PAGE LABEL
WEDNESDAY
March 2, 2022
MASTERS OF THE MAT
Contributed Photo
Grant Union’s Justin Hodge’s hand is raised in victory at the OSAA 2A/1A wrestling state championships in Culver on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022.
Two Grant Union grapplers take fi rst in state
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Two Grant Union grapplers
brought home titles from the state
wrestling tournament in Culver
last week.
On Thursday, Feb. 24, fresh-
man Mallory Lusco, at the Ore-
gon School Activities Association
Girls State Championships, took
fi rst in her 235 weight bracket,
pinning all of her opponents.
Senior Justin Hodge, wres-
tling in his 152 weight bracket,
beat Lakeview’s Wyatt Patzke
in a close 16-13 decision to take
the top spot in his division on
Saturday, Feb. 26. Meanwhile,
Grant Union grappler Rylan Cox,
a junior wrestling in the 285
weight class, brought home a sec-
ond-place medal.
Out of 30 schools, Grant Union
fi nished 10th overall, scoring 43
team points.
Prospector wrestling coach
Andy Lusco said he thought all
of Grant Union’s grapplers put
in the eff ort to reach the state
tournament.
Contributed photo
On Thursday, Feb. 24, freshman Mallory Lusco, at the Oregon School
Activities Association Girls State Championships took fi rst in her 235
weight bracket, pinning all of her opponents.
“Our kids worked very hard to
get to state,” Lusco said. “On the
girls side it was a learning expe-
rience in regards to being at a big
tournament with a lot at stake.”
Nonetheless, Lusco added that
the girls looked they belonged on
the big stage.
Next year, Lusco said, he hopes
the team continues to qualify lots
of girls and gets a few more wins.
Lusco noted that the boys
wrestle in an incredibly tough dis-
trict. That said, Lusco added that
Cox and Hodge represented Grant
Union well with a top 10 fi nish.
“Justin capped off an amaz-
ing career with his second cham-
pionship,” Lusco wrote in a Mon-
day email. “He was a third-place
fi nisher in the COVID year. I’m
incredibly proud of him as a wres-
tler, but even more so as a person.
He has made our team better for
his whole career.”
Cox, Lusco added, had “the
best tournament of his life” at
state.
“Although he lost his fi nals
match,” Lusco said, “I believe he
will come back stronger next sea-
son and have a legitimate shot at a
championship of his own.”
Lusco said his daughter Mal-
lory’s state title was “quite a
surprise.”
“As a freshman, we weren’t
entirely sure how she stacked up
against the statewide competi-
tion,” Lusco said. “She pinned
all four of her opponents. We are
excited about her future.”
Mallory Lusco concurred with
her coach.
In a Friday phone interview,
Mallory said it took a moment to
catch up with the reality of win-
ning the title.
“It just felt like a regular
match,” she said. “But when my
teammates were all there, congrat-
ulating me, that’s kind of when it
hit me.”
Mallory was adamant about
clarifying that it was not her
eff orts alone that got her to the
state tourney.
“I’m here because of my team
and the people who pushed me in
practice,” Mallory said.
Hodge concurred with Mallory
on that point, which, he said, was
why he and Cox made sure their
teammates who did not make the
state tournament were awarded
tickets to attend the competition
Saturday.
“You practice with them all
year, and they want to see you be
successful,” Hodge said, “and you
want them to be successful.”
It is important to remember
that champions are the “product
of their partners,” Lusco said.
“Every wrestler on this team
is connected to the state champi-
ons by being a partner or a part-
ner of a partner who makes every-
one better,” he said. “We all rise
together.”
Lusco pointed out that the
team’s assistant coaches and fam-
ilies were a tremendous support
system all season long.
“I need to thank our coaches
and their families,” Lusco said. “It
is a long and challenging season,
and I’m grateful for their sacrifi ce.”
Playoff s cap Prairie City hoops season
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle, File
Grant Union’s Riley Robertson (32), a senior, positions herself for a
rebound during a game last month. Robertson was named to the
Blue Mountain Conference’s All League second team last week.
Grant Union players
earn All League spots
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — The Ore-
gon School Activities Associ-
ation named two Grant Union
basketball players to the Blue
Mountain Conference’s All
League Team, while two others
earned an honorable mention.
