Canby Herald Online

Canby 48, McMinnville 18: Gearing up for the final stretch

Cougars improve to 2-2 in league duals, Forest Grove next on Thursday

• By: Alex Tam  
• Published: 2/3/2010 12:48:07 AM

Photo By: Alex TamWrestling: Canby 48, McMinnville 18
Canby High School junior Brandon Romaine looks for the pin over McMinnville’s Jered Sublet during the Cougars’ 48-18 victory on Thursday at home. Romaine scored a 25-8 technical fall at 119 pounds.

With the Pacific Conference district tournament coming next week, the Canby wrestling team has slowly started to show signs of development from its younger wrestlers.

The Cougars continued their recent momentum, winning their second straight league dual with a 48-18 victory over McMinnville on senior night at home.

“We’re getting into the position we want to be – kind of like what I predicted at the beginning of the season,” coach Jeremy Ensrud said. “We have a real young team and I think we’re going to make some definite gains throughout the season. We’re definitely there and getting ready to be there.”

Canby won nine of the 14 matches against the Grizzlies, leading throughout the dual.
<br /> The Cougars won six of the first seven matches, capped by sophomore Stephen Doman’s 8-2 decision over Adam Brown at 140 pounds to give Canby a 30-5 lead.

During the stretch, freshman Zach Tracy began with a forfeit victory at 103. McMinnville answered when Steven Cannard beat freshman Mosiah Roberts by 15-0 tech fall at 112.

The Cougars responded when junior Brandon Romaine scored a 25-8 tech fall over Jered Sublet at 119; and junior Andrew Romaine defeated Tiger Paasch by 9-1 major decision at 125.

Canby’s top two wrestlers showed why they are a couple of the conference’s best as senior James Roberts pinned Sylvester Cantrell in 3:35 at 130, and junior AJ Ballard earned a fall over Jay DeVera in 2:30 at 135.

“All these young guys are getting there and our leaders, they’ve been there,” Ensrud said. “They’re just ready to get to the end of the show.

“Everybody’s making gains. The twins, Brandon’s come a long way from maybe from being a little unsure of himself and he’s getting all physical right now. He’s got the ability. Andrew had some success last year, so he’s building and starting out confident.”

McMinnville won four of the final seven matches of the night, but could not earn any bonus points by pinfall.

Canby junior Brandon Harms defeated Kyle Downing by fall in 3:20 at 152, and sophomore Beau Vandervort defeated Gabe Seidl by fall in 1:16 at 215; and junior Kyle Doman earned his second straight pinfall, defeating Don Brannon in 5:09 at 285.

“That’s two pins in a row now, so he’s got to feel good about that,” Ensrud said. “He’s making huge gains. Just watching him wrestle, he’s got an attack for a big guy. Beau Vandervort has come a long way. He’s got the confidence building up.”

In other matches, sophomore Luke Lockwood fell to Chris Pearson by 10-0 major decision at 145; senior Marco Zamora lost to Dillon Crawford by 9-6 decision at 160; junior Adam Bell fell to Jake Montgomery by 5-0 decision; and senior Sid Sprague fell to Vernon Planck by 13-6 decision at 215.

Up next, the Cougars compete in the regular season finale on Thursday at Forest Grove at 7 p.m.

Reser’s Tournament of Champions: Canby finished 12th out of 22 teams at Saturday’s Reser’s Tournament of Champions at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.

The Cougars scored 70.5 points, and Roseburg won the team championship with 223.5 points. Hermiston was second with 176.5, followed by defending Class 6A state champion Newberg with 162.5.

Canby’s best finisher came at 135 pounds when Ballard reached the championship before falling to Hermiston’s Abraham Rodriguez by 13-4 major decision.

Ballard won four matches to reach the finals, including beating top-ranked Brady Fischer of Oregon City, 3-1, in the semifinals; taking down No. 5 Dillon Carbajal of Tualatin, 5-3 in the quarterfinals; beating Chayse Jackson of Roseburg, 7-6, in the first round; and taking down Mike Macuk of Crater, 5-1, in a pigtail match.

James Roberts, a defending Reser’s tournament champion, looked to repeat but fell in the semifinals to Hillsboro’s Mikie Rodriguez by 14-9 decision at 130. Roberts went on to win the consolation bracket by forfeit.

At 119, Brandon Romaine reached the quarterfinals before falling to No. 1 Joey Delgado from Hermiston by fall in 1:30.

CANBY 48, McMinnville 18
103: Zach Tracy (C) wins by forfeit
112: Steven Cannard (M) def. Mosiah Roberts (C), 15-0 tech fall
119: Brandon Romaine (C) def. Steven Cannard (M), 25-8 tech fall
125: Andrew Romaine def. Tiger Paasch, 9-1 major decision
130: James Roberts (C) def. Sylvester Cantrell (M), fall 3:35
135: AJ Ballard (C) def. Jay DeVera (M), fall 2:30
140: Stephen Doman (C) def. Adam Brown (M), 8-2 decision
145: Chris Pearson (M) def. Luke Lockwood (C), 10-0 major decision
152: Brandon Harms (C) def. Kyle Downing (M), fall 3:20
160: Dillon Crawford (M) def. Marco Zamora (C), 9-6 decision
171: Jake Montgomery (M) def. Adam Bell (C), 5-0 decision
189: Vernon Planck (M) def. Sid Sprague (C), 13-6 decision
215: Beau Vandervort (C) def. Gabe Seidl (M), fall 1:16
285: Kyle Doman (C) def. Dion Brannon (M), fall 5:09

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