Outlaws wrestle with heart at districts

The Outlaws wrestling squad joined up with La Pine and traveled together to the district tournament held in Ontario, Thursday-Saturday, February 17-19.

Although no Sisters matmen qualified for state, Coach Gene O'Brien told The Nugget that all of his guys wrestled well.

Ryan Long (140 pounds) pinned Joe Swayze from La Pine in round two to earn a sixth-place finish for Sisters.

"Ryan's match was very physical and he wrestled his all-time best," said O'Brien. "He pinned him with a great double-arm combo."

Josh O'Brien (130 pounds) pinned Eli Allen of La Pine in 17 seconds in his first match of the tourney. Josh lost his second match and was eliminated.

Connor Morgan (171 pounds) also had his best wrestling performance of the year. Morgan had a 10-3 lead on Victory Porraz of Mac-Hi but a tiny mistake was costly and resulted in a heartbreaking loss. Connor was pinned with 22 seconds left in the match.

Sterling Ryan (189 pounds) pinned Caleb Bowen from LaGrande in his first match of the tournament.

"Sterling got the pin with a head-and-arm combo," said O'Brien. "Then, he lost to Jose Galen and was out of the tournament."

Grant Chisholm (103 pounds), Ian Patrick (119 pounds), and Hayden Jones (189 pounds) all went two-and-out in the tourney.

"All in all my wrestlers did very well," said O'Brien. "I did feel we had some very bad calls that caused three of my wrestlers not to make it to state. The guys all wrestled with more heart than any other kid there. This is definitely one of the best teams I have ever had the pleasure to coach.

"I also want to thank an anonymous donor for making it possible for us to have rooms in Ontario," added O'Brien. "And, thanks to Les Schwab for helping with our uniforms and to all the support from parents and kids who made this a marker year."