The Columbia Press
January 21, 2022
A wild surprise
Photo by Mark Dyer
Ron Dyer loves his hot tub. But Linda, his wife of 41
years, not as much. She has always told family and vis-
itors that they’ll see her in the tub if it snows, Ron said.
As flakes began coming down Christmas Day, grand-
children Brooke, 8, and Luke, 6, of Baker City made her
keep her promise. As family prepared to take a picture,
a five-point buck photobombed the event.
People sought for 4H advisory panel
Clatsop County is accepting
applications for openings on
the 4H & Extension Service
Advisory Council.
The council cooperates with
the Oregon State University
Extension Service and county
Extension staff in planning,
promoting, developing, im-
plementing and evaluating
Extension programs to meet
local needs. The council
meets quarterly.
To apply, go to the county’s
website, co.clatsop.or.us, and
go to the “How Do I” menu.
5
Classic was productive for wrestlers
For The Columbia Press
The Warrenton Boys Wres-
tling Team worked its way up
the skills ladder at the Oregon
Classic on Jan. 14 and 15 at the
Deschutes County Fairgrounds.
The two-day high school
event serves as the dual-meet
state championships.
Last year, the tournament was
canceled due to the pandemic
and the year before, WHS was
unable to attend because of bad
weather.
“We are excited to be back,”
Coach Corey Conant said. “We
are working to get fully healthy
as a team and we are almost
there. But every team is dealing
with something at this point in
the year, so we just focus on the
things in our control.”
Warrenton was given the No.
6 seed in pre-tournament seed-
ing. And, after a first-round
bye, faced Sutherlin and won
52-25.
“They had some high-lev-
el wrestlers we wanted to see,
and we were able to get those
matchups,” Conant said.
In the final round of pool
wrestling, Warrenton faced No.
2 seed Rainier.
“It came down to the big end
of our lineup, where we scored
bonus points at 195, 220 and
285,” he said.
The final result was in balance
until the last match. Senior
Josh Smith moved up to heavy-
weight and pinned his oppo-
nent to win the dual 47-36.
“The Classic is a special tour-
nament for teams,” Conant
said. “In a dual meet, the whole
team is watching, and you get
to watch your wrestlers one af-
ter another.”
Each team’s best wrestler at
each weight faces off and the win-
ners score points for the team.
“It’s a great chance to bond
and to grow as a group,” Conant
said. “Our guys were terrific for
each other all weekend. Nobody
let anyone stay down and our
seniors proved their leadership
qualities over and over again. …
They are as fearless a group of
wrestlers as I have coached.”
In the championship bracket,
Warrenton faced league rival
Yamhill-Carlton.
Juniors Raul Molina and
Brandon Runolfson performed
well while scoring points for the
team. The rest of the wrestlers
bumped up a weight class. It
was a good meet that went back
and forth a few times.
After 11 out of 14 matches, the
Warriors were down 36-28. Se-
nior Alex Tapia received a for-
feit at 195, then freshman Kai-
son Smith pinned his opponent
at 220. The dual, once again,
came down to Josh Smith at
heavyweight. He finished a
strong takedown and was able
to transition for the fall, help-
ing the team win 46-36.
Warrenton faced Harrisburg
in the semifinals and were de-
feated 30-44. In the third- and
fourth-place match against
Burns, the Warrenton team lost
30-47.
The district tournament is
Feb. 19.