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Newberg
girls break losing streak
Tigers hit
free throws, secure win over Celtics
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Tigers go 3-1 at Northwest Duals |
After a loss to a team from Alaska, the NHS
wrestling team rebounds to pick up three wins |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
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BEAVERTON — The Newberg High School
wrestling team went 3-1 on the first day of the Northwest Duals
Thursday at the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District.
The No. 3-ranked team in Class 6A wrestling got off to a slow start
when it suffered one of its worst losses in school history, a 52-5
defeat at the hands of Colony High School out of Palmer, Alaska.
“They were pretty tough,” Newberg coach Neil Russo said. “We didn’t
compete very well. We lost every close match and you’re not going to
beat very many teams when that happens, but they’re a pretty good
wrestling team.”
Russo
said he hoped for a rematch Friday in the championship bracket, but
results were unavailable as of press time.
“We want that opportunity,” he said. “We challenged the kids a
little bit, but (Colony) just came out and beat us up.”
Newberg also came out sluggishly in the first dual meet in Pasco,
Wash., at the Best of the West Duals. Even though the Tigers beat
River View 62-15, the Tigers looked “slow and lethargic,” Russo
said.
“When you combine our lack of aggressiveness and intensity, to go
along with a pretty good opponent, you’re going to find yourself in
trouble,” Russo said. “And that’s what happened. We had a couple of
close losses that took the air out of us early, but we’ve got to be
able to rebound from that and have each guy go out there with
intensity and purpose, regardless of what happened to the guy in
front of him.”
Newberg rebounded in its five-team pool, though. It knocked off
Scappoose 42-23, followed by a 59-6 win over Sherwood. The Tigers
then defeated Cleveland, a team from the Portland Interscholastic
League, but the score was unavailable as of press time.
“We wrestled a lot better and competed a lot better, and hopefully
we can pick up (Friday morning) and not start over because we’ll be
in that winner’s bracket,” Russo said.
Freshman Jacob Kaufman (119 pounds) and Mitchell Sturdevant (171)
were undefeated in the first day. Kaufman scored an overtime win
against Scappoose and staved off a near-pin against Cleveland en
route to his undefeated record. He is currently ranked No. 4 in the
state at 112 pounds.
“(Kaufman) is really competing really well right now,” Russo said.
“He is setting the standard for how we want our kids to compete.
He’s a freshman who makes mistakes, but he wrestles hard and
competes for six minutes or however long the match goes. We’re using
him as the standard of our competitiveness and right now he’s got
that bar up there. We’re trying to get 15 or 16 other guys to reach
the same level.”
Newberg finished as the No. 2 seed in its pool behind Colony. The
Tigers finished the tournament Friday; results were unavailable as
of press time. |
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From
Dec. 30, 2006, Newberg Graphic
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