Nationals
"Its taken a while to write the
results because they were not even close to what I expected. The
highlight of the tournament was when sophmore Brad Padgett finished
a strong second to earn his second All-American finish. Brad lost a
tight match in the finals to North Idaho's Kyle Sand whom he
defeated 2 weeks earlier 11-5. Unfortunately, Brad had an off
night, and Sand probably wrestled the match of his life. I don't
think anyone in the gym thought Sand was the better wrestler, he
just was for that 7 minutes. Brad is in the midst of being
recruited by several Division 1 schools and NAIA schools.
Lionel Orji was the only other wrestler to almost make the second
day. Lionel was a match away from becoming an All-American, but
came up a little short.
Highline will lose 4 fantastic sophmores: Brad Padgett, Justin
Studer, Michael Markey, and Lionel Orji. All 3 were eliminated
after day 1 of the competition. It was disappointing because I felt
Michael, Justin, and possibly Lionel could have been All-Americans.
However, what looks good on paper, doesn't necessarily show up in
matches. All 4 had great careers at Highline, on and off the mat.
Hopefully, they will be picked up and go on to wrestle at a 4 year
school. We will return sophmores Zach Nimms and Pano Dreves.
Padgett is Outstanding
2/10/07 "Brad
Padgett proved for the second year in a row that he is the Most
Outstanding Wrestler in the Region 18 tournament. Brad won his
second Regional title, as well as his second Region 18 Most
Outstanding Wrestler award as he bested #2 ranked Kyle Sand 11-5 in
the finals. It was probably the best match of the tournament, as
Brad was finally tested in what could shape up to be a National
Title match. In the semi's, Brad destroyed the #3 ranked wrestler
in the country 13-1.
Its a pretty
amazing tale to watch unfold. Brad is 21-1 with his lone loss
coming to a Division 1 wrestler. Every time he steps on to the mat,
he seems to do something more impressive then the match before. And
come 2 weeks from now, I will predict him to become Highline's
second National Champion.
Padgett
had some company in the finals as freshman Zach Nimms took on NIC's
Evan Mattingly, only to lose by decision. Zach has seen limited
competition this year, so to make the finals was a good
accomplishment. He is a strong kid, and once he learns more
technique he will be a force to reckon with. Nimms could sneak into
the All-American round in 2 weeks.
At 149 pounds, Michael Markey qualified for the National
Championships for a second by placing a strong 3rd. Michael lost a
tight match to NIC's Coby Jones. Jones seemed content to hang out
on the edge of the mat. It looked more like a track meet at times
with Markey trying to hunt him down. Jones was clearly stalling,
and seems to wrestle like that frequently.
The next 3 wrestlers put themselves in an awfully difficult
situation. If a wrestler does not qualify in the top 3, they can
only qualify for the nationals with a wild card. At 157, Justin
Studer stepped into the tournament without being on the mat for the
last 2 weeks. We quickly learned that conditioning was going to be
a factor.
Studer
was beating the champion from Pima, but fatigue kicked in and he
ended up losing by a mere 2 points. In the wrestlebacks, he drew
the #1 seed after he was upset. Studer was out in front 9-1 in
round 1. Unfortunately, he was unable to keep the lead and lost.
He then battled back by beating his Yakima opponent to earn 5th.
Ironically, most coaches agreed that he definitely should get a wild
card.
At
165, Pano Dreves lost to NIC's finalist by two points and
finished a strong 4th. He too was nominated for a wild card and a
trip to the big dance. Dreves saw limited practice time do to a
knee injury.
At 174, Lionel Orji
beat Clackamus' starter to finish 4th. He too made the national
tournament. Orji was vaguely on the mat the last 2 weeks due to a
groin injury.
Rounding out the
Thunderbirds, was heavyweight Roy Chambers who finished
4th. Chambers didn't receive a wild card, but did a good job.
With a mere 2 weeks,
we will have all 6 qualifiers healthy. The national tournament
could be a doozy with #1 Ranked Brad Padgett looking for a national
title, and 5 other national qualifiers looking to prove they are
amongst the best in the nation as well!
MOST PICTURES ARE
TAKEN BY DEENA PADGETT, THANKS!!!
End
of Regular Season
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The regular season is
now over. The next meet is the Region 18
Tournament. Highline will be led by returning
All-American Brad Padgatt. Brad was named the
Region 18 Most Outstanding Wrestler last year when
he destroyed the National Champ 14-7. He is on a
collision course to wrestle returning All-American
Kyle Sand, who was 4th last year at 197.
