Ontario tied for ninth after first day
By: Donovan Brink
Special to the Argus Observer
Friday, February 27, 2009 11:02 AM PST
PORTLAND —Nico Martinez, Vince Morales and Chase Fields all kept their state wrestling championship dreams alive, leading the Ontario Tigers into a tie for ninth in the team standings after the first day of the OSAA/U.S. Bank Class 4A state wrestling championships Thursday at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum.
Martinez, the No. 1 seed in the 125-pound class, needed just one match to reach this morning’s quarterfinals, pinning Seaside’s Justin Near with eight seconds left in the second round.
Morales needed two wins to reach the quarterfinals, following up a first-round technical fall with a 3-2 decision over Kris Newport of Sweet Home, last year’s Class 4A 119-pound champion.
And Fields, the No. 3 seed at 130 pounds, moved into today’s quarterfinals with a second-round pin of Siuslaw’s Nick Ough.
Two Tigers also survived the first two rounds of consolation matches, leaving Ontario only five of its 13 state qualifiers in contention for state placement.
“We came in young and pretty inexperienced,” Ontario head coach Charlie Anthony said. “These guys were good enough to get here, but I think it was too early to expect a lot as far as team success this year.”
Ontario finished the first day with 33.5 team points, tied for ninth with South Umpqua. Mac-Hi trailed Sweet Home, 45-44, for the team-points lead after the first day, while La Grande (34.5) stood in eighth.
While Martinez and Fields had relatively easy days, teammate Frank Lopez ran the equivalent of a wrestling marathon Thursday.
Lopez scored a win by injury default in his first match before suffering a tough 7-4 loss to Sweet Home’s Jack Perry. That loss dropped Lopez into yet another “pig-tail” match on the consolation side, where he pinned Cottage Grove’s Tanner Sustaire.
Lopez capped his day with a 3-1 record after beating Elmira’s Dakota Tollen, 7-2.
Today could shape up to be a relative breeze for Lopez where, with one victory, he could guarantee himself top-eight placement and not have to wrestle until Saturday.
Ontario’s freshman 285-pounder Jason Alvarado also kept his tournament alive in the consolation bracket.
After suffering a loss by fall in his first match, Alvarado met junior teammate Sam Villalobos in the first round of consolation matches and notched a 1-0 victory.
In the second round of consolation, Alvarado earned a pin over Phoenix’s John Florey to move within one victory of guaranteeing himself a top-eight state finish.
In today’s quarterfinals, Martinez met up with Cottage Grove senior John Wisely, while Morales found himself with a very difficult draw against sophomore Tyler Stigall, of North Marion, the No. 1-ranked 125-pounder, according to the Oregon Wrestling Forum.
In the 130-pound quarterfinals, Fields faced Cottage Grove’s Josh Stanley.
“We have three guys who came in with a strong chance to win state championships, and they’re still on track for that,” Anthony said. “For the rest of them, this is all experience. They know what it takes to get here, and now they’re learning what it takes to be successful here.”
