Five wrestlers place at Summit tournament

Five teams, including Sisters, Gilcrest, La Pine, North Lake and Summit attended the Summit Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, December 19.

The young Outlaws squad continued to improve. Josh O'Brien and Steven Nemer dominated their matches and each earned a first-place finish in the tournament.

O'Brien (130 pounds) pinned his first two opponents and went on to win the first-place spot with a 17-2 decision. Nemer (160 pounds) pinned all three of his opponents in the first round of each match.

"Both these guys wrestled outstanding," said Coach Gene O'Brien. "Josh is a cradle expert and Steven gets out there and just grounds and pounds."

Gilbert Porraz (171 pounds), Chandler Zenich (189 pounds) and Sterling Ryan (285 pounds) all were second-place finishers.

Porraz won by a fall in the first match, was pinned in his second match and came back to pin his opponent in his final match of the day. Zenich won by a 7-2 decision in his first match, lost by a fall in the second match and won by a fall in the third match. Sterling rounded out the second-place finishes. Ryan, who actually only weights 200 pounds, wrestles at the 285 pounds weight class. Sterling won by a fall in the first match, lost in a 17-2 decision in the second and came back to pin his opponent in the first round of the third match.

O'Brien said, "Overall, the team did very well and Steven (Nemer) and Josh (O'Brien) did an exceptional job. I was very impressed with the entire team. We worked hard all week and they came out and pulled if off. The Madras tournament will be a tough tournament and a good test for us. Over the next two weeks the guys need to work on how they control their opponents; they need to work on not reaching back and they need more constant pressure controlling their opponents forward."

The wrestlers will hit the mats at the Madras tournament on Saturday, January 2.