Justin Studer
(157)will be a force, but will have to overcome some
tough competition in opponents from Clackamus, SWOOC,
NIC, and quite possibly Pima.
Michael
Markey(149) could quite possibly be in the toughest
weight class of the tournament. He has a returning
All-American from NIC in Colby Jones, a national
qualifier from Lassen, and a Clackamus wrestler who
has beaten everyone in the conference. This will be
one weight the will definitely have a wild card.
I also have high
hopes for 141 pounder Anthoni Heffernan. He will
have tough opponents from NIC, Yakima, and possibly
Pima. Heffernan has a tremendous gas tank, however,
he will need to try to wrestle mistake free to beat
these opponents and move on.
We also have
possible national qualifiers in 165 Pano Dreves, 174
Lionel Orji, and 197 Zach Nimms. All 3 will need to
have strong performances in order to advance to the
national tournament. We have averaged 7-8 national
qualifiers over the last 3 years.
1/20/07 Clackamus Open
"The Clackamus
Open posted an interesting challenge to our
wrestling team. After showing the poorest
performance of the year, the team had to figure out
a way to right the ship. The good news was that the
Thunderbirds had Brad Padgatt back on the mat.
Anytime that happens, the team seems to wrestle
tougher. Brad continued his dominance by making the
finals. However, due to a back injury I opted to
sit him out and forfeit in the finals. The goal is
always the national tournament, and I will always
try to keep my wrestlers healthy until that time
comes.
After voicing his
opinion to the team, Justin Studer showed the
determination and grit it takes as he made the
semi-finals. Studer finished in the top 6 as did
teamate Michael Markey. Justin wrestled extremely
solid all weekend. He is an intricate part of our
team, and is definitely one of the leaders.
One of the
highlights was seeing Zach Corbett take to the mat.
He realed off 2 victories in impressive fashion
before losing, and bowing out of the tournament due
to a knee injury.
Our team was in a
pretty bad funk on Friday. We had to beat the
toughest opponent of the year, OURSELVES. I
didn't feel that the other teams were better then
us, but we have to execute and stay focused for 7
minutes. I felt like our team wrestled better
Saturday. However, I think our team needs to get
sharper from top to bottom going into the Regional
tournament. No one has an automatic ticket to the
nationals, and we won't accomplish our team goals if
all of our wrestlers don't perform up to their
capability. Come Feb. 10 everyone on our team
is 0-0. Our wrestlers are going to have to
prove that they deserve to be at the national
tournament!
The last meet of
the year will be Thurs. Jan. 25th as we take on
Clackamus at 5, and Yakima at 7:00PM.
Highline vs.Pacific
1/19
The Thunderbirds
were forced to give up 3 forfeits due to injury and
grades. However, they still had the talent to win.
Unfortunately, sluggish starts and lack of focus was
the big difference in the meet. Steven Velazquez
got the team going with a 4-0 victory at 125.
Highline then forfeited at 133. The big swing of
the meet was when Anthoni Heffernan was dominating
Trevor Arsenault 6-1. He attempted a leg ride and
got too high, the end result was pinning himself.
That match alone was a 12 point swing. At 149, a
sluggish Michael Markey dropped a decision to Nathan
Shay 8-4. This was another match that on paper we
should have won. However, that's why they wrestle.
Justin Studer then beat Tyson Rivas 17-0. Pano
Dreves was then defeated by Justin Barden 15-5.
Highline then had to forfeit at 174, due to our
wrestler not having his grades posted. At 184, Brad
Padgatt continued his assault in the 184 lb. weight
class beating Jake Reynolds 18-3. Once again we
were forced to forfeit at 197, as Zach Nims was out
with an injury. Nims has seen very limited time
this season due to injuries. Roy Chambers picked up
the win at heavyweight. Overall, it was a
disappointing performance. The wrestlers who won
did great, ironically, the guys we counted didn't
come through, and that's always disappointing! |
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MENLO INVITATIONAL
This
weekend we took 6 wrestlers to the Menlo Invitational.
Highline was led by sophmore Michael Markey at 149lbs.
He decisioned former Highline wrestler Jason Mendez in
the finals. Returning All-American Brad Padgatt ran
into a stumbling block as he lost his first match of the
year in the semi-finals to a Division 1 wrestler from
Stanford. Padgatt finished 3rd. Highline also brought
in reinforcements at 157 in Justin Studer. Justin
finished the day 4-1 and finished 3rd. Freshman Anthoni
Heffernan continued to impress people by finishing a
strong 3rd, and going 4-1. Pano Dreves went 1-2, while
Riley Cornett finished 0-2. Overall, we finished with a
first place and three 3rd places. We moved Michael
Markey down to 149, and added Justin Studer at 157 in
the hopes that this will help us with a stronger finish
at the Nationals in February. The next meet will be at
Highline on Thurs. Jan. 11 against North Idaho at 7:00
P.M!
