Central Oregonian

Cowboys rule Adrian Irwin Tournament

Sixteen Cowboys place in 20-team tournament, including six individual champions

LON AUSTIN/CENTRAL OREGONIAN

Colbran Meeker works to turn his opponent to his back during the semifinal round of the Adrian Irwin Tournament. Meeker won the match and went on to win the 138-pound weight class at the tournament.

Lon Austin

December 17, 2012

The Crook County Cowboys absolutely ruled the Adrian Irwin Memorial Wrestling Tournament.

The Cowboys had 16 placers including six individual champions at the tournament, which was held Friday and Saturday at Ridgeview High School in Redmond.

In most tournaments, six champions would be the big story. However, in this case, the Cowboys dominated all phases of the tournament, winning by more than 100 points.

“I thought we wrestled pretty well,” said Crook County head coach Jake Huffman. “We had some really tough competition in the semifinals and I thought that we finished better than we did last week at the Coast Classic.”

Crook County racked up 426 points during the two-day event. Redmond was a distant second with 306 points, while Cascade, the defending Class 4A state champion, was third with 245 points.

Rounding out the top 10 were Mountain View (207), Cleveland (191.5), Pendleton (158), Nyssa (141), South Albany (111), Clackamas (110), and Burns (110).

Cowboys Brent Bannon (106), Trayton Libolt (113), Hayden Bates (132), Colbran Meeker (138), Dean Smith (170), and Gunner Crawford (195) all won individual championships at the tournament.

Other Cowboys to place in the tournament were Trey Shores (2nd 106 pounds), Dawson Barber (2nd 152), Johnny Avina (3rd 113), Gunnar Robirts (3rd 195), Jason Williams (3rd 285), Dylan Blasius (4th 182), Trevor Rasmussen (4th 285), Michael Seyl (5th 145), Alex Urrea (5th 160), and Aaron Swindle (6th 182).

Crook County took control of the tournament on the first day, running out to a 65-point lead after the quarterfinal round. The Cowboys placed 13 wrestlers into the semifinals, and still had 26 wrestlers alive after the third round of consolation matches.

The Cowboys continued their strong performance on day-two, placing eight wrestlers into the championship round.

Last week at the Coast Classic, where Crook County finished a strong second, the Cowboys also placed a large number of wrestlers into the semifinals. However, several of the wrestlers failed to place after losing in the semifinals and then again in their next consolation match.

Huffman was pleased that the same thing didn’t happen this week as several Cowboys battled back through the consolation rounds to place in the tournament

“We did some things technically better,” he said. “There are still things we need to work on, but we had kids bounce back better from losses — that’s for sure.”

Huffman added that although he was pleased with the team’s overall performance, there are still things that they can improve.

“It’s a process,” he said. “No one is going to remember this tournament at the end of the year. We need to continue to work hard, compete, and get better so that we are at our best in February.”

Crook County should be even stronger in the future. Grayson Munn, who placed fourth at the Coast Classic, did not wrestle at the Adrian Irwin Tournament, but is expected to be back this week. In addition, Ryder Shinkle, who went to state last year, but has not wrestled so far this year, has been cleared to wrestle beginning Monday.

The Cowboys will host their first home match of the year on Thursday when they take on the Summit Storm in an Intermountain Hybrid League dual. Then, the team will travel to Lebanon Friday for the two-day Weisbrodt Invitational.

Wrestling

Friday and Saturday, Dec. 14-15

Adrian Irwin Memorial Tournament at Ridgeview

Team Scores — Crook County 426, Redmond 306, Cascade 245, Mountain View 207, Cleveland 191.5, Pendleton 158, Nyssa 141, South Albany 111, Clackamas 110, Burns 110, Gresham 108, Bend 104, Madras 78, Crane 64, La Pine 59.5, Summit 53, Ridgeview 49.5, The Dalles Wahtonka 42, Gilchrist 16, North Eugene 9.

Top-six placers

106 — 1. Brent Bannon, CC; 2. Trey Shores, CC; 3. Halen Jolley, MV; 4. Zach Howe, MV; 5. Thorin Wilson, LP; 6. Tristan Holcom, Pend.

113 — 1. Trayton Libolt, CC; 2. J.T. Ayers, MV; 3. Johnny Avina, CC; 4. Logan Humphrey, Cascade; 5. Bryce Vincent, Mad; 6. Lah Htoo, Clev.

120 — 1. Colton Skeen, Pend; 2. Joe Lwin, Clev; 3. Austin Rystedt, Red; 4. Jared Riesterer, Cascade; 5. Chris Morgan, SA; 6. Andy Lamborn, Crane.

126 — 1. Julio Mendez, Nyssa; 2. Omar Delacarda, Nyssa; 3. Brandon Short, Red; 4. Kasey Buschlien, Bend; 5. Pat Anderson, Gresh; 6. Jared Dupont, Mad.

132 — 1. Hayden Bates, CC; 2. Travis Bledsoe, Cascade; 3. Ty George, Red; 4. Kaleb Winebarger, MV; 5. Lee Chung, Gresham; 6. Anthony Oliver, MV.

138 — 1. Colbran Meeker, CC; 2. Miguel Vasquez, Mad; 3. Adrian Lyons-Lopez, SA; 4. Kyler Ayers, MV; 5. Tracy Pitcher, MV; 6. Riley Beggs, Cascade.

145 — Dylan Holcomb, Pend; 2. Chance Lindquist, Red; 3. Marcus Andrews, Cascade; 4. Dalin Widmer, Nyssa; 5. Michael Seyl, CC; 6. Alex Marsh, Clev.

152 — 1. Spencer Crawford, Cascade; 2. Dawson Barber, CC; 3. Justin Vinton, Bend; 4. Tyler Garrison, Clev; 5. Tyler Jordan, Gresh; 6. Austin Stephens, SA.

160 — 1. Sarek Shields, Red; 2. Beau Blackburn, Burns; 3. Seth Nonnemacher, Burns; 4. Yandnel Ayala, Clev; 5. Alex Urrea, CC; 6. Colton Kohlmeyer, Cascade.

170 — 1. Dean Smith, CC; 2. Matson Gaheley, Burns; 3. Tanner Barichio, Red; 4. Daniel Sanchez, Nyssa; 5. Kyle Hammond, Clev.

182 — 1. Tyler Howe, Cascade; 2. Keegan Hammond, Clev. 3. Tyler Godfrey, Clack; 4. Dylan Blasius, CC; 5. Andrew Bright, MV; 6. Aaron Swindle, CC.

195 — 1. Gunner Crawford, CC; 2. Kyle Aneregg, Clack; 3. Gunnar Robirts, CC; 4. Colton Howard, Red; 5. Zach Andrus, Red; 6. Sailor Becker, Clev.

220 — 1. Cody Crawford, Cascade; 2. Sebestian Sanchez, Nyssa; 3. Casey Gates, Red; 4. Trevor Roberts, MV; 5. Jack Ezell, Pend; 6. Jevon Painter, Gilchrist.

285 — 1. Summer Saulsbury, Red; 2. P.J. Schubert, Pend; 3. Jason Williams, CC; 4. Trevor Rasmussen, CC; 5. Michael Casey, Crane.