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Zahler, Parrish lead but NHS falls in tourney
Turnovers beset Tigers in losses to Parkrose,
Liberty
With combination of young and old, Bucks move
to 2-1
Struggling Bucks off to 0-3 start
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Pendleton pins NHS, takes title |
Newberg suffers four pins in the title match of the
Earl Gillis Tournament Friday |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
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The Newberg High School
wrestling team fell behind 30-4 and a late rally fell short as
Pendleton claimed a 37-25 win over the Tigers Friday to claim the
Earl Gillis Tournament championship.
“It’s pretty tough to give up falls and win meets,” said Newberg
coach Neil Russo. “It’s nearly impossible, so we’re going to address
that and we’ll improve for sure.”
After Newberg’s Justin Moore (119 pounds), Tim Brugger (125), Jesse
Kelley (130) and Nathan Casciato (140) were all pinned, Pendleton
seized a 30-4 lead. The Tigers made a comeback, though. Senior Sam
Schmitz (145), senior Dan Chandler (152) both recorded pins before
senior Trent Conant (160) scored a 14-6 win over Jeff Nirschl.
NHS senior Andrew Hamilton (171) picked up a 7-2 victory over Eric
Palmer to bring the Tigers within 30-23. NHS senior Ransom
Portis-Cathers (189) fell 2-1 in double-overtime before a 5-3 win by
NHS junior Ryan Rustrum (215) over Clay Wunder, ranked No. 3 at 189.
NHS senior Jeremy Radzik (275) fell 6-0 to Joe Williams, ranked No.
2 at 215, in the final match of the night.
To make it to the finals, the Tigers posted an opening-round 49-24
win over St. Helens and a 42-25 win over Crook County.
“We got beat in this last dual, but far and away we competed in
this dual better than we did in the other two duals,” Russo said.
“You would like to win those duals and those close matches, but as
long as we’re competing and getting better, we can live with that.”
Russo said he liked the way No. 4-ranked Rustrum, who went 3-0 on
the day, and Radzik, who finished with a pair of wins by pin,
wrestled.
“Both of those guys have been working hard and making improvements
and give us more stability at the upper end,” he said.
Meanwhile, Conant, who finished eighth at the state tournament last
season at 152 pounds, has had a bit of a rougher time. In Newberg’s
dual meet against Woodburn Thursday, Conant fell to Chris Karsseboom,
the runner-up at the state tournament at 135 pounds last season.
Against St. Helens, Conant (ranked No. 5 at 152) was pinned by
Robbie Lammers, ranked No. 13 at 152. Conant then fell to Trent
Lucas (ranked No. 2 at 152) of Crook County 4-3 after Lucas scored
the match-winning takedown with four seconds remaining in the match.
Conant finally picked up his first win of the season against Nirschl.
“He’s wrestled some pretty darn good wrestlers,” Russo said of
Conant. “I thought Trent outwrestled (Lucas) for 5:50 and then just
froze in the last 10 seconds. Against good people, you can’t have a
lapse.”
Overall, Russo said he was happy with the tournament, noting that
of the matches wrestled by all eight teams — NHS, Century, Crook
County, West Linn, Thurston, Pendleton, Sweet Home and St. Helens —
there was one forfeit.
“I thought we had eight real quality teams here, but I’ve got to
tip my hat to Sweet Home,” Russo said. “They’re going to play in the
semifinals of the (Class 3A) football championships (Saturday) so
they didn’t have all of their guys. I couldn’t imagine putting a
lineup out on the mat without our football players. I think I would
have the bus take a wrong turn somewhere.”
The Tigers return to action in a 7 p.m. home matchup Thursday
against Dallas.
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From
Dec. 8,
2004, Newberg Graphic
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