MADRAS — Hermiston lapped the field, but Crook County held on for second place Saturday at the conclusion of the Intermountain Conference district wrestling championship meet.

Wrestling in a packed gym with simultaneous action taking place on three different mats, Hermiston was so far ahead after Friday’s first day of the meet that it would have taken the unthinkable for the Bulldogs to squander their 70.5-point lead over the second-place Cowboys.

Hermiston, the reigning Class 5A state champion, only built on that lead Saturday, finishing with 457 points. Crook County snuck into second place with 245.5 points, just ahead of third-place Pendleton (218.5 points).

Bend High finished fourth, Madras was fifth, Mountain View sixth and Summit last in the eight-team district field.

The Cowboys entered 19 wrestlers in the district tournament, and 15 of them placed in the top eight in their respective weight classes. Despite the team’s success, Crook County qualified only five wrestlers for next week’s Class 5A state tournament, to which the top three district finishers gained a state berth.

McKennan Buckner won a district title in the 103-pound weight class for the Cowboys, who also boasted weight-class champions in Trevor Wilson (145 pounds), Trevor Ough (160) and Cody Roan (215). Crook County’s Andy Katzenberger also qualified for state by finishing third at 130 pounds.

Battling in the third-place match for a chance to wrestle in the state meet, Katzenberger took control early and continually forced Bend’s Sean Dougherty to scramble. On the defensive, Dougherty hung tough and escaped several near-pins. But in the end, Katzenberger prevailed for an 8-3 decision.

“I wrestled like dynamite today,” Katzenberger said afterward as he nursed a bloodied nose. Last year Katzenberger finished fourth at districts, and was more than happy to find redemption in Saturday’s match. The junior said he hopes to finish among the top five at the state meet.

Bend stayed ahead of Madras in the final team standings, thanks to state-qualifying efforts by Willy Abt (152), Chris Wilcoxson (152) and Nick Russell (285).

Madras’ Adrian Phillips proved to be the champion of the heavyweight class (285), defeating Bend’s Russell 7-5 in triple overtime. Other state qualifiers for the host White Buffaloes included Miguel Vasquez (125), Ryan Brunner (140), Justin Brown (145), Brandon O’Brien (171), Trevor Barrett (189) and Travis Williams (215).

Keelin Crew of Mountain View scored a third-place spot with a win by pin, and teammate Rob Latham was runner-up in the 152-pound class.

Despite finishing eighth, Summit improved on its district performances of previous years, according to Storm coach Tom Nelson. Though no Summit wrestler qualified for state, the Storm did manage eight placers in the district bracket.

The Class 5A state championship tournament begins Thursday at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum.