BAKER/POWDER VALLEY WRESTLING: Five Bulldogs qualify for state tournament

Ian Crawford, Baker City Herald, Ore.
·8 min read

Feb. 20—Five Baker/Powder Valley boys wrestlers have qualified for the state tournament.

Aldo Duran, Cade Lind, Luis Rosales, Graison Stone and Ryan Brown placed in the top four at the district tournament Saturday, Feb. 18 at La Grande.

Baker/Powder Valley placed fifth in the team standings with 145.5 points, one point behind Madras and four points behind Pendleton. Crook County won the team title with 451 points. La Grande was second with 433.5. The state tournament is Feb. 23-25 at Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

Duran, a sophomore wrestling at 120 pounds, and Lind, a senior at 195, both finished second in the district tournament.

Rosales, Stone and Brown all placed fourth.

"I was really nervous before my first two matches but I knew I had to keep my composure in order to wrestle well," said Duran, who placed third at the 2022 state tournament at 113 pounds. "By the time finals rolled around I started to get the nerves back because I knew it was going to be a tough match to begin with, considering I had met him (La Grande's Mason Wolcott) earlier in the season. Even though I ended up coming out with a tough loss my focus is all set on pushing myself at practice to wrestle at the highest performance I can at the state tournament."

Duran thanked Jeris Stephens, Baker's first-year head coach, for "encouraging me to give nothing less than 100 percent, and to my dad for always being at every single tournament and being by my side through my ups and downs."

"I would also like to thank my wrestling partners, Daniel Maldonado for always making practice fun by making me laugh and pushing me at practice, and Nick Blair for always talking to me when I needed someone to talk," Duran said. "Last but not least I would also like to thank the team for always being there for me and making me laugh, I loved making memories with you guys, this is a season I will never forget. I would like to thank Brandon Young and Sean Belding for coaching me throughout the years."

Stephens said he was pleased with the Bulldogs' performance.

"As a first year head coach, these kids came together as a team, and cheering each other on, and rooting for each other, and high fiving each other after the matches," Stephens said. "Just like every other coach we would like to have qualified more, and we definitely had our shots. I really can't be disappointed with how the kids wrestled."

Stephens said seven or eight Bulldogs wrestled in the "blood round," where the winner goes to state and the loser does not.

"A pretty unique thing," he said.

Without that format, Baker would have finished third in the team standings, Stephens said.

Stone qualified for state by beating Crook County's Palmer Smith by 7-6 decision in the fourth-place match.

"He probably wrestled his best of the entire season in that match," Stephens said of Stone.

Stephens said he's excited about the state tournament, which for the first time since 2020 will have all matches at the Memorial Coliseum.

"We're going back to the coliseum for the first time in two years, the atmosphere is definitely unique," he said. "It's going to be fun. It's going to be interesting to see the kids perform, of the kids we're taking two are seniors, Cade Lind and Ryan Brown, they're going out with a bang, doing the best they can with their last season of wrestling."

District wrestling

Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal: lost to Bobby Gulzow, La Grande, by fall (1:50)

Cons. Round 2: bye

Cons. Round 3: won by forfeit over Dawson Tremper, Pendleton.

Cons. Semi: lost to Bragen Anderson, La Grande, by fall (2:44)

5th Place Match: lost to Joey Duncan, Baker/Powder Valley, by technical fall (18-3)

Joey Duncan, 106, 5th, 12.5 team points

Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal: lost to Bragen Anderson, La Grande, by fall (3:56)

Cons. Round 2: def. Jefferson Steele, Pendleton, by fall (37 seconds)

Cons. Round 3: def. Samuel Espinoza, Ontario, by fall (1:17)

Cons. Semi: lost to Wylon Gray, Crook County, by fall (3:51)

5th Place Match: def Ian Sandberg, Baker/Powder Valley, by technical fall (18-3)

4th Place Match: lost to Bragen Anderson, La Grande, by no contest

Luis Rosales, 113, 4th, 14 team points

Champ. Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal : def. Kole Carlson, La Grande, by fall (3:28)

Semifinal: lost to Alberto Flores, Crook County, by fall (46 seconds)

Cons. Semi: def. Mike Young, Madras, 7-3

3rd Place Match: lost to Colton Livingston, La Grande, by fall (56 seconds)

4th Place Match: def. Mike Young, Madras, by no contest

Aldo Duran, 120, 2nd, 21 team points

Champ. Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal: def. Owen McLouth, Pendleton, by fall (1:47)

Semifinal: def. Mason Lacey, Crook County, by major decision, 14-5

1st Place Match: lost to Mason Wolcott, La Grande, 9-4

River Clark, 120, 5th, 11 team points

Champ. Round 1: lost to Mason Wolcott, La Grande, by technical fall, 18-2

Cons. Round 1: bye

Cons. Round 2: def. Jake Lawrence, Madras, by major decision, 12-1

Cons. Round 3: def Ethan Zimmerman, Pendleton, by fall (57 seconds)

Cons. Semi: lost to Mason Lacey, Crook County, by fall (5:45)

