Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 10, 2018 10A
SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, JAN. 11
Boys basketball: Perry-
dale at Falls City, 7 p.m.
Girls basketball: Perry-
dale at Falls City, 5:30 p.m.
Men’s basketball: West-
ern Oregon at Saint Mar-
tin’s, 7 p.m.
Women’s basketball:
Western Oregon at Alaska
Anchorage, 8 p.m.
Wrestling: Central at
Corvallis, 6 p.m. Dallas at
South Albany, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY, JAN. 12
Boys basketball: Central
at Woodburn, 7 p.m. Cres-
cent Valley at Dallas, 7 p.m.
Falls City at Estacada, 7 p.m.
Girls basketball: Central
at Woodburn, 5:30 p.m. Dal-
las at Crescent Valley, 7 p.m.
Wrestling: Dallas at Ore-
gon Classic (at Redmond
Pavilion), TBA.
SATURDAY, JAN. 13
Men’s basketball: West-
ern Oregon at Seattle Pacif-
ic, 7 p.m.
Track and field: Western
Oregon at University of
Washington Indoor Pre-
view, all day.
Women’s basketball:
Western Oregon at Alaska
Fairbanks, 2 p.m.
Wrestling: Central at
Nick Lutz Invitational, TBA.
Dallas at Oregon Classic (at
Redmond Pavilion), TBA.
TUESDAY, JAN. 16
Boys basketball: Central
at South Albany, 7 p.m.
Woodburn at Dallas, 7 p.m.
Falls City at Livingstone Ad-
ventist, 7 p.m. Perrydale at
Oregon School for the Deaf,
7:30 p.m.
Girls basketball: South
Albany at Central, 7 p.m.
Dallas at Woodburn, 7 p.m.
Falls City at Livingstone Ad-
ventist, 5:30 p.m. Perrydale
at Oregon School for the
Deaf, 6 p.m.
Swimming: Central at
Silverton, 4 p.m.
Women’s basketball:
Concordia at Western Ore-
gon, 7 p.m.
—
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
WOU basketball
ranked No. 1
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon University’s men’s
basketball team was
ranked No. 1 in the NCAA
Division II West Region Poll
on Monday.
The Wolves (13-1 over-
all) received three of six
first-place votes.
Cal Poly Pomona was
ranked second and Califor-
nia Baptist was ranked
third.
Western Oregon plays at
Saint Martin’s Thursday at 7
p.m. and at Seattle Pacific
Saturday at 7 p.m.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas senior Treve Earhart wrestles against Junction City’s Zachary Holliday on Saturday morning.
PREP WRESTLING
Wrestling expectations
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALL A S — Dallas ’
wrestling program has a his-
tory of excellence, and so far,
the Dragons have lived up to
that history.
Dallas dominated the
Brunner Invitational, plac-
ing first out of eight teams
on Saturday.
“It's awesome to get to
wrestle in front of the com-
m u n i t y,” s e n i o r Tr e v e
Earhart said. “For all our
friends and families to not
have to travel far to watch
us, it’s great and it’s always
good to win in front of the
home crowd.”
The Dragons went 4-0, de-
feating Junction City (67-9),
Willamina (58-7) and
Pendleton (65-6) before
beating Milwaukie (60-6) in
the first-place match.
Dallas’ finish on Saturday
was the latest in a string of
strong results to start the
season.
The Dragons are ranked
third in Class 5A by the Ore-
gon Wrestling Forum.
Senior Treve Earhart is off
to a 22-3 start, including
three wins on Saturday, and
is ranked first in 5A at 182
pounds by the OWF.
See DALLAS, Page 11A
Brunner Invitational
• Dallas’ wrestling team went 4-0 at the Brunner Invitational
on Saturday.
• Dallas defeated Junction City, Willamina, Pendleton and
Milwaukie.
• Cael Morrison (106 pounds), Haydn Millard (113), Ryan
Bibler (120), Luke Hess (126), Dillon Stuhr (132), Joseph Foster
(138), Jacob Jones (145), Isaiah McIntosh (152), Patrick Holgate
(160), Nicholas Nelson (170), Treve Earhart (182), and Bryce Jor-
dan (220) earned wins against Junction City.
