Wrestlers take four to Madras tourney

The Outlaws wrestling squad has been plagued with injuries and was only able to take four matmen to the Madras Invitational on Saturday, January 28. Five teams, including Sisters, Burns, La Pine, Madras and Gladstone, were in attendance.

Josh O'Brien (138 pounds) started out the tourney against Garret Blackburn, of Burns. O'Brien recorded a tech fall in round three with a score of 18-3. Josh dominated the entire match and had Blackburn on his back in all three rounds, but the match was stopped due to the 15-point spread before Josh could get the pin.

In his second match of the tournament, O'Brien pinned Tyler Giles, of Gladstone, with a three-quarter nelson in round one. O'Brien then faced the No. 1 seed, Seth Nunamacker of Burns, in the championship match.

It was a back-and-forth match that went the full three rounds. O'Brien got pinned in round three with just one second remaining on the clock and had to settle for a second-place finish.

Coach Gene O'Brien said, "Seth constantly rode Josh, and he couldn't pull a move out. A couple of times he almost had him on his back, but he just couldn't finish the move. Josh has issues with opponents who gut-wrench and just hang on and that's something we'll need to work on."

Ryan Long (152 pounds) had a bye in the first round and then faced the No. 1 seed, Jaden Simpson of Burns. Long lost by a 17-7 decision in round three.

"Ryan actually had Simpson pinned in round two, but the referee didn't see the pin and so it went to round three," said O'Brien. "It really was a very good match."

Long pinned Brandon Foster, of Burns, with a head and arm in round one in his final match of the day for a third-place finish.

"Ryan wrestled really well against the champion (Seth Nunamacker), but he took the loss hard," said O'Brien. "But, he came back and totally dominated to get the pin at the end of round one against Foster."

Grant Chisholm (106 pounds) was hurt in his first match against Ian Oppenlander of Madras. Chisholm was doing well and was down by only three points in round two. Oppenlander was able to get the pin, and in the process Chisholm hurt his shoulder and was unable to continue.

Two days earlier, the Outlaws traveled to La Pine for a dual meet.

O'Brien and Long were the only two wrestlers to win their matches. O'Brien pinned senior Cody Oatman in round one, and Long went all three rounds with Levi Penter and won in an 8-4 decision.

The Outlaws will head to regionals on Friday and Saturday, February 17 and 18, at Crook County High School.