Wrestlers take fourth place at Nels Ochs Invitational

Thomas Schantz led the Outlaws to a fourth-place finish in the six-team Nels Ochs Invitational Tournament in Madras on Saturday, December 6. Sisters finished behind two 5A schools, Madras and Sandy, and the traditionally tough McLoughlin High of Milton Freewater.

Schantz dominated Rolin Morning Owl of Madras in the finals of the 189-pound class.

"This was probably the best match of the year for any Outlaw," said Coach Jeff Smith. "He (Schantz) kept Morning Owl on the defensive throughout the entire match and maintained good body position throughout the match to earn the 10-2 victory."

The remaining Sisters wrestlers placed in the top six of the tournament.

Smith explained that teams were allowed to enter several wrestlers in a weight class, so there were often more wrestlers in a weight class than there were teams entered.

Junior Riley Gilmore placed third. Gilmore pinned Cody Henderson of Sandy in 27 seconds into the third round for the third-place medal. Sophomore Ben Freeland and junior Chris Wright placed fourth.

Freshman Gilbert Porraz finished fifth with a hard fought 11-5 victory over Troy Cook of Sandy.

Of Porraz's match Smith said, "Gilbert repeatedly used a nifty duck under to take Cook to the mat. It was almost as if it was just a drill in practice where your opponent offers only token resistance."

Sophomores Dylan Mackenzie (140 pounds) and Thomas Arends (215 pounds) placed sixth.

"These two guys joined the squad during Christmas break, and each has a positive attitude that will insure that they'll grow and find more success," said Smith.

The good showing at the Madras tournament followed a disappointing dual meet loss to Pleasant Hill two days earlier when the Billies posted a 60-6 victory over the Outlaws.

Ben Freeland won the only match of the night for Sisters. Freeland pinned Shane Person in five minutes and eight seconds.

Smith said, "We just came out flat after the holiday break. We want to be in an attacking mode, and we let Pleasant Hill bring the match to us. I was pleased that we followed a poor showing on Thursday night with a much better performance on Saturday."