A8
SPORTS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Hodge, Cox place at state tourney to end wrestling season
THE BREEZE
Team fi nishes in 22nd with
three wrestlers competing
Packing
your pistol
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Coming off more than a year of
fi lled restrictions on gatherings, sport-
ing events and overall uncertainty,
Grant Union’s wrestlers played the
hand they were dealt with grit and
determination and brought home two
state trophies in a year that was any-
thing but typical.
The Pros, who sent three wrestlers
to the state tourney, walked away
with third- and fourth-place trophies.
Jack Strong (2-3), wrestling in the
145 weight division, received a bye
in one of his fi rst two matches in the
fi rst round, and lost by pin in the sec-
ond matchup against Colton’s Roger
Moore (13-6). Colton’s Shade Starr
(16-8) then pinned Strong in a three-
and-a-half-minute match.
The Eagle was unable to reach
Strong for comment before press
time.
Junior Justin Hodge (4-2) scored
15 team points by placing third in the
tourney in the 160 weight division.
In the championship round, the
two-time state champion received
a bye. Hodge, fresh off a state track
win in relays, pinned Glendale’s Wil-
liam Furia in a minute and a half in the
quarterfi nal round.
He lost by a technical fall in the
semifi nal to Oakland’s Kaleb Oliver
(18-0), but in a consecutive semifi nal
matchup, he won by major decision
over Lucas Bischoff (22-4) of Ken-
nedy, then bested Central Linn’s Cole
Goracke by decision in the third-place
match.
Contributed photo/Erin Hodge
Contributed photo/Erin Hodge
Grant Union’s Rylan Cox takes an opponent to the mat at the June 19 state tour-
nament in Sweet Home.
Given the shutdowns, pauses and
overall uncertainty that the pandemic
restrictions had on Oregon sporting
events, Hodge said he did not expect
the team would have a district or state
tournament this year.
“I did not think we would have one
this year,” he said in a phone call on
June 27. “But I am glad we came out,
and I am proud of the kids that made
it to state.”
In the 285 weight division, soph-
omore Rylan Cox placed fourth
and scored 11 team points for Grant
Union, who fi nished 22nd out of 29
schools.
The Eagle was unable to get in
touch with Cox before deadline.
Cox won by decision over Kenne-
dy’s Briggs Snell (5-6) with a score of
5-3. In the quarterfi nal, Toledo’s Ken-
neth Johnson pinned Cox in just under
three minutes.
In a roughly three and a half minute
match, Cox bounced back in the third
round, pinned Oakland’s Brayden
Tackett, and then dropped Culver’s
Wylie Johnson by pin in the semifi nal
match a little over three minutes.
Cox fell to Coquille’s Tommy
Vigue in the third-place match by pin
to fi nish fourth overall in the best out-
ing of his high school career so far.
Tye Parsons, longtime Grant
Union assistant wrestling coach, said
the grapplers did great with the nar-
row time window to prepare and
condition.
Event benefi ts grief
center in John Day
From left, William Furia of Glendale,
Kennedy’s Lucas Bischoff , Kaleb Ol-
iver of Oakland and Grant Union’s
Justin Hodge at the state tournament
June 19 in Sweet Home. Hodge took
third overall in the 160 weight division
at the Oregon 2A state tournament.
“Wrestling is a sport that you spend
months getting in shape for,” Parsons
said. “So, to try to get in shape in two
weeks and expect great things is not
probable.”
Andy Lusco, Grant Union wres-
tling team head coach, did not respond
to the Eagle’s before press time.
Hodge concurred on both the short
time to practice and the challenges of
wrestling in June.
“It was hot,” he said. “Everything
was just off .”
Nonetheless, Parsons said he was
“super proud” to see the team com-
pete and told the Eagle he is looking
forward to next season.
“They stepped up in a season that
is usually a winter sport and saw some
success,” he said.
GOLF SCORES
First place: 56 — Jake Logsdon,
Wayne Heffner, Kyle Nelson
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Second place: 57 — Solutions
Certifi ed Public Accountants,
Mitch Saul, Brad Armstrong,
Alex Finlayson, Colt Carpenter
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Michelle Gibson, a licensed clinical so-
cial worker with Thadd’s Place, during
the grief support center’s June 26
open house.
