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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2022)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 16, 2022 -- SEVEN Mustang wrestlers third in Pine Eagle Invitational tournament Brown (126-lbs), Conor Brosnan (182-lbs) and Cade Cunningham (195- lbs), went undefeated into the championship semifi- nals of their weight class. Brown faced a two-time state championship in the semifinal bout and was the only one of the four to not successfully advance to the finals. Brown went on to fin- ish in fourth place with a 2-2 record for Above- Kylie Holden working to escape the tourna- from Imbler wrestler ment. Below- Zac Brown with takedown of W a i t e Nampa Christian wrestler pinned all his -Photos by Damon Brosnan opponents he faced for the day and started the Mustangs’ roll through the champi- onships, fin- ishing off his Jo-Hi oppo- nent in 1:54. Brosnan like- Four out of the eight wise pinned his way to Heppner wrestlers, Roen the championship and was Waite (120-lbs), Zac on his way to pinning his Colt Basketball is back The Heppner wres- tling team traveled to Half- way, Oregon to compete in the Pine Eagle Invitation- al, their last regular season tournament for the 2021- 2022 year. The Mustangs as a team placed third out of 13 teams. The three Gold Medal winners at the Pine Eagle tourna- ment: Roen Waite, Conor Brosnan and Cade Cunningham Grant Union opponent in the final’s bout when he was awarded the champi- onship via injury default. Cunningham continued the Heppner dominance with an 18-1 technical fall over his Enterprise oppo- nent. All three stood atop the podium to add another gold medal to their sea- son’s accomplishments. Ty Boor wrestled up a weight class to 160-lbs and went 2-2 for the day, placing fifth. Edward Ellsworth scored team points at 152-lbs by win- ning his first match by fall. Nathan Ellsworth placed sixth at 220-lbs. Kylie Holden also competed for the Mustangs in the boys’ tournament as no girl’s brackets were available. The Heppner wres- tling team will next com- pete in the Special District 4 championships in Adri- an on February 19. The top two finishers in each weight class are guaran- teed a ticket to the state championship tournament while the third placers en- ter a pool for one of the three wild card entries awarded from the four dis- tricts. Colt basketball Champions, the Ducks Colt basketball is back. This year over 50 second through sixth grad- ers from Heppner Elemen- tary participated in Colt Basketball. Students were split up into six teams. The team names were Beavers, Ducks, Cougars, Bruins, Bears, and Huskies. This year the season lasted six weeks. Each Sunday teams would play two games and the season finished with a single elimination tourna- ment on February 13. The Ducks took home the trophy for the 2022 season. Pictured are the ducks with their trophies. Top row (L-R): Coach Josh Coiner, Joel Wilson, Addie Coe, Jace Wilson, Khloe Rodriguez, Paisley Cutsforth, and coach Jero- my Wilson; Front row (L- R), Harper Coiner, Kather- ine Knowles, Logan Rice, Leo Ashbeck and Jaiden Macias. “All the teams played amazingly, had fun, and learned a lot,” a spokes- person commented. “The coaches were very proud of how hard the teams played and can’t wait for next year.” Mustang Boys Lock Up Number One Seed at Districts Lady Mustangs also win two games and earn last spot in Districts Heppner senior basketball players were honored Saturday vs Pilot Rock, Picture L-R; Cody Fletcher and his parents Andrea and Andy, Brian Lindsay and his parents Kim and Barney, ZaBrena Masterson and her parents Betty Joe and Mike, Hannah Finch and her parents Julia and Tripp, Kason Cimmiyotti and his parents Tylynn and Jeremy, Derrick Smith and his parents Melanie and Rick, Joe Sherman and his parents Donna and Andy, Brock Hisler and his parents Stephanie and Shawn, and Blake Carter and his parents Kim and Scott. - Photo by Susan Hisler By: Blake Carter With the postseason looming, the Heppner basketball teams played two final regular season games this weekend. Hep- pner traveled to Athena to battle the TigerScots, and then had the opportuni- ty to host one last home game after four games on the road. These two games were monumental to both squads. With two wins, the Lady Mustangs would have the Opportunity to compete at the district tournament this weekend. The Mustang boys looked