Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 12, 2022 -- SEVEN
Mustang wrestlers take third in Jo-Hi Invitational
Just three points behind second place
The Heppner wrestlers
traveled to Joseph for the
Jo-Hi Invitational on Fri-
day and Saturday. Thirteen
teams competed in the two-
day tournament that is one
of the longest running tour-
naments in Oregon history.
Heppner won third place
with 109 team points, just
three points behind second
place, Elgin. Culver won
the team title with 251
points.
The Mustangs crowned
three individual champions
after having four out of
their seven wrestlers ad-
vanced to the championship
semi-finals Saturday morn-
ing. Roen Waite (120-lbs),
Conor Brosnan (182-lbs),
Cade Cunningham (195-
lbs) and Nathan Ellsworth
(220-lbs) each advanced to
the semi-finals.
Waite, Brosnan and
Cunningham would go on
to the finals and Ellsworth
finished fifth.
Waite had to defeat
two Culver wrestlers on his
way to the finals and faced
another Culver opponent
for the championship. The
bout was a tough skirmish
back and forth with position
and lead changes for two
rounds. Ultimately heart
and conditioning won out
as Waite put him down for
good late in the third round
Nate Ellsworth works toward a pin of a Crane opponent in the
5/6 consolation finals. -Photos by Damon Brosnan.
with a pin for the gold.
Brosnan entered the
tournament as the number
one seed and advanced to
the finals dominantly with a
pin over a Culver opponent
in the semi-finals. In the
championship bout he faced
a Union opponent who had
been seeded third but had
overpowered and pinned
the second seed. The match
between the two brawny
wrestlers was a battle for
the full six minutes that
saw several stoppages for
blood time. Brosnan led
the scoring the whole way
and ultimately held on for a
close 7-5 decision.
Cunningham had also
been the first seed wres-
tler and advanced through
the tournament, mostly
on byes. The sophomore
Mustang had been close
to winning gold medals in
previous tournaments this
year but had come up just
short each time in his first
year as a Mustang. Eager to
get on the mat in action, he
was not to be denied gold
this time as he dominated
his Union rival from the
beginning and pinned him
in the second round.
Heppner’s three gold
medals was second only to
Culver’s four in the tourna-
ment. Heppner had a total
of seven competitors while
Culver had 23.
Edward Ellsworth fin-
ished fourth at 152-lbs and
Saul Lopez finished sixth
in a tough 145-lbs bracket.
Tyler Boor also wrestled at
145-lbs and won a match in
exhibition.
School board prepares for
Dirksen retirement
The Morrow County
School Board is gearing up
for the search for a new su-
perintendent in preparation
for the retirement of current
superintendent Dirk Dirk-
sen June 30 of this year. The
board selected the Oregon
School Board Association
to assist with the search.
The board was cautioned,
however, that the candidate
pool, as of now, is small
and, the search may be a
difficult one.
The board is now in
the process of selecting
a superintendent search
committee.
“This has been a chal-
lenging year,” commented
Dirksen, who added that he
appreciates the support he
has received and “appreci-
ates everyone for the work
you’re doing for students.”
Also at the meeting, the
board revised and readopt-
ed graduation requirements
for “awarding of a high
school diploma, a modi-
fied diploma, an extended
diploma and an alternative
certificate which meet or
exceed state requirements.”
“A high school diploma
will be awarded to students
in grades 9 through 12 who
complete a minimum of
24 credits which include
at least: three credits in
mathematics, four credits in
language arts, three credits
in science, three credits in
social sciences (history,
civics, geography and eco-
nomics, including person-
al finance); one credit in
health education, one credit
in physical education, three
credits in career and tech-
nical education, the arts or
world languages; one credit
in career education and five
elective credits.”
“A student may satisfy
graduation requirements in
less than four years. The
district will award a diplo-
ma to a student fulfilling
graduation requirements
in less than four years if
consent is given by the stu-
dent’s parent or guardian or
by the student if the student
is 18 years of age or older
or emancipated.”