Billy Radinovich, left, and Paige
Weaver decorate cupcakes with frost-
ing on June 26 during the Thadd’s
Place Gala fundraiser in Trowbridge
Pavilion at the Grant County Fair-
grounds.
ory, he also, as a grandfather, wanted
his grandson to have a supportive out-
let and a place to grieve.
“(Thadd’s Place) is about having a
place for people to go so they don’t
have to grieve alone,” Cowan Thomp-
son said during the June 26 gala.
He said the quality of mental health
in the country is lacking and that peo-
ple need somewhere to go.
Gibson said addressing grief could
help with certain mental health dis-
orders. She said grief support is in
no way a substitute for treatment for
mental illness, but it is nonetheless a
supportive outlet for those suff ering
from mental health issues.
“When we don’t heal from grief,
and when we don’t have a place from
that grief, it can become complicated,
and it can contribute to things like
depression or anxiety,” she said.
Thadd’s Place, Gibson said, has a
team of 17 volunteers trained to off er
individual support to grieving adults
and have some connection to grief
on a personal level, which allows
them to better relate to those who are
suff ering.
She said they plan to add more
rooms and usable spaces to work with
diff erent age groups of kids. Gibson
said that would include 5 to 9 and then
10 to 13 and then 14 to 18.
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Third place, tie: 58 — Western
Box Meat, Terry Spencer, Tim
Bordenkircher, Adam Goss,
Justin Moorejohn; Ken Ellison,
Boe Ellison, Andy Ellison, Andy
Radinovich
Curtis, who lost her husband three
years ago, said grief is a journey that
people deal with individually, in their
own way and on their timeline.
She said well-meaning people
from her generation feel they are help-
ing when they say things like, “He’s in
a better place,” or “It’s time to get on
with your life.”
At a grief support center like
Thadd’s Place, she said it’s OK if you
cry, and it does not matter how long
ago the loved one someone is grieving
over has been gone.
“Our culture needs a big shift in
how we understand grief and heal-
ing,” she said. “Healing is possible
in grief. It will never go away. You’ll
never get over the person you’re crav-
ing, but grief changes, and you can
still have a meaningful life even after
grief.”
Quinton takes second at PGA-sponsored golf tourney in Redmond
Blue Mountain Eagle
A Grant County junior
golfer took second in his age
bracket in the Drive, Chip &
Putt competition at the Eagle
Crest Resort in Redmond on
June 28, qualifying for the
sub-regional
competition
next month at Meriwether
National Golf Club in
Hillsboro.
Sawyer Quinton, 13, of
andguns are only as
useful as they are
available. This is true
for some rifl es as well; dan-
gerous game rifl es come to
mind. Unlike your favor-
ite varmint, target or sporting
rifl e, a handgun doesn’t need
to be able to make hits from
several football fi elds away
to be useful, but the speed at
which they can be presented
for up-close
shots could
be the dif-
ference
between life
and death.
There are
many dif-
Dale Valade
ferent styles
of handguns out there, and
each has merit in its design,
cartridge and intended pur-
pose. Single- and double-ac-
tion revolvers are still widely
used for their accuracy and
simplicity, and the ability to
house the more popular of the
powerful rounds. Semi-auto-
matic pistols can come in sin-
gle action or double action as
well, though their merits lie
mostly in greater fi repower
and a fl atter profi le, which
makes for easier concealed
carry. Just like with rifl e car-
tridges there are several great
choices in handgun calibers
ranging from the underesti-
mated .22 all the way up to
the Brobdingnagian .50 cal-
ibers. Your skill level and
intended application should
be the deciding factors on cal-
iber. Barrel length should be
taken into consideration for
best performance without sac-
rifi cing accessibility.
Many still to this day
choose to carry a handgun
on their hip for what is know
as a strong side draw. Sad-
dle pommel holsters were the
earliest known method for
carrying “horse pistols,” but
somewhere along the line it
was discovered that if a horse
was to go down, it was pref-
erable for the weapons to be
attached to the rider instead
of the mount. Crossdraw rigs
were popular with cowboys
and cavalrymen as thereby
one could access their hog
leg with either hand in a fra-
cas. Shoulder holsters were
around in the Old West but
were made most popular by
G-men and detectives as well
as tankers and paratroopers.