Simon Frasier
Well we finally got
the monkey off our back with a 30-16 victory over
Burnaby Mountain. We had solid performances from
Anthoni Heffernan, Michael Markey, Lionel Orji, Brad
Padgatt, and Roy Chambers. The results are as follows:
125 Aso Palani(SFU)md.
over Steven Velazquez(H) 17-5
133 Alec Turera (SFU) d.
Chris Mathers (H) 9-6
141 Anthoni Heffernan(H)
fall over Raj Rau(SFU)
149 Mitchell Gangwish(H)
forfeit over (SFU)
157 Michael Markey(H) fall
over Smith Virk(SFU)
165 Dave Kruwcyzk(SFU) d.
Pano Dreves(H) 7-6 overtime.
174 Lionel Orji(H) d. Paul
Murphy(SFU) 6-2.
184 Brad Padgatt(H) fall
over Dustin Fisher(SFU)
197 Paul Macdonald(SFU)
forfeit
HWT. Roy Chambers(H) fall
over Chris Turner(SFU)
"SWOOC vs. HIGHLINE
12/8"
This
afternoon's match looked promising. However, that is
primarily from a coach's standpoint. Unfortunately, you
actually have to go out there and wrestle. The best
performance of the night came from Steven Velazquez who
earned his first collegiate win at 125lbs. Anthoni
Heffernan got revenge over an earlier loss to SWOOC's
Michael in the 141 pound class. From about 157 lbs.to
Heavyweight , SWOOC dominated Highline. The only saving
grace was undefeated Brad Padgatt who notched another
fall. "Tonight we weren't focused, and were not
executing, that was the main difference between the two
teams. Dual meet wise we are struggling!!!
Scoring
125 Velasquez (H) d. 8-5
over Gardner (SW)
133 Williams (SW fall over
Mathers (H)
141 Heffernan(H) d. 8-7
Michael (SW)
149 Gangwish (H) by
forefeit
157 Bualloch(SW) d. 16-7
Markey(H)
165 Pagnotta(SW) d. 7-3
Dreves(H)
174 Leifleit(SW)d 10-1
Orji(H)
184 Padgatt(H) fall over.
Pedraza(SW)
197 Lujan(SW) d.6-4 Nims(H)
HWT. Wunder (SW) fall
over. Chambers(H) |
11/19 Best of the West Tournament
We just
got back from one of the most difficult tournaments in the Northwest
for Junior Colleges, The Best of the West Open. This year there
were Division 1 teams such as Oregon, Oregon State, and Boise
State. It also brought NAIA powers in Great Falls Montana, Southern
Oregon, and Menlo. Rounding out the tournament were all the Region
18 Junior Colleges and Sierra College.
Leading the way, was returning All-American Brad Padgett. He really
is no longer a junior college wrestler, he is so advanced that he is
easily a Division 1 wrestler. He proved it by winning the
tournament. He beat Mike Casperson 6-3 from Boise State in the
finals. In the semi's he destroyed Alex Calvi from Great Falls.
Brad had some company on the winning side this weekend, as Michael
Markey and Lionel Orji both made the quarterfinals before being
defeated. Michael probably finished in the top 8, while Lionel
placed in the final 6. He was beaten in the closing seconds to get
in for 3rd and 4th. Highline also received strong showings from
Kenny Kubec who went 4-2, and Anthoni Heffernan who went 3-2.
11/11/06 SWOOC
This
weekend we were out in front of Southwestern Oregon going into the
final two matches 22-15. I figured our score might hold up.
However, I knew we would need some key performances at 197 and HWT.
Unfortunately, a few seconds of mental lapses cost us the meet.
Zach Nims was suffering from some back problems, yet, he had still
put himself in a position to win. However, in the final 3 seconds
he gave up a take-down that cost him the decision, and ended up
losing the match 5-4. Even with that loss, we were still up by 4
points. Unfortunately, Roy Chambers got too high on a leg ride and
didn't belly out. The result was costly as he was pinned :47
seconds into the second round. Though these two wrestlers wore the
brunt of the loss, if the rest of our team had done their job it
wouldn't have come down to these two wrestlers.