to lock up the regular sea- son district title against two scrappy teams. First task on the week- end was a tough road test in Weston-McEwen, the girls team faced a squad who is currently battling for the last spot in districts. Both the Lady Mustangs, and Lady TigerScots sat at two wins, and needed this victory to be able to fight for a spot in Pendleton at the district tournament. Heppner pulled out a huge victory, 40-26. Heppner put together a very com- plete game, a strong press at the beginning of the game frustrated the Tiger- Scots. An early lead was built, the Mustangs gained the early six-point advan- tage. A 12-2 second quar- ter broke the game wide open. Heppner would maintain that lead for the rest of the game as Weston couldn’t close the gap. Girls Stats vs WM; Hannah Finch, one point; Zandra Masterson, 12 points; Hadlie Nation, 10 points; Brook Wilson, four points; ZaBrena Master- son, six points; Hallee His- ler, seven points. The boys team faced a TigerScot Squad who just lost to Union on Tuesday. With that crushing defeat, the TigerScots are trying to preserve a fourth-place spot at districts. Heppner on the other hand is look- ing to lock up that num- ber one seed in districts, and a playoff berth. Hep- pner held off a late push to grab a 68-61 victory. Heppner fell behind early, as Weston was feeding into their home crowd. Hep- pner would battle back and keep the game neck and neck headed into halftime. Heppner began to take the game over in the second half, extending the lead out to 59-40. Weston turned on the jets late as they quick- ly got the game down to 59-50. Heppner would trade buckets and push the lead out to 64-53. Weston wasn’t done yet though; another strong run brought the contest to within three points at 64-61. Heppner would get some late free throws and a couple solid stops to hold off a hungry TigerScot squad. Saturday was a heavy day for all of the Mustang Basketball players. Hep- pner said farewell to nine seniors across both teams, two girls, and seven boys. Although this wasn’t the end of their season, it was possibly the last time these seniors would play at home with their crowd behind them. The Mustangs would play with their hearts as the Lady Mustangs dominated all night long in a 53-26 win. Heppner put together one of their most complete games to date, hot shooting in the first quarter built the Mustangs an early lead. The press was working once again as Pilot Rock struggled to sustain any offensive rhythm. Hep- pner built a 16-point lead at halftime, and only grew that lead in the second half. Girls’ stats vs PR; Hannah Finch, five points; Zandra Masterson, eight points; Hadlie Nation, eight points; Brook Wil- son, six points; ZaBre- na Masterson, 13 points; Hallee Hisler, four points; Morgan Cutsforth, five points; Hailey Wenberg, four points. The Mustang boys looked strong in a 77-35 win and clinched the Blue Mountain Conference reg- ular season title. Heppner started hot, using a big 24-9 first quarter. Heppner continued to shut down the Rocket attack as they held the Rockets to just 17 points in the first half as Heppner built a 22-point lead at the half. Another 24-point quarter blew the game wide open as Hep- pner dominated in a blow- out win. Kason Cimmi- yotti scored 20 points on the night as the Mustang seniors combined for 53 points. Boys stats vs PR; Tucker Ashbeck, seven points, two rebounds, one steal; David Cribbs, five points; Trevor Nichols, three points, one rebound; Caden George, three points; Landon Mitchell, six points, two steals; Der- rick Smith, three points, one steal, one block; Ka- son Cimmiyotti, 20 points; Blake Carter, nine points, one assist, two rebounds; Cody Fletcher, five points, two rebounds; Brock His- ler, eight points, one assist, one rebound, one steal; Joe Sherman, six points, two assist, two rebounds, four steals; Brain Lindsay, two points, two rebounds. The district tourna- ment is now set, and we of- ficially have a bracket. The district tournament is set up in this manner, on Fri- day the number two, and three seeds will compete with the winner advancing to the championship game with the number one seed. The number four, and five seeds will also compete on Friday, with the win- ner facing the loser of the number two, and three seed game. This matchup will be for third place, the los- er of the four and five seed game will go home empty handed. On Saturday the