Central Oregonian

CCHS blasts Culver

Cowboys earn 68-6 win over Culver despite juggling starting lineup

Lon Austin

January 14, 2013

Crook County’s wrestling dominance continues.

Despite wrestling without four of their starters, the Cowboys were in control the entire match, as they whipped the Culver Bulldogs 68-6 Thursday night in Culver to take the annual Cowdog Classic.

“We knew that we could count on our other guys,” Crook County head coach Jake Huffman said. “And those guys that we had to count on stepped up and wrestled well. That’s what makes our team strong is that we have kids that are not the number one guy that we know we can count on.”

Culver wrestling coach J.D. Alley agreed.

“The Cowboys are pretty damn tough,” he said following the match. “They are missing a little bit out of their lineup, but you couldn’t hardly tell. They did a lot of right things.”

Led by pins from Trey Shores (106), and Johnny Avina (113), the Cowboys jumped out to an early 12-0 lead. When Cole Dunn earned a forfeit at 120-pounds, the Cowboys were up 18-0.

Then came the match of the evening. Crook County’s Grayson Munn stunned the crowd with a 7-2 victory over Jared Kasch, a three-time defending class 2A state champion. The win gave the Cowboys a 21-0 lead and virtually guaranteed the win.

“He’s just a kid who’s got a lot of confidence right now,” Huffman said of Munn. “He knows that he’s done the right things on and off the mat to put himself in position to win. He trusts in his conditioning. He trusts in his coaches, and he trusts in the fact that he’s been going hard. He thinks it’s his turn and he’s cashing in.”

Culver finally got in the win column when Bolt Anglen was able to come back from a 2-1 deficit to Crook County’s Cole Ovens and earn a third round fall in their 132-pound match. The win gave the Bulldogs hope, but that was quickly dashed as the Crook County’s Brad Howard earned a 9-4 decision over Tanner Davis at 138 pounds.

From there, it was all Crook County. Rider Shinkle earned a 12-0 major decision over Levi Vincent at 145 pounds. Then Dawson Barber pinned Kyle Belanger with five seconds remaining in the first round of their 152-pound match. When Clark Woodward (160) and Dean Smith (170) each earned second round falls the Cowboys had an overwhelming 54-6 lead.

Dean Blasius earned a forfeit at 182 pounds to extend the lead to 52-6. Gunner Crawford continued the Cowboys rout with a 16-2 major decision over Mitch Adams at 195 pounds.

“I just want to say that tonight was a good success,”?Crawford said. “We all came out and worked hard. Thanks to everyone that came out and watched us tonight. Keep coming out and watching us throughout the season and I’m sure that you will see a big improvement from all of us.”

Gunnar Robirts (220) and Jason Williams (285) closed out the night with pins for the Cowboys.

Although Culver is the six-time defending Class 2A state champions and traditionally have one of the strongest teams in the state, they were clearly overmatched against the Cowboys.

“I’m a little embarrassed that we couldn’t give Jake a better match tonight,” Alley said. “We are going to have to or he’s going to be looking for somebody else to wrestle. I think we had a few guys shaking in their boots today to tell you the truth, but you know we’ll go back and talk about the fact that we’re still breathing, and kicking, and nobody died and we will work on that.”

Still, despite the huge margin of victory, Huffman had nothing but praise for the Culver wrestling squad.

“They are a good team,” he said. “I think one of the biggest reasons why Culver is always going to be one of the top 2A teams in the state is because they are not afraid to go up against a team like Crook County who is from a bigger school and a competitive program. Culver is not afraid to fight us and that’s why they are always going to be good.”

Crook County has a busy week ahead. They host Crater and Ontario on Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m., then travel to Redmond on Friday and Saturday for the Oregon Wrestling Classic. The two-day event, which will be held at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds begins at 10 a.m. each day.

Cowdog Classic

Crook County 68, Culver 6

at Culver

106 — Shores, CC, pins Krueger, C, :31. 113 — Avina, CC, pins Honeywell, C, 2:09. 120 — Dunn, CC, wins by forfeit. 126 — Munn, CC, def. Kasch, C, 7-2. 132 — Anglen, C, pins Ovens, CC, 5:16. 138 — Howard, CC, def. Davis, C, 9-4. 145 —?Shinkle, CC, def. Vincent, C, 12-0. 152 — Barber, CC, pins Belanger, C, 1:53. 160 — Woodward, CC, pins Rufener, C, 3:56. 170 — Smith, CC, pins Gutierrez, C, 3:32. 182 — Blasius, CC, wins by forfeit. 195 — Crawford, CC, def. Adams, 16-2. 220 — Robirts, CC, pins Henson, C, 2:11. 285 — Williams, CC, pins Gregory, C, 1:15.