On the girls side, senior
Riley Robertson was named to
the second team, while Parker
Neault, a senior, got the second
team nod for the boys.
Senior Paige Gerry was
an honorable mention for the
girls, while sophomore Shel-
don Lenz received honorable
mention for the boys.
Coach RC Huerta’s boys
team fi nished the season 4-18
overall and 3-9 in the Blue
Mountain Conference.
The Lady Prospectors went
8-14 overall and 5-7 in league
play under coach Jason Miller.
Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle, File
Grant Union’s Parker Neault
(5), a senior, shoots from
downtown during the Pros-
pectors’ game against Stan-
fi eld last month. Neault was
named to the Blue Mountain
Conference’s All League sec-
ond team last week.
The Prairie City boys and
girls basketball teams ended
their state playoff runs last
week.
Both squads qualifi ed for
postseason play by fi nish-
ing third in the season-end-
ing 1A-8 High Desert League
tournament held at Grant
Union High School.
After downing Rogue Val-
ley Adventist Academy 31-24
Wednesday, Feb. 23, in their
fi rst playoff game, the girls
fell to Damascus Christian
37-46 Saturday, Feb. 26.
The Lady Panthers held
their own against Damas-
cus, the only team in the state
to beat the top-ranked Crane
Mustangs all season.
In the third quarter,
Damascus outscored the Lady
Panthers 13-1; up until then,
Prairie City head coach Bo
Workman said, the girls squad
was in the game. At the close
of the fi rst half, the score was
knotted up at 23 apiece.
“We played really well,”
Workman said. “We’re one of
the top 10 teams in the state.
But things just did not go our
way.”
Workman added that in the
fourth quarter, his squad out-
scored Damascus 13-10. He
said the ball just did not fall
for the Lady Panthers in the
third.
Team captain Betty Ann
Wilson, who led the team’s
off ense with 20 points on
fi ve three-pointers, one two-
point fi eld goal and three free
throws, said the squad was
really feeling the ups and
downs of winning the fi rst-
round game and then losing
the second-round match.
Eric Watkins/Elite Oregon Girls
Prairie City’s Betty Ann Wilson (20) drives toward the basket during the Lady Panthers’ game
against Damascus Christian on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022.
sentiment.
“It was a tough game,”
Ashley said. “We fought until
the end.”
Wilson pointed out that
the Lady Panthers play in one
of the toughest leagues in the
state.
The girls squad fi nished
the season 14-11 overall and
went 7-5 in league play.
Eric Watkins/Elite Oregon Girls
Kaitlynne Ashley, a Prairie
City junior, pulls up to make a
shot Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022,
against Damascus Christian.
“We all felt the emotions,
but to make it that far was just
... we were just proud of our-
selves for just that,” Wilson
said. “We know that we will
be back in (the playoff s) next
year.”
Kaitlynne Ashley, a junior
who scored 11 points on four
two-point goals and three free
throws, agreed with Wilson’s
Prairie City boys
After the boys team bested
Jordan Valley 67-51 in the
High Desert League tourney,
the Panthers were beaten by
Trinity Lutheran 63-55 on
Tuesday, Feb. 22, in the fi rst
round of the playoff s.
Eli Wright, who scored
19 points on nine two-point
fi eld goals and a free throw,
said the team did many good
things in the game but ulti-
mately turned the ball over
too many times.
One of the team’s two
seniors, Marcus Judd, who
scored 10 points on fi ve two-
point fi eld goals, concurred
with Wright that it was not
their best game.
Judd added that it was
hard playing the fi nal basket-
ball game of his high school
career.
“I didn’t want it to be
over,” Judd said. “I love to
play basketball. I always
have.”
For his part, senior John
Titus, who had fi ve points
in the contest on a two-point
fi eld goal and a three-pointer,
said he was excited to get in
and play the fi nal basketball
game of his career.
“I wanted to go in there
and do well,” Titus said. “I
feel like for it being the last
game, it was a decent game,
and we had a good season, so
I’m good with it.”
Overall, the Panthers fi n-
ished the season with a 16-10
record and were 8-6 in league
play.