TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — A5
SPORTS
Baker wrestlers open season
Baker City Herald
Baker High School
wrestlers had a busy start
to the season with events
Friday at Enterprise and
Saturday at BHS.
On Friday, the Baker
JV squad placed second
at the Enterprise Kickoff
tournament, which also
included girls competition.
Senior Alex Ritter
and sophomore Russell
Walden both pinned all of
their opponents as they
returned to wrestling
after missing the past
two seasons, Baker coach
Brandon Young said.
Baker had 103 points
to finish behind Riverside,
with 157.5 points. Irrigon
was third at 101.
Individual results for
Baker:
• Alex Ritter, senior,
3-0, 1st, 220 pounds
• Russell Walden,
sophomore, 5-0, 1st, 285
pounds
• Lilly Collins, fresh-
man, 3-1, 2nd, 135 pounds
• Sarah Plummer, se-
nior, 2-1, 2nd, 155 pounds
• Ethan Morgan,
freshman, 2-1, 2nd, 182
pounds
• Jacob Mills, junior,
2-1, 2nd, 195 pounds
• Samuel Nelson,
freshman, 2-2, 4th, 132
pounds
• Alena Hills, fresh-
man, 0-2, 115 pounds
• Michael Endersby,
freshman, 0-2, 126 pounds
• William Brown,
junior, 0-2, 138 pounds
• Julian Garcia, fresh-
man, 0-2, 145 pounds
• Sheylin Karolski,
freshman, 0-2, 155 pounds
• Ben Coburn, sopho-
more, 0-2, 160 pounds
• Ryan Brown, junior,
1-2, 170 pounds
• Tristan Mulkey,
freshman, 0-2, 182 pounds
• Billy Kargianis,
senior, 0-2, 220 pounds
Saturday at BHS
Action started in the
morning with the inau-
gural Baker Duals tour-
nament, with five teams
including Grant Union,
Imbler, and Nampa
Christian/Garden Valley.
There was also a kids
tournament in the after-
noon, with teams from
Baker, John Day and
Union competing.
“It was quite larger
than we expected,” Young
said. “Pretty awesome
to see kids wrestling ev-
erywhere at BHS. It was
a great day of wrestling.
Thank you to everyone
that helped out and those
that came and supported
us.”
Baker’s varsity won
duals against Grant
Union (60-18), Imbler
(60-18) and Nampa
Christian/Garden Valley
(63-15).
The Baker JV beat
Imbler 48-18, Grant
Union 42-24, and lost to
Nampa Christian/Gar-
den Valley, 38-27.
Young thanked Mark
Boothby, a BHS gradu-
ate and former wrestler,
for bringing his Nampa
Christian team to com-
pete at his alma mater.
In the duals competi-
tion, several Baker wres-
tlers went undefeated:
• Aldo Duran, fresh-
man, 4-0, 120 pounds
• Sage Darlington,
sophomore, 4-0, 126
pounds
• Gavin Stone, senior,
4-0, 160 pounds
• Adrian Allen, senior,
4-0, 182 pounds
• Gauge Bloomer,
senior, 4-0, 195 pounds
• Alex Ritter, senior,
4-0, 220 pounds
• Jaden Martin, se-
nior, 4-0, 285 pounds
The girls competed in
a round robin format.
BAKER BOYS BASKETBALL
Bulldogs rally
late to top Banks
By JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Baker’s Alex Ritter, top, pins Riverside’s
Gerardo Medel to win the 220-pound title at the
Enterprise Kickoff Friday, Dec. 3, 2021.
Freshman Lilly
Collins won both of her
matches to finish first at
140 pounds.
Senior Sarah Plum-
mer won all three of her
matches at 155 pounds to
finish first, and freshman
Sheylin Karolski went
1-2 to finish in third
place at 155 pounds.
lain won by fall over Joey
Duncan
• Aldo Duran won by
fall over River Clark
• Riley Martin won by
major decision 20-9 over
Troy Bennett
• Julian Garcia
won 10-7 over Michael
Endersby
• Cole Hester won by
fall over Jimmy Sullivan
• Ben Coburn won by
Intrasquad results
fall over William Brown
Saturday evening
• Gavin Stone won by
featured Baker’s annual
intrasquad tournament, fall over Paul Still
• Ethan Morgan won
with Team Jaden Martin
by fall over Ryan Brown
topping Team Gauge
• Billy Kargianis
Bloomer, 79-29.
