By Annie Fowler | The CUJ
MADRAS — Pendleton crowned six champions, finished second in the team standings, and will send a school record 18 wrestlers to the 4A state championships after a successful outing at the 4A Special District 4 tournament Saturday, Feb. 14, at Madras High School.
“I’m proud of the way the team wrestled this weekend,” Pendleton coach Trevor Hancock said. “We had a lot of kids contribute to our success. We had eight kids in the finals and won six of eight. We placed all but three guys. There were a lot of awesome things that happened today.”
The state championships are Feb. 26-28 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. The top four in each weight class from the district advance to state.
La Grande won the team title with 396 points, with the Bucks breathing down the Tigers’ necks in second with 394.5 points.
Hank Roy opened the parade of champions for the Bucks, winning the 113-pound title. He received a bye to the semifinals, where he pinned Hunter Pierce of Baker in 5:51. In the finals, Roy pinned Emmett Oliver of Madras in 1:59.
Aiden Cox came home with the 120-pound title. He started his tournament with a pin of Javion Pineda of Madras in 4:43, then posted an 11-0 major decision over Samuel Espinoza of Ontario. In the finals, Cox beat La Grande’s Kallen Blakely 5-3.
“I was really proud of Aiden Cox and the way he wrestled this weekend,” Hancock said. “The kid he beat in the finals was a state placer last year.”
Cole Roy joined his brother at the top of the podium to win the 150-pound title. Roy opened action with a 17-2 technical fall over Moses Witkowski of The Dalles, and followed with a 4:49 pin of Braiden Whitebread of Baker. In the semis, Roy pinned Ontario’s Aiden Ward in 2:40, and in the title match, he pinned Earl Oliver of Madras in 2:49.
Kainen Zimmerman won the 165-pound title, starting with a pin of Jesus Chavez of The Dalles in 1:05. In the semis, he won by technical fall (17-2) over Daniel Maldonado of Baker. In the finals, Zimmerman posted a 14-5 major decision over Noah Collins of La Grande.
“Kainen had a tough finals match, that Collins kid is tough,” Hancock said. “He found a way to win in the end. Kainen gave up the first takedown, then turned it up from there.”
At 175, Vance Nelson put in just 1 minute and 19 seconds worth of work to win the title. In the quarterfinals, he pinned Bowen McGuire of Baker in 16 seconds, and in the semis, he pinned Karson Lewis of Ontario in 32 seconds. In the title bout, Nelson pinned Colton Gillespie of Madras in 31 seconds.
Aidan Perkins won the sixth title for the Bucks at 190, pinning all three of his opponents. Perkins opened with a pin of Cristian Paredes of Ontario in 1:32, then pinned Tryg Zemke of Madras in 3:51. In the finals, Perkins pinned La Grande’s Preston Taylor in 2:28.
Hank Roy won the Outstanding Wrestler for the lower weights, while Cole Roy won the honor for the upper weights. The Roy brothers also wrestled brothers from Madras in their championship matches.
Wesley Browning placed second for Pendleton at 106. He lost a 13-5 match to LaGrande’s Darren Gulzow in the finals.
At 138, Vance Phillips placed second. He pinned all three of his opponents to get to the finals, where he was pinned in 1:22 by La Grande’s Colton Livingston.
“Vance had an amazing tournament,” Hancock said. “It’s nice to see him make the district final after going 0-2 last year. It has been fun to watch him develop.” Also placing in the top four and headed to state for the Bucks are Jack DeGrofft (3rd, 157), Ben Dahlen (4th, 106), Jefferson Steele (4th, 120), Wyatt Taylor (4th 132), Colston Zimmerman (4th, 138), Adam Urbina (4th, 157), Tugg McQuinn (4th, 165), Kolt McQuinn (4th, 175), John Diaz (4th, 215) and Kaleb Lillie (4th, 285).
