SPORTS
SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
A7
PREP BASKETBALL • PREP WRESTLING • MIXED MARTIAL ARTS • SCHEDULE
Winning
(and losing)
the right way
B
ack in December, I
wrote in the winter
sports tab that lots
of words could describe
the Hermiston wrestling
program, but one that
head coach Shaun
Williams used didn’t
quite seem correct to me.
It was “rebuilding.”
And — surprising to me
— he proved to be right.
Hermiston did win the
state title, but just.
By Hermiston
wrestling standards, it
was a rebuilding year. The
Bulldogs weren’t out-
of-this-world dominant,
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as a rebuilding year.
And with a slew of
returning state placers,
the Bulldogs have set
themselves up for another
retooling year next year,
if not rebuilding.
But there’s another
word that is synonymous
with the Hermiston
wrestling program, and
it’s not one that quickly
comes to mind. It’s not
“success,” “dominance”
or “winning.” It’s
“sportsmanship.”
Williams’ philosophy
is for his team to win
with grace and lose
with grace. He’s taken
that philosophy and
sewn it throughout his
program. It’s as much a
part of the Bulldogs as
winning state titles. But
acting with class is the
most important thing to
him. State titles come
with potential and work.
Sportsmanship is a base
quality to him. You have
to have that before you
can do anything, in his
mind.
“Winning always feels
good, I don’t care how
you look at it,” Williams
said Friday. “Losing
always feels bad. But in
either of those scenarios
... When we lose, we
shake hands, we smile
and we go. ... When we
win, same thing because
somebody had to lose.
When we go to the state
tournament and our kids
get beat, we don’t throw
our headgear. We don’t
cuss up a storm. We don’t
kick chairs. We shake
hands, and we walk off
the mat and we get ready
for the next match.”
When you watch
Hermiston wrestlers
after bouts, they are very
understated. Absent are
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raises or any other shows
of emotion. If they win,
they smile, as Williams
said, but you’d hope
SAM BARBEE
FROM THE SIDELINES
Sports reporter
the guys are happy and
excited to win.
When Sam Colbray
took the 195-pound title
match and clinched the
state title in the process,
he executed the best
form of sportsmanship:
He acted like he’s been
there before. He didn’t
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announce his third state
title. He didn’t jump
around and make Alberto
Meza from Central feel
any worse than he already
did. He simply shook his
opponent’s hand, had his
arm raised by the referee,
shook the opposing
coaches’ hands and then
went to celebrate with
him teammates.
Williams mentioned
Hillsboro, who beat
Hermiston in the
championship dual at the
Oregon Wrestling Classic
and came 6.5 points short
of capturing a state title.
He said those wrestlers
worked as hard as any
he’s seen, so it would hurt
Hermiston to “rub it in
their faces and dismiss
them.”
He didn’t want to
humiliate Hillsboro
for a couple reasons:
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give Hillsboro more
motivation than they
already had, but he
also wanted his team’s
accomplishment to have
a feeling of accuracy
attached. He said
if the Bulldogs had
dismissed Hillsboro,
then they wouldn’t have
appreciated what the
Spartans did. A narrow
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is nothing to scoff at,
especially when it comes
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It’s important to
Williams for his wrestlers
to respect and understand
what other teams do
because he hopes to have
that same understanding
and respect reciprocated.
It’s an interesting
approach and the opposite
of a famous public
relations move from
ancient Rome, of all
places. During the Punic
Wars, which pitted Rome
against Carthage, the
Carthaginians had this
general named Hannibal,
who hated Rome with all
his being. When the time
was right, he marched
SEE WINNERS/A8
CORRECTION
In Wednesday’s issue,
a Hermiston wrestler in
image number seven of
the wrestling photo page
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Hermiston senior Mitch-
ell Lincoln is on the right.
As well, Mitchell lost to
Dallas’ Brennan Yates by
a 2-1 decision, not by fall.
The Hermiston Herald re-
grets the errors.
GO SEE IT
Saturday, March 7
Girls Basketball
Hermiston vs. Crescent Valley, 3 p.m.
Sunday, March 8
No events scheduled
Monday, March 9
No events scheduled
Hermiston girls hoops wants another shot at La Salle
Bulldogs must
defeat Crescent
Valley today
BY SAM BARBEE
HERMISTON HERALD
The Hermiston girls
basketball team feels disre-
spected.
Head coach Steve Hof-
fert said the Bulldogs think
La Salle Prep, who the
Bulldogs beat in January,
are getting the attention
from the state that they de-
serve. He likened it to the
Hermiston football team’s
apparent beef with Silver-
ton, who was tabbed as the
favorite and consistently
voted at the top of the 5A
rankings by coaches and
media.
