Wrestlers open season strong on the mats

The Sisters Outlaws competed well at the Adrian Irwin tournament held at Caldera High School December 1-2.

Scott Henderson advanced to the fifth-place match with wins over Francisco De La Rosa of McLoughlin, Jose Martinez of Mountain View, and Jeremiah Ridenour of Ridgeview, but lost his final match to Felix Ramirez of Caldera by fall (1:31).

After a bye in the first round in the 165-pound division, Jace Owens picked up a win over Ian Colquhoun of Caldera by fall (0:59). He then lost to Julian Lopez by fall (2:46) and then knocked off Colquhoun again in the fourth round (0:53). In his final match Owens dropped a 5-1 decision to Keelan Dennis of Bend High.

Tyson Kemp received a bye in round one in the 150-pound division, but went on to dispatch Jasper Skunkcap of Burns in an 8-5 decision in round two. Kemp then battled Clayton Waldron of Mountain View, who beat Kemp by fall (5:19). In the fourth and final round for Kemp, Skunkcap got revenge with a 16-4 major decision.

First-year senior wrestler Jake Beutler picked up his first varsity win in round two of the 150-pound division by fall over Benjamin Seely of Crook County (0:34).

Carter Van Meter, a State qualifier last year, went 3-2 over the weekend in the 132-pound class, beginning with a bye in round one and a quick fall win over Jack Gaines of Bend High in round two (0:49). Easton Crowley of Mountain View beat Van Meter in round three by technical fall, but he bounced back in round four with another quick pin, this time over Jake Chalet of Henley (0:44). Rowdy Ware of Crook County took Van Meter down in round five by fall (2:47).

After two byes and a disqualification, Lex Jeffrey earned his first varsity win with a fall over Louis Porter of Summit (0:24).

“We got a lot of quality wins from the boys over the weekend and they are all just going to get better,” said second-year coach David Kemp. “We faced a lot of competition from all those big schools.”

Five Outlaw girls competed at the tournament as well, with Brooklynn Cooper leading the way with a third-place finish in the 120- to 129-pound division. After a first-round loss to Ava Eddy of Henley by fall (0:33), Cooper won three in a row. She took down Ava Shaver of Bend High (0:42), Caydence Marshall of Ridgeview (0:50), and finished up with a final win by fall over Arianna Flores (2:48).

Addie Laird picked up fifth place in the 128- to 134-pound class by going 2-2. She lost round one to Amanda Turkington of Ridgeview (3:29) then produced a pin of her own over Ruby Smith of Summit (3:25). Anna McMullin of Bend High pinned Laird in the semi-final round (1:52), but Laird bounced back with a win over Briana Ramirez of La Pine (1:03).

In the 142- to 156-pound class, Kistin Elbek made it to the third-place match with a pair of wins. She won by fall in the quarterfinal over Ily Martin of Bend High in just 19 seconds before Riley Allison of La Pine beat her by fall in the next round (2:58). Elbek took 24 seconds to pin Belicia Teague of Culver in the semifinal to face Shelby Bunting of Culver for third place. Bunting prevailed, but not without a fight at the 5:45 mark with a fall.

Pidge Henderson competed in the 114- to 124-pound weight class where she dropped a pair of matches to Delilah Richards of Bend High (0:43) and to Nova Danzig of Ridgeview (1:51).

Sierra Jaschke went 2-1 among a small field in the 186- to 202-pound division. She won by fall in round one over Emilee Foust of Gilchrist (2:16) then lost to Gracie Baker of Crane (0:40). She finished up with a quick win over Kaylynn Collier of Henley (0:23).

“The girls wrestled very aggressively,” said Kemp. “They pinned opponents using half nelsons, head and arm throws, and, my personal favorite, the arm bar.”

The team will compete in a dual meet on Wednesday at Summit High School, followed by the Culver Invitational December 8-9.