
“We will make some
tweaks in our lineup,” coach
Tony Olliff said. “We’ll let
those speak for themselves
and be a surprise at that
time. This is about, without
looking at other teams and
just ourselves, finding the
best lineup. We want to put
our wrestlers in the best
weight classes to make a run
for a state title. That’s the
push right now.”
To do that, the Dragons
need to send as many
wrestlers to state as possible
— though more importantly
is sending as many wrestlers
who can realistically score
points at state.
“You look at Clay Coxen,
and he’s just masterful on
top with diverse attacks,” Ol-
liff said. “Cody Janssen was
patient out there. He was
getting slapped in the face;
his eyes were being poked;
and he didn’t let that agitate
him. Treve handled himself
very well. I could see all
them being top three at
state. The question is how
do you supplement that.
Can Joe Foster and Jacob
Jones get it done? Can Daw-
son Barcroft get on the podi-
um again. Can Ryan Bibler
get on the podium again?
Can we get points from
some of these other guys.”
The competition will be
stiff, and wrestlers know
they must be at their best.
“We have to wrestle better
than we have all season,”
Treve Earhart said.
Competition for a team
title at state will likely fea-
ture familiar foes — Crater
and Hermiston, among oth-
ers.
Dallas finished ahead of
both schools at the Reser’s
Tournament of Champions
earlier this season — proof
that if enough wrestlers
qualify, the Dragons have
the talent to bring home a
state title.
“Crater will bring 20 plus
because they have little re-
sistance in their confer-
Wrestling
• Dallas’ wrestling team
defeated Woodburn 42-20
on Feb. 1 and South Albany
44-19 on Thursday.
• The Dragons won the
Mid-Willamette Conference
dual meet championship.
• Dallas will compete at
the MWC district wrestling
championships at Corvallis
on Friday and Saturday.
ence,” Olliff said. “Hermis-
ton has a tough Mountain
View team to contend with
that no one saw coming. If
we can get the mid-teens
into state, we’ll be making a
run for (a state title).”
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Dallas defeated South Albany on Thursday night.