In other business, the
board:
-heard from Marie
Shimer, director of Ed-
ucational Services, con-
cerning translations for
Spanish-speaking students.
“At the school level, they
try to translate as much
as they can,” said Shimer.
“It’s sometimes difficult to
get it all translated,” added
Dirksen.
-heard a financial state-
ment presentation from
Dickey & Tremper, accoun-
tants.
-received the follow-
ing enrollment report of
January: A.C. Houghton
Elementary, Irrigon, kin-
dergarten through third
grade-209; Sam Board-
man Elementary, Board-
man, kindergarten through
third grade-333; Heppner
Elementary, kindergarten
through sixth grade-179;
Irrigon Elementary, fourth
through sixth grade-180;
Windy River Elementary,
Boardman, fourth through
sixth grade-242; Heppner
Jr./Sr. High School, seventh
through 12 th grade-162;
Irrigon Jr./Sr. High School,
s e v e n t h t h r o u g h 1 2 th
grade-370; Riverside Jr./
Sr. High School, seventh
through 12 th grade-482;
Morrow Education Cen-
ter, Irrigon, kindergarten
through 12 th grade-75;
total-2,232 kindergarten
through 12 th grade.
-approved the follow-
ing employment action:
Resignations-Richard
Worden, HJHS junior high
assistant girls’ basketball
coach; Retirements-Shelley
Liscom, Morrow Education
Center teacher, end of the
school year; Employment/
Promotions/Transfers-Lau-
ren Bock, RJSHS ed as-
sistant, William Dedrick,
RJSHS ed assistant, Fabian
Mezaa, RJSHS ed assistant,
Sandra Zuniga, SBE ed
assistant, Cheryl Taylor,
SBE ed assistant; Extra
Duty Contracts-Kersten
Ellsworth, HJSHS tempo-
rary junior high assistant
girls’ basketball coach, Ivan
Navarrete, IJSHS junior
high head girls’ basketball
coach, and Kylie Wyant,
IJSHS junior high assistant
girls’ basketball coach.
-adopted the following
rescinded, new or revised
policies: All Students Be-
long-rescinded; All Stu-
dents Belong; Bidding Re-
quirements and Graduation
Requirements.
-adopted the following
new, revised or rescinded
The Heppner wrestling team placed third out of 10 at the Joseph tournament. Pictured (L-R):
Cade Cunningham, Jace Coe, Ty Boor, Saul Lopez, Nathan Ellsworth, Ed Ellsworth, Roen
Waite and Conor Brosnan. -Photos by Damon Brosnan.
Cade Cunningham pins a Union opponent in championship
finals.
Conor Brosnan on his way to
escaping from Union wrestler
in championship finals
Roen Waite with the takedown of Culver opponent in the
championship finals.
administrative rules: Bias
Incident Complaint Pro-
cedures-rescinded; Bias
Incident Complaint Proce-
dure; Graduations Require-
ments-rescinded.
-received the follow-
ing projected ending fund
balance, listing revenues of
$28,302,014; estimated ex-
penditures of $28,092,874
with revenues over expen-
ditures-$209,140; a be-
ginning fund balance of
$4,508,248 and a projected
ending fund balance of
$4,717,388.
-received the follow-
ing board meeting sched-
ule: February 14, March
14, April 11, May 10 and
June 12, 2022, all at the
North District Office at the
Morrow Education Center,
Irrigon.
-received the following
announcement: January
13-end of first semester;
January 14-eight-hour staff
work day; January 17-no
school, Martin Luther King,
Jr., holiday
The district cites OAR
333-019-1050 that “face
masks are required to be
worn in all K-12 indoor
and outdoor settings for
the 2021-2022 school year.
This includes our school
board meetings. If you find
you are unable to wear a
mask, the option of joining
the meeting online is avail-
able to you.”
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