Sisters wrestlers hit the mats

Sisters' wrestling squad had four of their 11 wrestlers place at the Bend Invitational, held on January 12. Thirteen teams, including seven 5A schools, were in attendance.

Hunter Rychener (113 pounds) pinned Louden Oleachea of La Pine in just over one minute in the second round for third place.

Dyut Fetrow (120 pounds) had to face five wrestlers en route to his sixth-place finish. Fetrow lost to Trent Pickett from Ridgeview in his final match.

Clayton Darst tied for seventh at 145 pounds and Mitch Gibney placed eighth at 160 pounds.

Redmond took first place with a team total of 395.5 points, followed by Mt. View who tallied 342 points. Stayton placed third (207), Burns fourth (203) and Bend High fifth (165). Sisters recorded 47 points for an 11th-place finish.

"Overall, it was a good tournament for the Outlaws," said Coach John Downs. "These teams were the varsity teams from each school and I felt the young Outlaws' team held their own very well. The competition was tough and the caliber of wrestlers was very high. As long as the team continues to work hard at practice and at tournaments, even these tougher ones, the Outlaws' wrestling team can only continue to improve and succeed in every aspect, especially personal goals that lead to success for the whole team."

Downs added, "Marissa Young (132 pounds) and Dakota Len (120 pounds) both are new to wrestling and haven't had much success on the mat score-wise but I had never seen either one of them fight as hard as they did on Saturday. Their improvement on the mat since the start of the season has improved greatly and I was proud to see them fight every second on the mat."

Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, January 9, the Outlaws participated in the Gilchrist Invitational. Nine teams were in attendance and included Sisters, Gilchrist, Ridgeview JV, Summit JV, La Pine, North Lake, Hosanna, Chiloquin and Bonanza.

The meet did not begin until 3:30 p.m. and Gilchrist did their best to get each wrestler three matches. Team scores were not kept and there was not a bracket system at the meet.

Sisters had all 13 of their wrestlers at the event and three went undefeated. Mitch Gibney (160 pounds) went 3-0 and Hunter Rychener (113 pounds) and Shane Cormalis (160 pounds) each went 2-0.

Clayton Darst (145 pounds) and Dyut Fetrow (120 pounds) were both 2-1 for the evening. Randon Elliott (126 pounds) and Mark Fish (138 pounds) both won one match.

Coach Downs noted that Gibney was the Outlaws' stand-out wrestler.

"Mitch has always been a good wrestler, but tonight he was great!" said Downs. "Instead of just muscling around his opponents with one or two moves, he ran many moves that he hadn't tried before and was very successful. This is only his second year wrestling, as he started as an eighth-grader last year. His confidence in himself is starting to now grow as he improves each week."

The Outlaws travel to La Pine on Wednesday, January 16, for the La Pine Novice Tournament.