Central Oregonian
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Buckner wins 103-pound championship at Reser’s
Wilson takes second, team 10th at Reser’s Tournament of Champions
McKennan Buckner works to pin his opponent in a match earlier this year. Buckner won the 103-pound championship at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions over the weekend, helping the Cowboys to a 10th place finish.
McKennan Buckner came away from the Reser’s Tournament of Champions with the 103-pound individual championship to lead the Cowboys to a 10th-place finish in the prestigious wrestling tournament.
“We did some great things,” said head coach Jake Huffman. “To take only nine guys and place 10th in the toughest tournament in the state — I was happy with the way we wrestled.”
Buckner defeated Ryan Haney of Redmond, 2-1, in the championship to raise his season record to 9-0.
Trevor Wilson was the only other Cowboy to place in the tournament, finishing second in the 145-pound bracket.
Wilson lost by technical fall to Seth Thomas of Roseburg in the championship match.
Of the nine wrestlers Crook County took to the varsity tournament, only one failed to win a match and, according to Huffman ,six had a chance to place in the tournament.
Trevor Ough (160), Rhett Smith (189), and Alex Pierce (Hwt) all finished the tournament with 2-2 records, while Cody Roan (215) finished with a 2-3
Trevor Wilson gets a take down earlier this year. Wilson finished second at 145-pounds in the Reser’s Tournament of Champions on Saturday.
Jake Ziegler (152) and Bryson Martin (171) both finished the tournament with 1-2 records.
Two Cowboys also did well in the JV tournament, with Erik Martin (103) going 4-2, good enough for fourth place, while Mason Harris (171) finished with a 3-2 record, and fifth place.
Roseburg, a 6A powerhouse easily won the tournament outdistancing 5A Hermiston 223.5 to 176.5.
Newberg finished third with 162.5 points, while West Salem was fourth (142), and North Medford finished fifth (112.5).
Rounding out the top 10were Sweet Home (109), Sprague (99), Redmond (92), McNary (89), and Crook County (79).
“We were the second 5A school behind only Hermiston,” Huffman said. “We finished ahead of Hillsboro, Thurston, and Eagle Point, who are all ranked ahead of us. We have known all year that we have a better tournament team than we have a dual meet team and we proved it today.”
The Cowboys are scheduled to host Redmond in a non-conference dual meet on Thursday, beginning at 7 p.m., then host both Hermiston and Pendleton on Saturday with wrestling action beginning at 1 p.m.
“We have a team with great character,” Huffman said. “We just need to continue to get healthier. I think our best wrestling is still ahead of us. We are looking forward to our dual with Redmond and then seeing what we can do against Hermiston and Pendleton on Saturday.”
Huffman added that he expects to get Andy Katzenberger (119) and Jared George (125) back in time for this week’s action.
“We could have really used them this week,” he said. “I think both of them could have done good things and we are looking forward to getting them both back this week.”
