Individual wrestlers punch ticket to State tournament

The Outlaws boys wrestling team traveled to Burns for the 3A Special District 4 Championships Saturday, February 10, and three punched their tickets to the OSAA Tournament based on their performances. 

Scott Henderson, Tyson Kemp, and Carter Van Meter will represent the Outlaws at the state tournament, which is set for February 22-24 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. 

Kemp, who entered district with a record of 31-16, earned a bye in the first round, and then took just 51 seconds to dispatch his second round opponent Luke Baker of Nyssa. In the semi-final Kemp found himself in a battle that went all three rounds, but he dominated in points over Jasper Skunkcap of Burns to win 10-1 in a major decision. 

In the first-place match Kemp faced the top seed Cannon Kemper of Burns, who entered the tournament with a 39-8 record. Kemper took the title with a fall over Kemp at the 1:40 mark. 

Scott Henderson made it to the championship round at 190 pounds with a bye in the first round, a pin in just 13 seconds over Landon Szasz of Riverside/Boardman, and a semi-final win over Calvin Longoni of Vale (2:25). 

In the championship match, Tag Deluca of La Pine, with a 21-2 record, took down Henderson by fall at the 1:20 mark. Henderson will take a 22-15 record into the state meet. 

In the always-competitive 126-pound class, Carter Van Meter (38-15) worked his way through the consolation bracket to take third place and earn a spot at state. After a first-round bye, Van Meter beat Mason Savage of Nyssa by fall (1:05), but lost a tough 13-6 decision against Kanoa Machin of La Pine in the semi-final. He bounced back with a win over Marshall Koch in the consolation semi-final to earn a spot in the third-place match, which he won over Axel Paredes of Riverside/Boardman by fall (1:00). 

Jace Owens had a shot at state qualifying by working his way into the third- place match. Owens had a bye, followed by a win over Jaun Rodriguez-Ochoa of Riverside/Boardman (fall 1:09), but lost an epic battle in the semi-final that went 5:12 against Raul Gonzalez of Vale. In the consolation semi-final Owens won a 10-8 decision over Michael Corn of Nyssa, setting up the all or nothing third-place match. However, Wyatt Cox of Vale took just three seconds to end Owens' hopes of competing at state this year. 

Lex Jeffrey also placed fourth, narrowly missing a state berth. After a pair of byes in the 113-pound class, Jeffrey lost to Jose Jimenez of Nyssa (fall 2:00), but notched a win in the consolation semi-final over Miguel Orozco of Riverside/Boardman (fall 0:14). Liam Butler of Nyssa ended Jeffrey's season with a pin in the third-place match (1:13). 

Senior Jake Beutler wrapped up his inaugural year on the team with an overall record of 10-15, going 0-2 in the 144-pound class. He faced defending state champion Devon Kerr of La Pine in his first match where he lost by fall (1:18) but had a closer contest against Caleb Woodruff of Nyssa (fall 2:52). 

Jozua Miller 9-12 had the same result at 285 pounds with losses to Allen Rodriguez of Riverside/Boardman (fall 0:32) and to Noah Fuentes of Nyssa (fall 2:22). 

Nyssa outlasted Burns for the team title with 297 points. Sisters placed seventh among the eight teams with 87 points.

The girls wrestling team will compete in the 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 2 championships. Sisters will compete February 16-17 at Cottage Grove High School. The top five placers at District automatically qualify for the state championships in Portland.