5th Place Match: def. Aiden Bonner, Crook County, 11-7

4th Place Match: lost to Jayden Esquiro, Madras, 6-5

Sage Darlington, 126, 8th, 4 team points

Champ. Round 1: lost to Earl Oliver, Madras, in sudden victory, 8-6

Cons. Round 1: bye

Cons. Round 2: def. Ethan Calderon, Ontario, by major decision, 12-1

Cons. Round 3: lost to Jayvon Tovar, Madras, by fall (1:43)

Marcus Chamberlain, 126

Champ. Round 1: lost to Cole Roy, Pendleton, by fall (1:39)

Cons. Round 1: bye

Cons. Round 2: lost to Jayvon Tovar, Madras, by fall (2:37)

Samuel Nelson , 132

Champ. Round 1: lost to Jamis Gonzalez, Ontario, 8-1

Cons. Round 1: bye

Cons. Round 2: lost to Robert Lacey, Crook County, by fall (1:18)

Axel Marvin, 132, 6th, 5 team points

Champ. Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal: lost to Owen Golter, Pendleton, by fall (1:20)

Cons. Round 2: bye

Cons. Round 3: def. Michael Gisi, La Grande, 6-1

Cons. Semi: lost to Jamix Gonzalez, Ontario, by technical fall, 17-2

5th Place Match: lost to Robert Lacey, Crook County, by fall (1:12)

Riley Martin, 138, 6th, 7 team points

Champ. Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal: def. Tavian Kehr, La Grande, 4-2

Semifinal: lost to Ross McKinney, Crook County, by fall (1:43)

Cons. Semi: lost to Vance Nelson, Pendleton, 4-3

5th Place Match: lost to Tavian Kehr, La Grande, by major decision, 11-3

Nolan Briels, 138

Champ. Round 1: lost to Carlos Torres, Madras, by fall (5:13)

Cons. Round 1: bye

Cons. Round 2: lost to Vance Nelson, Pendleton, by fall (56 seconds)

Daniel Maldonado, 145, 6th, 8 team points

Champ. Round 1: lost to Cutter Marsh, Crook County, by fall (1:33)

Cons. Round 1: bye

Cons. Round 2: def. Daris Squiemphen, Madras, by fall (1:06)

Cons. Round 3: def. Adam Urbina, Pendleton, 7-2

Cons. Semi: lost to Collier Buffington, Crook County, by fall (47 seconds)

5th Place Match: lost to Cash Paullus, Pendleton, by major decision, 10-0

Alex Wise, 152

Champ. Round 1: lost to Ridge Kehr, La Grande, by fall (50 seconds)

Cons. Round 1: bye

Cons. Round 2: lost to Brady David, Madras, by fall (3:37)

Graison Stone, 160, 4th, 9 team points

Champ. Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal: lost to Dominick Carratello, La Grande, 13-7

Cons. Round 2: bye

Cons. Round 3: def. Christian Grijalva, Ontario, in ultimate tiebreaker

Cons. Semi: lost to Eli Bisenius, La Grande, by fall (1:56)

5th Place Match: def. Brennon Allen, Crook County, 6-0

4th Place Match: def. Palmer Smith, Crook County, 7-6

Ben Coburn, 160, 8th, 1 team point

Champ. Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal: lost to Eli Bisenius, La Grande, by major decision, 13-1

Cons. Round 2: bye

Cons. Round 3: lost to Palmer Smith, Crook County, by major decision, 12-2

Ryan Brown, 170, 4th, 13 team points

Champ. Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal: lost to Cole Shafer, La Grande, by fall (1:05)

Cons. Round 2: def. Dakota Malin, Pendleton, by fall (3:51)

Cons. Round 3: def. Colton Porfily, Crook County, by fall (3:28)

Cons. Semi: lost to Aidan Perkins, Pendleton, by fall (1:20)

5th Place Match: def. Jacob Mills, Baker/Powder Valley, 15-9

4th Place Match: def. DeMarcus Scott, Madras, by fall (5:54)

Jacob Mills, 170, 6th, 7 team points

Champ. Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal: lost to Aidan Perkins, Pendleton, by fall (3:14)

Cons. Round 2: bye

Cons. Round 3: def. Julian Lopez, Crook County, by fall (5:44)

Cons. Semi : lost to Demarcus Scott, Madras, in sudden victory, 8-6

5th Place Match: lost to Ryan Brown, Baker/Powder Valley, 15-9

Cade Lind, 195, 2nd, 22 team points

Champ. Round 1: bye

Quarterfinal: def. Preston Duke, Crook County, by fall (2:46)

Semifinal: def. Nikolas Sigrah, Ontario, by injury default (2:18)

1st Place Match: lost to Jarett Armstrong, La Grande, by fall (2:38)

Andrew Sandberg, 285, 6th, 10 team points

Champ. Round 1: lost to Mauricio Ambriz, Crook County, by fall (17 seconds)

Cons. Round 1: bye

Cons. Round 2: def. Sunhawk Thomas, Pendleton, by fall (1:41)

Cons. Round 3: def. Eli Westenkow, La Grande, by fall (51 seconds)

Cons. Semi: lost to Isaiah Boise-LeClaire, Madras, by fall (1:28)

5th Place Match: lost to Silas Parsons, The Dalles, by fall (46 seconds)