won by fall over Tristan
• Julian Garcia won
Mulkey
by technical fall over
• Jayden Clark won
Andrew Gardner
by fall over Jacob Mills
• Jimmy Sullivan
• Alex Ritter won by
won by fall over William
fall over Adrian Allen
Brown
• Sarah Plummer
• Cole Hester won by
won by fall over Sheylin
fall over Troy Bennett
• Graison Stone won Karolski
• Jaden Martin
by technical fall over
won by fall over Gauge
Ryan Brown
Bloomer
• Jayden Clark won
Baker will travel
by fall over Russell
to Nampa, Idaho, on
Walden
Wednesday, Dec. 8 to
• Sarah Plummer
take on Columbia and
won by fall over Lilly
Vallivue, with matches
Collins
starting at 5 p.m. PST.
• Marcus Chamber-
Baker rallied from a seven-point
deficit in the final minute to force
overtime, took a quick lead in the ex-
tra period and held off Banks 85-81
in a fast-paced boys basketball game
Saturday, Dec. 4.
Baker freshman Isaiah Jones
hit a three-pointer just before the
buzzer to tie the score at 75 and force
overtime.
Jones led all scorers with 30
points.
Baker, which improved to 2-0 on
the season, outscored the Braves
10-6 in overtime in a game played at
Powder Valley High School.
The Baker wrestling team was
competing in the Baker gym on
Saturday.
Baker coach Jebron Jones, who
is also Isaiah’s dad, said Baker’s
last-minute rally seemed to deflate
Banks, giving the Bulldogs an edge
in overtime.
“I think they thought they had
the game in the bag,” Jones said of
Banks.
He said he told his team, during
a timeout with about 50 seconds left
and Baker trailing by seven, that
he had seen teams rally from bigger
deficits with less time on the clock.
“I told them, ‘this game is not
over,’ ” Jones said. “The boys just
continued to fight and scrap and
claw. It was a great game. It showed
that these young men don’t like los-
ing. It was a great team victory. A lot
of people did a lot of great things to
help. It was a total team effort.”
Baker scored the first six points
in overtime to take control, on three-
pointers by freshmen Jaxon Logsdon
and Jaron Long.
Baker’s late rally was the last in a
series of momentum swings.
Baker led 16-6 in the first quarter,
but Banks dominated the rest of the
first half to lead 41-30 at halftime.
Baker outscored Banks 25-16
in the third quarter to narrow the
Braves’ lead to 57-55 entering the
final period.
Jones said he was impressed
by the resilience of his young
team against a Banks squad that
has only juniors and seniors. The
Braves dominated their first two
games, beating St. Helens 52-32 on
Dec. 1, and routing Ontario 69-21
on Friday in a game played at
Baker High School.
A quartet of freshman scored
60 of Baker’s 85 points. In addition
to Isaiah Jones’ 30 points, Logsdon
had 14 points, Grant Gambleton
nine, and Long seven.
Two sophomores added 18
points — Hudson Spike with 10,
and Paul Hobson with eight.
“I’m not surprised,” Jebron
Jones said of his young players’
performance. “I’ve been seeing
them play for the last five or six
years. They are in the position
they’re in because of the hard work
they do when no one is watching.”
Jones said Baker in its first two
games has shown its ability to play
at a slower pace — the Bulldogs
beat Homedale, Idaho, 55-49 on
Dec. 2 — and to thrive in a high-
scoring contest.
“We’re a versatile team,” Jones
said. “We’re not very big, but we
can adjust to a bigger team like
Banks. It was a good test.”
Baker travels to Fruitland,
Idaho, this evening for a 6 p.m. PST
tipoff against the Grizzlies.
Their first home game is Thurs-
day against Homedale with tipoff
at 7:30 p.m. in the Baker High
School gymnasium.
The Bulldogs then embark on a
longer trip to the Portland area for
a pair of games, Friday at Estacada
and Saturday at Molalla.
Jones said he appreciates that
Buell Gonzales Jr., Baker School
District athletic director, was able
to schedule nonleague games
against teams from Western
Oregon.
“We don’t always have a chance
to play against teams from the
west side,” Jones said. “It helps us
see where we stand.”
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