The same is happening
with Hermiston and La Sal-
le in girls basketball. Herm-
iston is the top-ranked team
in the state according to
Oregon School Activities
Association heading into
its play-in round matchup
today against Crescent Val-
ley, but La Salle was ranked
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Hoffert said that will stick
in the back of his players’
minds until they get another
shot at the Falcons, prefera-
Wednesday, March 11
Girls Basketball
*Hermiston vs. TBD @ Gil Coliseum, Corvallis,
1:30 p.m.
*IF HERMISTON WINS TODAY
bly at the state tournament
in Corvallis next week.
“We want La Salle,”
Hoffert said Thursday. “The
girls want it for the same
reason. We felt we beat
’em without Kynzee Padil-
la, and we feel we can still
beat ’em again with Kynzee
Padilla. We want everyone
around to know it’s like the
Hermiston-Silverton foot-
ball matchup. Nobody gave
Hermiston a shot at beating
Silverton because of who
Silverton was — regardless
SEE BULLDOGS/A8
CHAMPIONS CELEBRATE
SAM BARBEE PHOTO
Hermiston School District Supertintendent Dr. Fred Maiocco holds up the 2014-15 state championship trophy earned by the
Hermiston wrestling team with head coach Shaun Williams and a Hermiston student by his side.
BY SAM BARBEE
HERMISTON HERALD
After the Hermiston
wrestling team won its
team eighth title in nine
years, Hermiston High
School honored its state
participants with an assem-
bly Thursday afternoon.
The Dawghouse was full
of students and community
members and had one side
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After each coach and wres-
tler was introduced to rous-
ing applause, coach Shaun
Williams took the micro-
phone and addressed the
crowd, thanking the student
body and the community
for their support.
“I don’t have too much
to say, other than thanks
Mixed martial arts
coming to town
BY SAM BARBEE
HERMISTON HERALD
Sports teams often try to
be creative when fundraising
in order to drum up the most
funds for a team.
The creativity of the
Hermiston wrestling team
will be on full display as it
hosts a night of mixed mar-
tial arts action beginning at 7
p.m. March 21 at the Herm-
iston High School Gym.
Dubbed “Knucklehead
11: Hermiston Cage Fights,”
the bouts are sanctioned
by the Oregon State Ath-
Tuesday, March 10
No events scheduled
SAM BARBEE PHOTO
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half of Hermiston’s 51-36 win over the Riverhawks Jan. 23 in Hermiston.
letic Commission, and the
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artists from all over the coun-
try who registered through
the OSAC.
“I didn’t choose it. They
sought me out,” promoter
Billy Bobb said of bring-
ing the event to Hermiston.
“(Wrestling coach Shaun
Williams) contacted me. I’ve
not previously thought about
doing a show in Hermiston
until the high school contact-
ed me.”
The idea came from
SEE MARTIAL ARTS/A8
for all your support — the
community, the school dis-
trict, the students,” he said
to the crowd. “Thanks for
everything you have done
— your support through-
out the season. Without you
guys, I don’t think we could
have done it, and I’m happy
to bring back another state
title.”
Since Williams has been
in Hermiston, he knows no
differently. He’s won three
state championships in his
three years in Hermiston
after being hand-picked
for the position by Herm-
iston coaching legend
Curt Berger. During those
three years, Hermiston has
placed 26 wrestlers and
SEE CHAMPIONS/A8
Bulldog boys, coach
overcome learning
curve this season
BY SAM BARBEE
HERMISTON HERALD
When Jake McElligott
took the Hermiston boys
basketball coaching job
last summer, he knew he
would have to make ad-
justments.
He said he knew he
would have more respon-
sibilities off the basketball
court, and he knew the
competition would im-
prove as he moved from
2A Irrigon to 5A Hermis-
ton.
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really hit McElligott was
the competition.
“Game to game, you re-
ally have to prepare well,”
McElligott said Wednes-
day. “Every team can beat
you on any given night. I
talked to Bob Townsend
from The Dalles about this.
You may have two or three
games in a week at the 2A
level. You know one or
SEE LEARNING/A8
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Hunter’s education
classes available
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wild-
life is hosting a series of
hunter’s education classes
throughout March, and
students can become cer-
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of turkey season starting
April 15. There are still
six class sessions remain-
ing in Hermiston: Tues-
day, Thursday, March 14,
March 19 and March 24.
They will take place at the
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Hall and another location.
Classes are also available
Tuesday, Thursday, March
14, March 17 and March
19 at AC Houghton Ele-
mentary School in Irrigon.
There are also opportuni-
ties for independent stu-
dents who have already
completed their workbook
or online course. All class-
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ed on ODFW’s website
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more information on how
to register at http://www.
dfw.state.or.us/education/
hunter/.