event will open up with the third-place games, be- fore shifting to the district championships. However, with there being ties in the league standings, there will be one game played for seeding purposes on Tuesday. The girls bracket shakes out like this. On Friday at 2:45 PM; num- ber three seeded Enter- prise Outlaws vs number two seeded Stanfield Ti- gers (game two), Friday at 7:45 PM; number four seeded Grant Union Pros- pectors vs number five seeded Heppner Mustangs (game four); Saturday at 2:45 PM; Winner of game four vs the Loser of game two; DISTRICT CHAM- PIONSHIP, Saturday at 7:45 PM; the winner of game number two vs the Number one Seeded Union Bobcats. The boys bracket lines up like this. On Friday at 1PM; number three seeded Union Bobcats vs num- ber two seeded Stanfield Tigers (game one), Fri- day at 6 PM; number four seeded Weston McEwen TigerScots vs the winner of Tuesday's play-in game between Pilot Rock and Grant Union (game three); Saturday at 1PM; Winner of game three vs the Loser of game one; DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP, Satur- day at 6PM; the winner of game number one vs the Number one Seeded Hep- pner Mustangs. Both the boys, and girls district champions will host a first-round play- off game, the second-place finisher will play in the state playoffs however a home game is not guaran- teed. Good Luck to all the teams competing this weekend and we hope to see the Pendleton Con- vention Center covered in Mustang blue and gold! Lott’s Fitness Center opening soon By Hanna Finch You may remember back in May of 2020 when the antique Green’s Feed Store sign was uncovered at Lott’s. It's been near- ly two years and the con- struction in that area is finally coming to a close, presenting what will soon be Lott’s Fitness Center. Here, you’ll be able to work out and hire a person- al trainer. There will also be fitness classes hosted in the Gilliam and Bisbee Building through Lott’s as well. “We’ll have a lot of different equipment: both cardio and strength train- ing,” says Katie Siri, direc- tor of Heppner Community Foundation. Siri says there will be two ellipticals, treadmills and recumbent bikes, as well as weight training equipment. There will also be a stretching space, complete with mir- rors and bars. “When the Howard and Beth Bryant Founda- tion started, everyone kept telling me that we need- ed a fitness center,” says Kim Cutsforth, president of Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group and manager of the project. “For years, we’ve been told we should invest in one.” Cutsforth admits that there have been many hic- cups along the way. When the Heppner Communi- ty Foundation bought the building on Main Street A sneak peek at the interior of the new fitness center. from Lott’s, they quickly set to remodeling, only to discover that the building was actually a barn. “Nobody knew. There were no studs in the walls, no foundation… It was crazy. We had to tear it down and rebuild it.” Along with this, Covid has hindered the process that was originally sup- posed to take a short six months, but has now been a project that has been on- going for more than a year. With spring right around the corner, the finishing touches are finally under- way. To be able to use the gym, you will need a mem- bership. There will be a door system put into place that utilizes an app called Glofox on your phone, so that only those with a membership will be able to enter. You can sign up for membership and classes within the app, and there will also be a phone num- ber designated for people to call if they would prefer. Regular membership is 30 dollars per month and 300 dollars per year. By paying for the yearly mem- bership, you would save 60 dollars, or two months’ worth of membership. There will be a discount for students and first re- sponders. It is important to note that membership does not include any classes. “We’ve opened the gym to any personal train- ers in town that would like to utilize the facility with clients,” Siri says. “We’re partnering with some train- ers and are looking for in- structors that are interested in hosting fitness classes.” Shelby Matthews will be managing Lott’s Fitness Center once it opens, and there are plans to have an open house once the center opens in the spring. If you are interested in hosting a fitness class or have any questions, you can contact Katie Siri at (503) 504- 8508
