PENDLETON — It was a packed house at Warberg Court on Wednesday night as No. 2 La Grande paid a visit to No. 3 Pendleton in a must-see wrestling match.
The Tigers won every match from 120 pounds to 144 to escape with a 36-34 win and hand the Bucks their first dual loss of the season.
“It was an awesome environment,” Pendleton coach Trevor Hancock said. “We could not have asked for a better environment. Both crowds showed up well. Even in the last match, when La Grande was up eight, they were still in it. These are the matches you want to be in. It was super fun for the kids.”
La Grande coach Klel Carson agreed.
“Ultimately, it was great for wrestling,” Carson said. “It was a huge crowd, and the crowd was into it. We moved some kids around in the lineup to give us a chance at success. The kids fought hard for each other.”
The match began at 175 with an intense matchup. Pendleton’s Vance Nelson, who was second at state last year, pinned Noah Collins, who was third at state last year.
“Collins got the first takedown and Vance got an escape,” Hancock said. “We chose down to start the second and got an escape, then Vance took him down and pinned him.”
Aidan Perkins followed at 190 with a pin of Preston Taylor to improve to 16-2.
The Tigers’ Dex Dunlap broke the Bucks’ mojo with a pin of Ryder Phillips at 215, and Darryn Richardson won the battle of the big men, pinning Kaleb Lillie at 285.
“Kaleb took him down and Darryn got an escape to make it 3-1,” Carson said. “They tied up and Darryn threw him to his back. That was a turning point for the match, I thought.”
Pendleton got back on track at 106 as Wesley Browning earned a 15-9 decision over Kamden Svedin, and Hank Roy gave the Bucks a 20-12 lead with a 17-0 technical fall over Jerrick Leonard.
Kallen Blakely started a run of five consecutive wins for La Grande, posting a 9-3 decision over Aiden Cox at 120.
Deegan Nelson followed with an 8-0 major decision over Jefferson Steele at 126, and Braden Anderson pinned Cameryn Norris at 132.
La Grande’s Colton Livingston, who won the Mountain View Invitational last week, improved to 13-1 with a 15-0 technical fall over Vance Phillips at 138. Brennan Pinther finished LaGrande’s run of five consecutive victories with a pin of Colston Zimmerman at 144.
“La Grande is tough in that stretch,” Hancock said. “The big theme of the night was that we battled. Even the matches we lost, the kids battled.”
Trailing 36-20, Pendleton snapped the Tigers’ string of wins as Cole Roy registered a 20-5 technical fall over Jonathan Gisi at 150.
Jack DeGrofft followed with an 80-6 decision over Bryler Anderson at 157, and Kainen Zimmerman finished off the match with a pin of Riley Krantz at 165, but the Bucks still came up two points short.
“Kainen’s match was back and forth before he put him on his back and pinned him,” Hancock said. “Having a match like this before the (Oregon) Classic was good. We know what areas we need to improve on. There were some great matches tonight.”
The teams could see one another again at the Oregon Classic on Jan. 16-18, in Redmond.
“They are tough,” Carson said of the Bucks. “They did a great job. You want that at the end of the day. You want it to be competitive.”
