Outlaws wrestling squad falls at Burns

The Outlaws wrestlers traveled to Burns on Saturday, January 31, for the Woodfin-Robinson Tournament. They lost each of the dual meets against Burns, Crane, Riverside, Grant Union and La Pine due to a short roster which resulted in forfeits.

However,Thomas Schantz brought home a championship trophy for the Outlaws.

Schantz (189 pounds) defeated each of his opponents and received forfeits from Crane and Burns. Thomas earned first-period falls over Jaime Villa of Riverside and Chris Olson of La Pine.

The feature match of the day was Schantz' rematch with Ethan Kowing of Grant Union. The two grapplers faced each other in December at the Culver Tournament, where Kowing defeated Schantz 13-11. In a second match, Schantz came back to earn an 18-11 victory.

In Saturday's rematch, Schantz earned the win over Kowing, who is ranked third in the state at the 3A level. Schantz scored five takedowns and Kowing earned five escapes. Schantz took the match in a final score of 10-8.

"We knew Kowing had a great switch, so Thomas released him immediately after each takedown," said Coach Jeff Smith. "Thomas followed the game plan perfectly."

Kody Johns ended the tournament with a 3-2 record. Johns finished third in his first match of the year at 152 pounds.

John Connolly (140 pounds), Connor Morgan (145 pounds), Dylan Mackenzie (160 pounds) and Aaron Fegenbush (171 pounds) each won two of their matches in the tournament.

Sisters will be at La Pine on Thursday, February 5.