A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017
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FOUR LOCAL WRESTLERS
VICTORIOUS AT STATE FINALS
Wyse, Rockwell win
second titles; first
for Hendon, Flynn
EO Media Group
The Bulldogs’ hope for
another team state title did
not have come to fruition, but
two Bulldogs, a Pirate and a
Mustang all ended their high
school wrestling careers as
champions Saturday at Vet-
erans Memorial Coliseum in
Portland.
Hermiston’s C.J. Hendon
and Valen Wyse each won
their weight class in the 5A
OSAA State Champion-
ships.
Riverside’s
Aristotle
Rockwell brought back his
second 3A title, and Hep-
pner/Ione’s Cord Flynn
secured his first title at the
2A/1A level.
Wyse improved to 8-0 at
the state meet and won his
second championship. Just
one of his matches in the
170-pound bracket went the
distance, and that one wasn’t
close.
Coming off a pair of first-
round pins on the tourna-
ment’s first day, Wyse started
his second day in the semi-
finals against St. Helens’s
Colton Beisley, who made
Wyse go the full six minutes
for a 22-9 major decision
victory.
That matched him up
against Milwaukie’s Mikel
Bremner in the champion-
ship, where Wyse would
get his quickest victory of
the tournament and pinned
Bremner in 1:29.
Hendon, at 138 pounds,
had a much more tense fi-
nal earlier in the day going
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Valen Wyse throws Milwaukie’s Mikel Bremner
in his 170-pound class 5A state championship match win
Saturday in Portland.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s C.J. Hendon throws Sandy’s Brody Diaz de
Leon in his 138-pound class 5A state championship match
win Saturday in Portland.
against Brody Diaz de Leon
of Sandy.
After nearly getting
pinned at the end of the first
round, Hendon was able to
score a reversal in the second
that tied the score at 4-4.
Neither scored in the third
round as Hendon was un-
able to get any hold to stick
from the top position, and
the wrestlers stood back up
to start the sudden victory
round.
Hendon immediately shot
in for a single-leg takedown,
and although he landed his
shot, Diaz de Leon was also
quick with a headlock and
when Wyse drove forward
the two wrestlers tumbled to
the mat in a tangle.
Hendon’s
momentum
briefly carried him onto his
shoulders, drawing an erup-
tion of cheers from the San-
dy fan section, but Diaz de
Leon’s hold was too high
and he didn’t have the con-
trol needed to score the win-
ning points.
After rolling onto his side,
Hendon got the opening he
needed and popped his head
out of the lock and quickly
jumped on top of a prone
Diaz de Leon for the win-
ning points.
As Hendon acknowl-
edged to his own cheering
section, Diaz de Leon plead-
ed his own case for a take-
down to the referees. After
conferring with each other
and the scorer’s table, Hen-
don’s hand was raised for the
only state title of his career.
That was a moment Hep-
pner/Ione’s Cord Flynn had
just missed out on his junior
season when he was second
at 195 pounds to Culver’s
Jaiden Jones.
The two met for the re-
match on Saturday, and this
time it was Flynn celebrat-
ing at the end when he beat
Jones with a 7-3 score.
Jones scored first, though,
and was up 3-0 in the second
period before an escape an
immediate takedown by Fly-
nn knotted the score. Flynn
took a 5-3 lead into the final
period when he scored a two-
point near-fall at the buzzer.
Flynn chose the bottom
position to start, but was
quickly back on top with a
reversal in the first 10 sec-
onds to make it 7-3, and he
was able to ride out Jones for
the win.
It was the second time
Flynn had beaten Jones this
season, and made him the
fourth state champion the
program has produced and
the first wrestler from Ione to
win a state title.
See CHAMPS, A9
Bulldogs hang on against Eagles
Hermiston boys finish
regular season with win
Rambo followed up with 14 points
and Hunter Walls with 13 behind
four 3-pointers. Trenton Hough led
Hood River Valley (7-15, 1-8) with
17 points and Eric Siekinen had 10.
EO Media Group
It may not have been the best game
put together by the Hermiston boys
basketball team on Friday night, but
the Bulldogs still managed to end the
regular season on the right foot.
Hermiston jumped to an early
15-2 lead over Hood River Valley on
Friday, but were outscored 36-28 in
the second half as the Bulldogs bare-
ly hung on for a 60-56 victory.
The win wraps up a 16-7 record
and a 6-3 mark in the Columbia River
Conference for the Bulldogs.Chance
Flores led all scorers with 22 points
on 10 total field goals, while Xavier
This week
Hermiston played in a Class 5A
postseason play-in game against
Parkrose (10-12, 7-7 Northwest Or-
egon Conference) on Tuesday at The
Dawg House, but the game started
too late for results to be included
in this week’s print edition of the
Hermiston Herald. Look for result
and coverage online at www.hermis-
tonherald.com.