Not the quickest draw but fast
enough with practice. Some
merely tuck a handgun in
their waistband. Then there
are specialty holsters avail-
able for everywhere between
your armpits and ankles.
Wherever you do carry
your pistola, make sure you
practice wearing it there
for comfort’s sake but also
spend time learning to draw
it out. This should be done
in a controlled environment
and always with an unloaded
weapon. Practice at the range
should also include access-
ing your weapon and fi ring
it at silhouette-type targets.
While plinking reaction-
ary targets can be good prac-
tice for accuracy’s sake, this
is not eff ective for the more
“real world” situations one
will encounter. Keep in prac-
tice and carry that pistol, and
it will be there when you
need it most.
Do you carry a handgun
daily? Write to us at shoo-
tingthebreezebme@gmail.
com!
Dale Valade is a local
country gent with a love for
the outdoors, handloading,
hunting and shooting.
H
Thadd’s Place Golf and Gala raises over $10,000
Over 20 golf teams braved the
scorching heat to compete and raise
money for a local grief center on June
19 for the second year.
Named in honor of Thaddeus
Cowan Thompson, who died of cancer
in 2019 at the age of 39, the four-per-
son scramble alone raised upwards of
$10,000 for the growing center, Jan
Curtis, organizer of the golf tourna-
ment, said.
She said that does not consider
what the gala, held in Trowbridge
Pavilion at the Grant County Fair-
grounds following the tournament,
took in, which drew more than 100
people.
The tri-tip dinner, which was by
donation, featured an auction, live
music and a raffl e for a gun and safe.
Michelle Gibson, a licensed clin-
ical social worker who has been
involved with the grief center since
it was established over a year ago,
told the Eagle during its June 26 open
house the center off ers grief counsel-
ing for all ages.
Bob Cowan Thomas, the owner of
Chester’s Thriftway, said his reasons
for opening Thadd’s Place were two-
fold. Not only did he, as a grieving
parent, want to honor his son’s mem-
SHOOTING
Canyon City competed in the
Professional Golf Associa-
tion-sponsored event in the
14 to 15 category based on
how old he will be during the
fi nals held in April of 2022.
The event, sponsored
by the Professional Golf-
ers Association, the United
States Golfers Association
and the Masters Tournament,
judges players on the three
disciplines of putts, chips and
A MAN
WAKES
UP in the
morning
after sleeping on...
an advertised bed, in advertised
pajamas.
Blue Mountain Eagle
MyEagleNews.com
Eagle fi le photo
Sawyer Quinton of Canyon City makes a mid-range shot
during the junior golf tournament in 2019 at the John Day
Golf Club. Quinton took second overall at the Drive, Chip &
Putt competition in Redmond on June 28.
Thank you, log truck driver
Doug Lovell,
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710
Your new friends,
Denine, Kati, and Leslie
Blue Mountain Healthcare
Foundation scramble planned July 17
Blue Mountain Eagle
for watching out for
cyclists on the road.
S252071-1
He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR,
have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an
ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his
ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an
ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person
hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his
non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE.
Then it’s too late.
AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK?
DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE
Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it!
drives. Each player gets three
putts, three drives and three
chips, earning points based
on how close they get to the
hole. Maximum points go to
any shot that makes it into the
hole.
The top two fi nishers in
their respective age groups
at the sub-regional competi-
tion in Hillsboro will move
on to the regional qualify-
ing event at the Pebble Beach
Golf Links regional in Pebble
Beach, California.
From there, the national
fi nals will be at the Augusta
National Golf Club ahead of
the 2022 Masters Tournament.
S252452-1
The Blue Mountain
Healthcare
Foundation
fundraiser golf scramble
is planned for Saturday,
July 17.
The scramble kicks off
at 8 a.m. at the John Day
Golf Club.
Eagle fi le photo
Entry forms are avail-
Scott Myers takes a swing during able at bluemountainhos-
the Blue Mountain Healthcare Foun- pital.org, downstairs at the
dation Golf Scramble in 2019 at the check-in desk at the hospi-
John Day Golf Club.
tal and at the golf club.