Wrestlers compete at Bend Invitational

The Outlaws wrestlers competed at the Bend Invitational on Saturday, January 9. Bend High took top honors with a first-place finish (315.5 points), Mt. View was runner-up (240 points), and Summit took third with 178 points.

Sisters finished eighth.

The 10-team tournament proved to be tough for the Outlaws, as many of the wrestlers had a weight issue after the holidays, and had to wrestle up a weight class.

"The tournament had 16-man brackets this weekend, which gave the opportunity for teams to put more than one wrestler in a weight class," said Coach John Downs. "We had two wrestlers place in the 145-pound weight class."

Senior Clayton Darst was Sisters' outstanding wrestler for the day, and took home a silver medal in his second-place finish. Clayton was seeded second in the 170-pound weight class, and proved he deserved that seed.

Darst pinned his way to the championship finals match. Clayton pinned Tristan Watson from Heritage High in 2:58, and went on to pin Luke Schulz from Mt. View in 1:22. In the championship finals, Darst faced the tough No. 1-seeded Jacob Dupuis from Bend, who's current season record is 22-3.

"Clayton stepped out onto the mat just like he always does - with no emotion," said Downs. "He wasn't intimidated by Dupuis. He wrestled his toughest match, and Dupuis didn't expect to have to work as hard as he had to to beat Darst. I was very proud of Darst, and I know he would love to have a re-match with Dupuis."

Zach Reid (senior) wrestled up from 132 pounds to 138 pounds, and earned a third-place finish and a bronze medal.

Reid pinned Travis Martin from Mt. View in 5:51 in his first match of the tournament, and then faced Chance Beutler from Bend, the eventual tournament champion. Reid wrestled tough and was determined to not get pinned by Beutler. The match went three rounds and Beutler won by a tech-fall.

Reid went into the consolation third-and-fourth place match, where he matched up against Chaunze Lancaster from Mt. View. This match also went all three rounds, and Zach prevailed 8-7.

"Zach showed lots of heart by not getting pinned by Beutler, who's a larger and very tough opponent," said Downs. "His final match was one of the battles you love to see your wrestler win. He deserved his medal this weekend."

Sophomore Jake Stevens earned a fourth-place finish in the 145-pound weight class.

Stevens' first match was a big motivator for him, as he got his quickest pin ever. Jake pinned Isaac Van Tassel from Burns in 20 seconds. Jake went on and pinned Holden Kingery from Mt. View in 5:34. Jake then matched up against Sage Farnworth from Bend, who went on to take first place.

"Jake didn't last long in his match against Farnworth, but I think the loss made him realize as a sophomore what caliber of a wrestler he needs to become," said Downs.

In the third-fourth place match, Stevens went up against Cyrus Tadijki from Bend. The match was a barn-burner and points went back and forth the entire time, until Tadijki was finally able to reverse Jake and eventually earn three more near-fall points. Tadijki came out on top with a final score of 11-6.

"I was very impressed with Jake today," said Downs. "He had four matches today, and they were all great ones."

Freshman Parker Ford (106 pounds) and senior Dyut Fetrow (145 pounds) both were sixth-place finishers.

Ford lasted almost all three rounds in his first match against Noah Rossi from Bend High, but lost in the final seconds in the third round by a pin. In the consolation, Parker earned himself a spot in the fifth-sixth place final against Matthew Morales from Siuslaw. Ford wrestled tough, but was pinned by Morales in 2:46.

Fetrow rounded out the Outlaws' top finishers in the tournament.

Dyut beat Lane Johnson from Ridgeview handily with a pin the second round in his first match of the tourney. From there, Fetrow had to wrestle Evan Gunderson from Burns, who went on to earn a second-place finish. Gunderson wasn't able to pin Fetrow, but won with a tech-fall 17-0.

"This was a tough loss for Dyut, but he used this frustration to battle through the consolation rounds," said Downs.

In his next match, Fetrow pinned Hayden Love from Summit in 50 seconds. Dyut knew he had to win his next match against Leslie Combs from Mt. View in order to earn a spot in the fifth-and-sixth place match. Dyut showed how bad he wanted the win, and pinned Combs in 1:24. In the fifth-and-sixth place final, Fetrow faced Holden Kingery from Mt. View, and lost 15-6 in a tough-fought match.

"This was a tough meet for the Outlaws because many of them had to wrestle up," said Downs. "But each wrestler definitely wrestled harder this weekend because of the weight differences, and I was proud of all of them."

The Outlaws were to wrestler at Sutherlin on Tuesday, January 13.