Picking them up, putting them down
Seniors propel Mac wrestling to dominant victory over Saxons
They stood with parents, guardians and family friends, holding bouquets, lining up across the length of The Furnace’s basketball court.
After the celebration, the lights were dimmed and the McMinnville wrestling team got down to business.
Mac seniors went 8-0 against opponents from Class 6A Special District 5 foe South Salem, part of a 58-8 dual-meet victory for the Grizzlies over the Saxons Thursday night.
“In terms of senior night, it couldn’t have gone any better,” McMinnville coach Sean Keinonen said.
Four Grizzlies earned pins on the night, against a single South Salem pin, and the Saxons forfeited three weight classes. Three McMinnville wrestlers won by fall in the first round: senior Manny Humlie (138 pounds, 1 minute, 39 seconds), junior Bobby Crowston (145 pounds, 18 seconds) and senior Alex Kiess (160 pounds, 33 seconds).
Two more of the Grizzlies’ seniors, 220-pounder Talon Mishler and heavyweight Vince Williams, started Mac off in a position of strength. Mishler took down South Salem’s Ruben Rojas early in the second period and scored near-fall points en route to a 4-2 decision. Williams followed with a strong showing against Saxons heavyweight Adrian Zaldana, whom Williams pinned in 3:45. Zaldana, furious after the loss, threw his headgear to the ground and exited The Furnace in a huff; the official docked South Salem a point for misconduct, giving the Grizzlies a rare 9-minus-1 lead in the match.
Saxons 113-pounder Tanner Stones took an early lead over McMinnville’s Aspen Nelson in the next contested match, flipping Nelson onto his back but failing to score near-fall points. Nelson reversed Stones in the second period to take a brief lead; in the third period, he took Stones down with 30 seconds remaining and rode out the rest of the match on top in a 7-6 victory.
“It seems like every match I’ve had in district (meets) has been pretty good,” said Nelson, a two-time state qualifier. “I felt like he thought he could shoot on me. I just wasn’t ready for it.”
South Salem 120-pounder Jackson Baker pinned Michael Pickell of the Grizzlies in 4:36 to put the Saxons back into the realm of positive integers. Steven Weant added to McMinnville’s senior maelstrom, taking a 14-8 decision over Augustine Valenciano of the Saxons in the 126-pound weight class.
One more senior, Dalton Donaldson, shook off the injuries that have plagued him for much of the season in a strong 152-pound match. Donaldson avoided a pin at the three-minute mark against South Salem’s Justin Surritt and took Surritt down with 1:10 remaining to seal a 20-6 major decision.
“Dalton’s real tough on top,” Keinonen said. “Those leg-riders are tough to deal with when they get going.”
Josh Blanchard capped Mac’s senior night with a 9-4 decision over South’s Vincent Villareal in the 170-pound match, and Grizzlies sophomore Brian Barnes came on to finish the night at 195 pounds. Barnes, however, struggled to gain traction against Saxons 195-pounder Edwardo Montez. Montez escaped from the bottom and scored a third-period takedown on Barnes, the 2014 Class 6A third-place state finisher at 195 pounds, for a victory by 3-0 decision.
“I thought the whole match kind of went as expected, other than 195 (pounds),” Keinonen said. “I don’t expect Brian to lose. I’m confident he’ll figure it out.”
McMinnville travels to North Salem High School on Thursday to face SD5 opponents North Salem and McKay in a pair of duals. Matches are slated to begin at 5 p.m.
McMinnville wrestling at Geister Invitational
CLACKAMAS – The McMinnville wrestling team finished second to David Douglas at the Bill Geister Invitational, held Friday and Saturday at Clackamas High School.
The Scots scored 266 points to the Grizzlies’ 223 points. Century (179.5 points), Sunset (158.5 points) and Glencoe (153.5 points) rounded out the tournament’s top five.
Senior 160-pounder Alex Kiess and sophomore 195-pounder Brian Barnes won championships in their respective weight classes for McMinnville. Kiess went 5-0 and defeated Sunset’s Matthew Vanbrant in a 6-5 decision in the 160-pound final; Barnes went 4-0, taking down Century’s Andrew Horton in a 5-1 decision.
Mac junior Bobby Crowston made it to the 145-pound final before losing to Sunset’s Spencer Stokes in a 7-2 decision. Senior Dalton Donaldson won by fall, decision and technical fall to get to the 152-pound final before falling to David Douglas’ Tristan Molinari in a 16-2 major decision.
The 138-pound third-place match was a contest between two Grizzlies – or would have been, had freshman Michael Abeyta not forfeited the match for medical reasons to senior Manny Humlie.
McMinnville added a pair of third-place finishes at the lower weights with 106-pounder Alvaro Flores (6-1) and 113-pounder Aspen Nelson (5-1). Josh Blanchard went 5-2 in the 170-pound bracket, finishing in fourth place.
Also competing for the Grizzlies were J.R. Pickell (120 pounds), Chance Atkinson (126 pounds), Steven Weant (126 pounds), Bailey Young (132 pounds), Mike Freeman (170 pounds), Talon Mishler (220 pounds), Jake Potter (220 pounds) and Vince Williams (285 pounds).