—————
HHS
15 17 14 14 — 60
HRV
2 18 19 17 — 56
HERMISTON — C. Flores 22, X. Rambo 14, H. Walls 13,
A. James 5, T. McCullough 4, R. Andreason 2, J. Ramirez.
HOOD RIVER — T. Hough 17, E. Siekkinen 10, B. Wilson
7, D. Kurahara 6, JJ Mears 6, M. Williams 4, C. Orr 4, J.
Tactay 2.
3-pointers — HHS 7, HRV 5. Free throws — HHS 3-13,
HRV 7-12. Fouls — HHS 16, HRV 16.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
HERMISTON 59, HOOD RIV-
ER VALLEY 17 — At Hermiston,
the Bulldogs girls basketball team
wrapped up its regular season slate
with a 59-17 blowout victory over
Hood River Valley on Friday night.
Up next
Hermiston (13-10, 7-2 CRC) will
next host a Class 5A postseason
play-in game, where it will take on
the Sandy Pioneers (14-9, 7-7) who
finished fifth in the Northwest Ore-
gon Conference. The game will be
played at 6 p.m. today, Wednesday,
March 1, at The Dawg House.
Tigers roar into 2A tournament
Irrigon’s first 3A
season ends with
loss to Salem
Academy
EO Media Group
Playing their last game
of the season on their home
court, the No. 2 seed Stan-
field Tigers weren’t hold-
ing anything back as they
jumped out to an early lead
and never let it go to beat
Oakland, 90-56, in the first
round of the 2A boys basket-
ball state playoffs on Friday.
Dylan Grogan scored
32 points, Jose Garcia add-
ed 16, and the Tigers really
pulled away in the second
half where they outscored
the Oakers 55-27.
It was the 19th straight
win for Stanfield (20-1),
which hasn’t lost to a 2A
team all season.
“We just came out fast
from the start,” said first-
year Tigers coach Jason
Sperr. “They came out
with the mindset, ‘We’re
not going to lose in our
Players from Echo earn
spots on all-league teams
EO Media Group
Two players from the
girls and boys basketball
teams in Echo earned
recognition on the Old
Oregon League All-
League basketball teams
the league announced
Friday.
Earning recognition
were senior Hannah Mc-
Carty on the first team
and Echo senior Devin
Tarvin with honorable
mention.
Echo had two boys
named to their second
team in senior Klay Jen-
son and junior Morgan
Marcum.
2017- All-Old Oregon League
Basketball
Girls
First team
Mary Stewart (Player of the year), jr.,
Nixyaawii
house.’ They were going to
outwork the opponent.”
Sperr said No. 15 seed
Oakland (17-10) was no
Milan Schimmel, jr., Nixyaawii
Alexis Sykora, jr., Joseph
Sam Kearns, jr., Powder Valley
Hallie Feik, sr., Power Valley
Hannah McCarty, sr., Echo
Second Team
Macey Tullis, sr., Helix
Hannah Tanaka, sr., Pine Eagle
Kaitlyn Melton, jr., Nixyaawii
Sam Short, sr., Cove
Emma HIte, so., Joseph
Sadie Wilson, jr., Helix
Honorable Mention
Kim Williams, jr., Powder Valley
Hannah Duby, sr., Cove
Lauren Makin, sr., Joseph
Savannah Nobles, sr., Wallowa
Devin Tarvin, sr., Echo
Savannah Stephens, sr., Powder
Valley
Boys
First team
Mick Schimmel (Player of the Year),
fr., Nixyaawii
Cayden DeLury, sr., Joseph
Isaac Colton, sr., Powder Valley
Christopher Nobles, so., Wallowa
Gus McGinn, sr., Powder Valley
Jake Chrisman, sr., Joseph
Second team
Klay Jensen, sr., Echo
Tanner Eubanks, jr., Powder Valley
Trent Taylor, sr., Cove
Morgan Marcum, jr., Echo
Jon Shaw, sr., Helix
Honorable Mention
Justin Williams, sr., Helix
Caevan Murray, jr., Joseph
Chandler Case, sr., Nixyaawii
Tucker Gulick, so., Pine Eagle
Ezekiel Elmer, sr., Cove
pushover though, and
Stanfield (20-1) was up
just 35-29 at halftime.
“We missed some open
shots that could have bro-
ken it open a little sooner,”
Sperr said, “but the guys
continued to battle getting
offensive rebounds. We
were sending as many guys
as we could to the glass.”
Sperr said overall, it
was the best four quarters
the team has played this
season. The Tigers will
look to maintain that high
level of play next week at
the state tournament’s final
site in Pendleton.
The Tigers are slated for
a quarterfinals match-up
with No. 7 seed Oakridge,
which beat No. 10 Regis,
50-49, on Friday.
Stanfield will play
Oakridge on Thursday at
Pendleton High with an
8:30 p.m. tipoff.
———
OHS
14 15 16 11 — 56
SHS
20 15 23 22 — 90
OAKLAND — N. Freeman 11, N.
Chastain 10, C. Benzel 8, B. Wimberly 6,
S. Winn 6, A. Harrington 4, C. Brownson
4, J. Brooksby 3, A. Saddler 2, A. Brown
2, R. Carson.
