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Friday, May 18, 2012
Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868
Dallas’ Garrett Lawrence, left, lets out a scream of celebration after capturing the 138-pound title at Saturday’s Mid-Willamette District Championships at South Albany.
February 22, 2012
OSAA Class 5A State Wrestling Championships
When: Friday, 8:30 a.m.; Saturday, 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Where: Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Portland.
Admission: Friday, $15 adults and $10 students (good all day); Saturday, $10 adults and $8 students (per session).
Dallas state qualifiers: Matt Hofenbredl, fr., 106 pounds; Tyler Renfro, sr., 113; Cody Renfro, sr., 120; Brady Andersen, jr., 126; Ryan Spencer, soph., 126; Gunner Wyatt, jr., 132; Garrett Lawrence, jr., 138; Wyatt Passantino. jr., 145; Josh Christenson, sr., 152; Scotty Dunagan, soph., 152; Tyler Payne, sr., 160; Andy Burgess, jr., 160; Jack Dunagan, sr., 170; Caleb Naughton, soph., 195; Ben Rebischke, sr., 220; Riley Sipe, soph., 220; Jacob Rorem, jr., 285.
Teams to watch: Dallas enters the tournament ranked No. 1 in the state and is the favorite. But winning a state title won't come easily. Five-time defending state champion Hermiston is a serious contender, and Pendleton, Churchill and Eagle Point all could make a run at the title.
ALBANY -- The list of accomplishments achieved by this year's Dallas High wrestling team is nothing short of impressive.
Among the season highlights:
Placing first at the 32-team Northwest Duals Tournament.
Winning the Class 5A division team championship at the prestigious Oregon Wrestling Classic.
Going 7-0 and staking claim to the Mid-Willamette Conference dual meet title.
You can now add MWC district champions to that growing list.
Dallas, led by individual champions Matt Hofenbredl (106 pounds), Tyler Renfro (113), Garrett Lawrence (138), Josh Christenson (152) and Ben Rebischke (220), rolled to its third consecutive district crown Friday and Saturday at South Albany High School. The Dragons amassed 430« points to easily outdistance themselves from seven league foes. The nearest competitor was West Albany, with 314« points.
Dallas’ Josh Christenson, right, battles with Silverton’s Colby Riesterer in his 152-pound title match Saturday. Christenson won by a 5-1decision.
"It's pretty cool," Christenson said of the Dragons' district three-peat. "We keep setting the bar a little higher each year, and that makes it tough on all the guys, but everyone keeps coming back each year working harder and harder.
"It (the three-peat) is a big milestone for our program, but our main goal is the state tournament and winning a state title."
With the district crown wrapped up, the Dragons quickly turned their attention to what Christenson alluded to: a Class 5A state championship.
"The boys have been on track and focused this year. It's evident," said Dallas coach Tony Olliff, who was named Mid-Willamette Conference Coach of the Year at the district tournament.
Dallas coach Tony Olliff, right, talks to Caleb Naughton during his 195-pound third-place match. The Dragons captured the MWC title with ease.
"When you can convince a team to start looking at the district tournament as a state qualifier and not the coup de grƒce of the season, that's what you want - you want it to be a state qualifier with the goal of getting as many guys to state as possible. Then you've got a team talked into winning a state tournament. That's what we're looking for.
"I'm just so proud of the boys and our coaches and their work ethic. It's all coming to fruition."
Dallas gets its chance to bring home the ultimate prize this weekend during the OSAA State Wrestling Championships at Portland's Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Winning a state title would be icing on the cake for a squad that has had its sights clearly set on a Class 5A championship since the start of the season.
"Our goal all year has been to win state," Christenson said. "Our goal is to beat Hermiston and win a state title."
The Dragons qualified 17 wrestlers for the state tournament during their dominating district performance -- including MWC runners-up Cody Renfro (120), Brady Andersen (126), Wyatt Passantino (145), Tyler Payne (160), Riley Sipe (220) and Jacob Rorem (285) -- and have at least one entrant in each of the 14 weight classes except at 182 pounds. The 17 qualifiers is a tournament high.
The district tournament went pretty much to form for Dallas except for one pleasant surprise: the performance of Lawrence. The junior, seeded No. 5 at 138 pounds, went 4-0 en route to winning a district title, capped by a dramatic 2-1 overtime decision against Clancy Brady of Silverton.
"I came into this tournament and I knew what I wanted. I had a plan and that's all I needed," Lawrence said.
"Winning this is a really big deal to me. I think it's the product of hard work. I felt confident, I felt focused ... it truly feels amazing. I'm not content, though. I want to do well at state and help put up some team points."
Scoring points throughout the lineup will be a key for the Dragons at state, noted Olliff, who mentions Hermiston, Pendleton, Churchill and Eagle Point as other possible title contenders.
"Our superstars need to be superstars," Olliff said. "Everyone we bring, if they score points, and if our superstars are superstars, we can win it."
Dallas wrestlers were confident all weekend long, and that level of confidence is carrying over to the state tournament.
"I really do think we can win it all," Lawrence said. "We have a great chance. We have a lot of guys going and a lot of our guys are ranked and are going to get good seeds. "We've worked really hard and we're going to continue to work hard. It's in the palm of our hands. We just have to take it."
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