Outlaw wrestlers take down Marist

The Outlaw wrestlers gave up four forfeits and then earned eight straight wins in their dual meet with Marist at La Pine on Thursday, January 22 to earn a 43-24 victory over the Spartans.

Connor Morgan (145 pounds) filled in for Benton Urquhart, who broke his collarbone the night before, in the opening match of the meet. Morgan faced Marist veteran Ben Lacey in his first varsity match. Lacey took Morgan to his back with an early head-and-arm and led 5-0 when Morgan reversed Lacey to his back and recorded a first-period fall.

"Connor did a great job of avoiding the fall! He was on his back for most of a minute and that's a tough situation," said Coach Jeff Smith. "A less competitive kid would have given up, but Connor rolled him through, locked him up and it was over in a hurry. This really set the tone for our evening."

Dylan Mackenzie and Kody Johns both recorded a fall. Mackenzie and Johns faced relatively inexperienced opponents and both matches ended in 23 seconds.

Senior Aaron Fegenbush (171 pounds) was the next Outlaw to take the mat.

"Fegenbush was relentless, as he rolled up a 14-6 victory over Justin Perry. The eight-point win gave the Outlaws one extra team point, which might have been critical without the Outlaw sweep," said Smith.

Thomas Schantz faced Sam Hardin, one of Marist's better wrestlers. Schantz was in control the entire match and earned an 8-3 win.

Since neither team had a 215-pound wrestler, Andrew Goodwin squared off against Vince Chioffi. Both wrestlers weighed in at 235 pounds.

"Goodwin shot in for a double leg tackle and got trapped under Chioffi, but kept his good position and earned the takedown. He turned Chioffi quickly," said Smith.

Goodwin earned the pin at 1:17 which put the Outlaws in the lead at 31-0.

Nick Head sealed the Outlaw victory with a fall over Scott Graham in 4:52. Head ran up an 18-6 lead before he secured the fall.

John Connolly (140 pounds) faced Marist's Nick Gates in the final match of the night. Connolly took down Gates and turned him over for the pin in 40 seconds.

"This was the best performance by Sisters in years," said Smith. "We were aggressive from the get-go and did a good job of getting the falls. We were fortunate that a couple of Marist's better wrestlers faced our better guys, Nick Head and Thomas Schantz.

Sisters' next meet will be at home on Thursday, January 29. Cottage Grove will face La Pine first at 6:30 p.m. and Sisters' dual against Cottage Grove will follow.