STANFIELD — D. Grogan 32, J. Garcia
16, T. Monkus 7, T. Flores 7, R. Bailey 7, B.
Woods 7, E. Esquivel 2, C. Hernandez, N.
Sanchez, A. Gomez.
3-pointers — OHS 2; SHS 4. Free throws
— OHS 12-23; SHS 15-26. Fouls — OHS
23; SHS 21. Fouled out — C. Benzel
(OHS).
See ROUNDUP, A9
STAFF PHOTO BY ERIC SINGER
Umatilla’s Kaden Webb (1) directs the offense during a
3A boys basketball first-round state playoff game against
Horizon Christian of Tualatin on Friday in Umatilla. Horizon
Christian won 66-40.
Vikings ousted
by pesky Hawks
Umatilla’s season
ends in first
round of playoffs
By ERIC SINGER
Staff Writer
When the Umatilla boys
basketball team pulled off
the last-second win over
Irrigon to claim the dis-
trict title, the Vikings did
so with clutch shooting
and stout defense.
But in Friday’s first
round
playoff
game
against the No. 9 seed
Horizon Christian Hawks,
Umatilla shot a meager 20
percent from the floor (13-
64) while Horizon Chris-
tian connected at an in-
credible 65 percent mark
(24-37). The Hawks ran
away with a 66-40 victory
to oust the No. 8 seed Vi-
kings from the postseason.
The shooting perfor-
mance was very unchar-
acteristic for the Vikings
(17-8). Following the
game, Umatilla coach
Derek Lete appeared per-
plexed as he tried to ex-
plain the team’s perfor-
mance.
“You know, I don’t
know if the stage was too
big for them or if it was
just one of those nights,”
he said. “But any time you
shoot like that, you’re not
going to win a whole lot of
ball games.”
Umatilla started the
game with a fast tempo and
quick hands on defense,
forcing three turnovers
on Horizon Christian’s
first three possessions and
taking a 3-0 lead over the
Hawks at the 6:20 mark of
the opening quarter. But
once the Hawks took care
of the basketball, they
were too much for the Vi-
kings to handle.
Horizon Christian (20-
8) made 9 of 10 shots in
the first quarter and fin-
ished the final six minutes
on a 22-3 run, and then
continued the hot shooting
in the second half hitting
16-20 shots (80 percent)
to lead 39-16 at the break.
“They (Horizon Chris-
tian) just couldn’t miss,”
Lete said. “And anytime
you dig yourself that big
of a hole in a state play-
off game, it’s hard to dig
yourself out.”
The Hawks were able
to use its size advantage
across the board to work
its offense to near perfec-
tion, led by 6-7 junior An-
thony Sprauer inside who
finished with a game-high
28 points, 18 of which
came in the first half
alone. Overall, the Hawks
had just two of the eight
players that saw the floor
that checked in at 6-feet-1
STAFF PHOTO BY ERIC SINGER
Umatilla’s Sebastian Garcia
prepares to take a shot
during a 3A boys basketball
playoff game against Horizon
Christian of Tualatin on
Friday in Umatilla.
or shorter, while Umatilla
had seven.
“We knew they were
bigger than us, we had
scouted them pretty well,”
Lete said. “We knew them
inside and out, and I still
believe we do. It’s just
they shot well, they re-
bounded well and they’re
tough to defend. It just
wasn’t our night.”
Umatilla did not hit its
first 3-pointer of the game
until the 3:44 mark of the
third quarter when Mois-
es Garcilazo swished one
from the left wing, ending
an 0-18 start. Sebastian
Garcia then hit 3-4 at-
tempts in the fourth quar-
ter to help him finish with
a team-high 12 points.
It was a disappointing
way for Umatilla’s three
seniors in Justin Maret,
Sean Miller and Tyrone
Morris to go out, but Lete
said as a coach he is proud
of the effort those three
and his team overall gave
throughout the season.
“It’s been fun, probably
one of the best seasons I’ve
had,” Lete said. “All the
kids are very coachable,
they work hard day-in and
day-out in practice and not
just in game action. There’s
a lot of mixed emotions
now, but we return a lot
and hopefully we’ll get af-
ter it in the offseason and
see what next year brings.”
————
HC
22 17
9 18 — 66
UHS
6 10
9 15 — 40
HORIZON CHRISTIAN — A. Sprauer
28, T. Schiele 10, C. Zralka 6, C. Wyatt
6, J. Belan 5, B. Egger 4, K. Free 3, H.
Wakefield 2, T. Olson 2.
UMATILLA — S. Garcia 12, K. Webb
10, T. Durfey 6, S. Cranston 5, J. Maret
4, M. Garcilazo 3, G. Armenta, J. Garcia,
U. Garcia.
3-pointers — HC 8, UHS 4. Free throws
— HC 10-18, UHS 10-16. Fouls — HC 13,
UHS 18.
————
Contact Eric at esing-
er@eastoregonian.com or
541-966-0839.