• Millard, Bibler, Stuhr, Hess, Foster, Bryce Miller (145), Jones,
Nelson, Earhart, Floyd, Jordan and Ashten Brecht picked up
wins against Willamina.
• Kimberly Holgate, Millard, Bibler, Stuhr, Kadin Thorsten
(138), Bryce Miller (145), McIntosh, Holgate, Nelson, Cooper
Hise (195), Jordan and Brecht won against Pendleton.
• Morrison, Coby Rust (113), Bibler, Stuhr, Dawson Barcroft
(132), Foster, Jones, McIntosh, Nelson, Devon Floyd (182),
Earhart, and Brecht picked up wins against Milwaukie.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas’ wrestling squad won all four of its duals at the Brunner Invitational.
Wolves to hold
alumni night
MONMOUTH — Western
O r e g o n U n i v e r s i t y ’s
women’s basketball team
will host alumni night on
Jan. 27. All former players
are invited to attend. A re-
ception will be held before
the game at 5 p.m. with
food and beverages. Each
alumna will receive tickets
to the game and be recog-
nized by name on the
court during halftime.
To R S V P: w w w. wo u
wolves.com/news/2018/1/
3 / wo m e n s - b a s k e t b a l l -
alumni-night-set-for-jan-
27.aspx.
Registration
open for Mighty
Mites
DALLAS — Registration
is open for Mighty Mites, a
program open to kids ages
3 to 5 to learn the funda-
mentals for youth sports.
Classes will be held
every Saturday from Jan.
20 to Feb. 10 from 9:30 to
10:30 a.m. at Whitworth El-
ementary School.
Cost is $25 and includes
a T-shirt. Registration is due
by Monday.
For more information:
Sheila Peirce, 503-831-3562
or email to sheila.
peirce@dallasor.gov.
www.polkio.com
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Central enters league Falls City grows
play hungry to contend up on the court
By Lukas Eggen
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
The Itemizer-Observer
FALLS CITY — Falls
City’s girls basketball squad
has experienced some big
swings.
T h e
Moun-
taineers
opened
the sea-
son with
t h r e e
losses be-
fore going
Houghtaling on a five-
game win
streak, followed by a three-
game losing streak after a
39-37 setback against
Crosshill Christian on Fri-
day.
“We’re learning to let go
of our mistakes,” junior
Amara Houghtaling said.
“ That’s definitely our
biggest thing. It’s challeng-
ing for us. We want to be
perfect. But we have to re-
member to be successful,
you’re going to make mis-
INDEPENDENCE — In
each of the past two seasons,
Central’s boys basketball
team took a 4-5 record into
league play — leaving players
looking for a breakthrough.
“We’ve been that team
that’s .500 and trying to get
that big win,” coach Tim
Kreta said.
Not this year.
The Panthers enter league
play with an 8-2 mark and
appear ready to challenge
for a Mid-Willamette Con-
ference title.
“It’s a big deal,” junior
Brendan Lesmeister said.
“Knowing where you stand,
the rest of the league is look-
ing at you as one of those
top teams they want to get
after. We want to keep that
high, and keep winning
every game.”
Central is also getting
healthy at an important time
in the season.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Brendan Lesmeister returned from an injury for the Pan-
thers’ final two nonleague games.
Lesmeister missed the
team’s first eight games with
a finger injury. He returned
against Ashland and Her-
miston.
See CENTRAL, Page 11A
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
Falls City
• Falls City’s girls basket-
ball team lost to Jewell 27-
15 on Jan. 2 and Crosshill
Christian 39-37 on Friday.
• Amara Houghtaling
scored a team-high 13
points against Crosshill
Christian. Emma Burgess
added nine points and
seven rebounds. Mack and
Brittany
Potts
each
grabbed nine rebounds.
takes and we can learn
from them.”
Falls City has a mix of
players like Houghtaling,
who have years of experi-
ence, and new players,
some who have little to no
basketball experience.
“I ’v e s e e n a l o t o f
growth,” senior Brittany
Potts said. “We have a new
girl playing (basketball) for
the first time. This is only
my second year playing, so
I’m still picking up things
as well.”
See FALLS CITY, Page 11A
www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports