Wrestlers progressing in early season

The Sisters Outlaws wrestling team hosted 13 teams at the annual GFP Tournament, held Saturday, December 17. The tournament marked the third competition of the season under new head coach David Kemp.

The tournament included varsity boys and girls brackets, as well as a full slate of junior varsity matches.

Despite injuries to three key wrestlers, the Outlaws held their own Saturday, according to Kemp.

“We have had a strong start overall to the season, led by our senior captains Ben Cooper and Hayden Kunz,” he said. “Unfortunately Hayden was unable to wrestle this weekend due to injury.”

Sisters had three wrestlers score at the varsity level on Saturday, starting with freshman Tyson Kemp in the 132-pound division. Kemp won his first match by fall (5:56) before losing to eventual champion Landyn Philpott of La Pine. He then lost by major decision to Denny Dean of Caldera (18-4).

The Outlaws picked up the majority of their team points in the 152-pound class, as Ben Cooper made his way to the championship match with falls over Alex Byler of Caldera and Brennon Allen of Crook County before losing by fall (1:52) to Hunter Kemper of Burns in the final,Kemper was the state champion last year.

Scott Henderson picked up four points for the team at 170 by winning his first round match by fall (5:57) over Julian Lopez of Crook County, but was unable to continue due to injury.

Carter Van Meter (126) and Jozua Miller (285) also competed at the varsity level but were shut out of scoring. Van Meter lost by fall to Justin England of Crook County (2:52) and to Jayden Esquiro of Madras (1:14), while Miller wrestled one match, losing by fall to Isaiah Boise of Madras (1:47) in his only match.

In the JV-B Average contests, the Outlaws entered three wrestlers.

Jace Owens took top honors in the JV-B Average 142-148 with wins over Michael Noblitt of Caldera, Dakota Wilson of Gilchrist, James Landles of La Pine, and Maximus Dorning of Ridgeview.

Hunter Bronson wrestled in two matches in the 160-165 class, losing by fall to Garren White of Mountain View and Jose Martinez of Mountain View.

In the 124-129 JV-B class, Brennan Frutos got a lot of action, wrestling all three of the other competitors in the class, which earned him fourth place despite losing by fall in all three matches.

The Outlaws placed eighth among the 14 teams with 30 points. Burns edged La Pine 161-160 for the team trophy.

Results were not readily available from the girls’ competition, but Kemp looks forward to seeing the five girls on the team continue to learn and develop. Sophomore Brooklyn Cooper is leading the way among girls this season, according to Kemp.

“Brooklyn has already had significant improvements in the first few weeks of the season,” he said. “She works hard every day in the practice room and her results are showing”.

As a new coach to the program Kemp said, “I am very excited to be here and to build the program.”

The Outlaws hit the road for their next competition at the Rollin Schimmel Invitational in Pendleton on Wednesday, December 21.