The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The Outlaws grapplers were among 13 teams competing at the Bend Invitational last weekend. Ridgeview High School took first place with 256 points, Mazama took second with 170, Bend High earned 3rd with 132.5 with Siuslaw High taking fourth and Willamette High finishing with fifth.

The Sisters wrestling team finished in eighth place with only six wrestlers competing.

“I was very proud of these six individuals that wrestled,” said Coach John Downs. “Our only JV competitor, freshman Henry Rard, had a good tournament in the 220 weight class.He won one and lost one, but for Rard, any time he can get mat-time makes him a better wrestler.”

Sophomore Wyatt Maffey performed well in his new weight class of 132 pounds. Maffey lost his first match but did very well in the consolation rounds, wrestling back and winning the rest of his matches and earning fifth place.

At 138 pounds, junior Chaz Patterson struggled through his matches but was able to finish the day with a 1-2 record, just one win short of getting into the placing rounds.

In the 145-pound weight class, senior Anthony Randolph had one of his best days competing, earning a third-place medal in a weight class of 13 competitors.

“Anthony is starting to really step it up in this second half of the season,” Downs reported.

Senior Dillon King placed sixth in the 160-pound weight class.

“King was fighting an illness the last couple weeks and seemed tired and weak, but he pulled out some great wins,” Downs said. “I am glad to see he is starting to feel better and be back practicing hard.”

In the 195-pound weight class, senior Ethan Martin won his first two matches, earning himself a place in the finals, but had a tough match verses Shenk from Ridgeview. Martin and Shenk met earlier in the season, with Martin winning by one point, but this time Shenk was able to beat Martin.

“Still, I was very excited for Ethan earning the silver medal,” said Downs.

“Our big guy, Damien King, wrestled very strong in the 285-pound weight class. King won his first match easy, with a pin in 41 seconds, and then he faced the second-seeded wrestler, Horrillo from Siuslaw High. For King, going to the third round was very tough. This is the case for most bigger guys. But with 29 seconds into the third round of the match, King was able to throw Horrillo and pin him.”

It was a big upset for King, and this sent King to the first-place match versus the number-one seed, Martin from Ridgeview. King was able to get to the second round with Martin, but his energy was spent from his last match and Martin was able to get the better of King. Still for King it was an amazing day bringing home the second-place medal.

In the girls tournament, Tyler “Daisy” Patterson battled it out in the 125-pound weight class, earning a fourth place.

“Daisy seems to be gradually getting better every week,” Downs said.