Cowboys second as final day looms; Hermiston leads Crook County after the first day of IMC districts | Sports

Hermiston leads Crook County after the first day of IMC districts

Published: February 20. 2010 4:00AM PST

MADRAS — Crook County is in second place — a distant second behind three-time defending Class 5A state champion Hermiston — entering the final day of the Intermountain Conference district wrestling championships.

The Cowboys, with 131.5 points, advanced 10 wrestlers to today's semifinal round thanks in part to upsets like that in the 119-pound quarterfinal round, where Crook County freshman Dawson Barber won a 6-2 decision over The Dalles-Wahtonka's fourth-seeded Alex Flores, who beat Barber earlier in the season.

“We're getting a lot of pins and squeaking by some matches that I think surprised some people,” said Crook County coach Jake Huffman.

Hermiston piled up 202 points to take a commanding lead in Friday's first day of action at Madras High School.

Also wrestling for Crook County in today's semifinal round are McKennan Buckner (103 pounds), Jared George (130), Cody Pfau (140), Trevor Wilson (145), Jake Zeigler (152), Trevor Ough (160), Bryson Martin (171), Rhett Smith (189) and Cody Roan (215).

“The goal is to get as many kids as we can to state,” Huffman said. The top three district placers in each weight class are awarded a berth to the Class 5A state tournament next week at Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

Bend High is tied with The Dalles-Wahtonka for fourth place with 89 points, and the Lava Bears will have five wrestlers fighting for a shot at a championship match: Cody Bullard (125) wrestles in today's semifinals, as will teammates Tyler Bergrud (145), Willy Abt (152), Liam Brown (215) and Nick Russell (285).

Madras is in sixth place with 87 points and placed seven wrestlers in the semifinals: Miguel Vasquez (125), Ryan Brunner (140), Justin Brown (145), Brandon O'Brien (171), Trevor Barrett, (189), Travis Williams (215) and Adrian Phillips (285).

Mountain View's Keelin Crew (112) and Rod Latham (152) are also in the semifinals today. The Cougars were seventh after Friday with 65.5 points. Summit is in eighth place with 37 points behind the solid wrestling of Brian Pechan (112), who will face Pendleton's Brandon Bradley in today's semifinal round.