Wrestlers host first-ever Sisters Invitational

The Outlaws hosted their first tournament ever on Tuesday, January 22. Prior to the tourney, they celebrated senior Dalton Ford and his four years as a varsity wrestler.

In the first dual face off of the night, Sisters had some exceptional matches, but lost to The Dalles River Hawks in a final score of 42-29. Four wrestlers who had strong performances.

Freshman Wyatt Maffey (132 pounds) technical-faulted his opponent 20-3 at the 4:40 mark in the match. Coach John Downs said that Wyatt continues to surprise the coaches with his amazing wins, and Downs is excited to watch Wyatt continue to grow and succeed as the season progresses.

Junior Anthony Randolph (145 pounds) pinned his opponent in 1:54 in the first round, and Dalton Ford pinned his opponent in just 29 seconds in the first round. Damien King (285 pounds) also got a win via a pin in 1:32. King continues to dominate, despite the fact he gives up 30 to 40 pounds to his opponents.

In the second dual, Madras defeated The Dalles 36-33.

Sisters went up against the Madras White Buffaloes in the final dual of the tourney, and earned a 33-30 win.

King started off the dual with a stellar match in the 285-pound weight class.

"Damien's opponent was tired from his previous match against The Dalles," said Downs. "When the whistle blew he continued to step back, and in wrestling, if you step back too many times you can get called for stalling and your opponent earns a point. I encouraged Damien to step into his opponent or step to the left or right."

At the close of the first round, the score was 0-0, and both wrestlers had been warned for stalling. In the second round, King earned a point from his opponent who was called for stalling. In the third round, Damien's opponent was able to get an escape and scored a point, evening the score 1-1. The wrestlers were on their feet, and both aggressively stepped forward, hoping the other would get called for stalling.

Downs described the end of the match.

"With 30 seconds left, Damien's opponent tried for a shot, but Damien had a beautiful sprawl and spun around behind and earned a two-point take-down, and took the lead 4-1. Damien continued to break his opponent to the mat for the last 20 seconds and won the match."

Ford and Randolph both had another outstanding performance with pins over their opponents. Ethan Martin (195 pounds) won by a fall in 1:27.

Due to low numbers on both squads, both teams received points due to forfeits, and in the end, the Outlaws came out on top and posted the win.

"This was a very exciting dual for our six wrestlers," said Downs.

"We knew it was going to be difficult to get a win with six wrestlers in a dual that has 14 matches.

Every tournament we attend I tell the guys to do their best and not worry about the team score and eventually the wins will come.

This advice finally paid off! I was very excited and surprised at how well my wrestlers did.

It was an amazing feat for only six wrestlers and it was the most exciting dual for the Outlaws this season.

The team truly needed this win! It was a huge morale booster for this small team as they head into the final weeks of the season.

I was very proud that every one of my wrestlers earned a win from either a win or a forfeit."

In the past, the Outlaws have only been able to host single dual matches, but fund-raising paid off and Sisters was able to purchase an additional mat, which allowed them the opportunity to host an additional team and hold the Sisters Invitational.

"We've never been able to have any type of tournament in the past," said Downs. "We hope that the success from this tournament will grow and we will have more teams attend in future years. My goal is to someday have a large eight-way dual tournament at the high school."