Central Oregonian

Cowboys blast Storm

Crook County wrestlers celebrate senior night with 72-3 victory over Summit

LON AUSTIN/CENTRAL OREGONIAN

Dean Smith works to pin Summit’s Noah Younger. Smith is one of three seniors who were recognized prior to the start of Crook County’s match with Summit. All three seniors earned falls on the night as the Cowboys won 72-3.

Lon Austin

January 31, 2013

The Crook County Cowboys remain undefeated in dual meets this year after a 72-3 blasting of the Summit Storm Monday night.

Coming off of a big second-place finish at the prestigious Reser Tournament of Champions, nobody would have blamed the Crook County High School wrestling team if they looked tired.

However, wrestling before the home crowd on senior night, the Cowboys looked anything but fatigued.

“I want to talk about our seniors,” head coach Jake Huffman said following the match. “I was happy to see all of them get wins. We are really going to miss those kids. They are a big part of who we are today and the success we are having now — they hold a whole lot of responsibility for that.”

All three Cowboy seniors won by fall as Crook County took 12 of 13 contested matches.

Sophomore Michael Seyl started things off for the Cowboys with a pin 1:02 into the first round of his 138-pound match against Summit’s Jacob Eckstein.

Fellow sophomore Ryder Shinkle earned a 9-0 decision over Jacob Thompson at 145 pounds to push the Crook County lead to 9-0.

Then, the Cowboy seniors went to work. First, Dawson Barber pinned Jorge Garcia 1:16 into their 152-pound match. Dean Smith followed up with a pin 1:50 into his 160-pound match with Noah Younger.

With the Cowboys leading 21-0, the Storm earned their lone win of the night, a 4-1 decision by senior Joaquin Reyes over Crook County sophomore Clark Woodward. Woodward was one of several Crook County wrestlers who competed at weights above their normal weight class.

“We have confidence that all of our kids can compete,” Huffman said. “Like Woodward. We moved him to 170, knowing that he can compete there and he did. He gave that kid all he wanted and took him down to the wire.”

Huffman added that Reyes hasn’t lost a match yet this year.

Aaron Swindle put the Cowboys back on track with a first round fall over Max Burbridge at 182 pounds. Gunner Crawford, the Cowboys’ final senior, followed up with a fall 14 seconds into the second round of his 195-pound match with Austin Arthur.

Trevor Rasmussen (220), Jason Williams (285), Trey Shores (106), and Brent Bannon (113) all followed up with first-round pins, running the Cowboy lead to 57-3.

The Storm forfeited the 120-pound match, pushing the Cowboy lead to 63-3. Then Johnny Avina, who like Woodward, was wrestling above his weight class, earned a tough 4-0 decision over Patrick Leiphart at 126 pounds.

“We knew that he could compete,” Huffman said. “With a dual meet right after a big tournament, we had no time to get down to weight so we just kind of put together a lineup.”

Hayden Bates finished things off for the Cowboys with a second-round pin of Gabe Thompson at 132 pounds.

Despite the lopsided victory, Huffman had nothing but praise for the Summit team.

“They have a couple really good individuals,” he said. “They have three returning state qualifiers and a freshman that is very good at 145, so they are a team that has a very good chance of having two or three state placers.”

The Cowboys wrestled at Redmond on Thursday in their final match prior to the regional tournament, which will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15-16, in La Grande.