Brad
Padgett continued his tear through the 184 pound division as he
glued Allen Lagrange's shoulders to the mat. Brad has really done
everything that has been asked of him and more. He listens to the
coaches, works hard, and is mentally focused in every match. So far
he has pinned 2 of his 3 opponents. Highline has also received some
extra help from Pano Dreves who has run his record out to 4-0. We
also received victories from Michael Markey, Kenny Kubec, and Riley
Cornett.
Next
weekend we will travel to the Best of the West Open. This maybe the
toughest tournament our wrestlers will be in next to the National
tournament. The results of the dual meet are as follows:
125 Ricky
Zuniga (SW) pin. Steven Velaszquez (H)
133 Kenny
Kubec (H) md. 14-2 over Matt Gardner (SW)
141
Josheph Michael (SW) pin. Anthoni Heffernan (H)
149 Riley
Cornett (H) d.6-0 Matt Schmidt (SW)
157
Michael Markey (H) d. 11-8 Joseph Sigler (SW)
165 Pano
Dreves (H) d. 4-2 Brandon O'Brian (SW)
174 Darin
Frey (SW) d 7-3 Lionel Orji (H)
184 Brad
Padgett (H) pin. Allen Lagrange (SW)
197 Jacob
Lagun (SW) d, 5-4 Zach Nims (H)
HWT.
Melvin Burk (SW) pin. Roy Chambers (H)
|
Yakima and NIC 11/4/06
What began as a slow start
turned into a nightmare. We were upset by Yakima this
past weekend when 4 key wrestlers dropped crucial
matches. Steven Velasquez was pinned in the opening
match. However, Kenny Kubec lost a narrow decision to
to Nels Toftdahl 4-2. We got our first win as Anthoni
Heffernan scored a major decision over Eddie Bush
12-4. The turning point of the meet, was when National
Qualifier and team captain Michael Markey was leading
his match when he was pinned, a 9 point swing. Pano
Dreves then won 5-2 at 165. Unfortunately, the momentum
quickly turned as Lionel Orji was beaten 14-6. Highline
quickly got back on track as returning All-American Brad
Padgett needed 13 seconds to pin his opponent. Newcomer
Zach Nims scored a solid victory, but the door was
quickly shut as Roy Chambers was caught on his butt and
pinned. Final score 16-29. Highline then wrestled some
extra matches against Yakima's second string wrestlers.
125 Steven Velasquez Fr.
lost by fall Jose Barajas (Y)
133 Kenny Kubec Fr. lost
4-2 to Nels Toftdahl (Y)
141 Anthony Heffernan Fr.
won by major 12-4 Eddie Bush (Y)
149 Riley Cornett Fr. lost
by major 11-3 to Ricky Valdez (Y)
157 Michael Markey So.
lost by fall to Seth Wooks (Y)
165 Pano Dreves Fr. won
5-2 Sam McNagten (Y)
174 Lionel Orji So. lost
by major 14-6 to Jared Smith (Y)
184 Brad Padgett So. won
by fall 13 sec. over Dajon Mchale (Y)
197 Zach Nims Fr. won 7-1
Rudy Ochoa (Y)
HWT. Roy Chambers So.
pinned Nate Huizar (Y)
In the second meet of
the day, we faced National power house North Idaho. The
team compete much better. However, we were only able to
come away with a few wins coming from Brad Padgett and
Pano Dreves. Brad wrestled Spence Butterfield. From a
coaching stand point it looked like Butterfield should
have been called for stalling no less then 4 times. He
literally did nothing. Padgett won a tight match,
however, Butterfield isn't even close to on the same
level. It was frustrating to watch that poor of
officiating. Pano used a power double to take an 8-5
decision. Kenny Kubec also scored points by accepting a
forfeit. The breakdown is as follows:
125 Steve Velasquez was
pinned by Steve Sanchez (NIC)
133 Kenny Kubec w. by
forfeit
141 Anthoni Heffernan was
pinned by Heinrich Barnes (NIC)
149 Riley Cornett lost 9-3
to Colby Jones (NIC)
157 Michael Markey lost
15-10 to Dustin Fowler (NIC)
165 Pano Dreves w. 8-5
over Taylor Dewater (NIC)
174 Lionel Orji lost 8-1
to Kevin Owen (NIC)
184 Brad Padgett w 10-6
over Spence Butterfield (NIC)
197 Zach Nims lost to Evan
Mattingly NIC)by major decision.
HWt. Roy Chambers was
pinned by Robby Shaw (NIC)
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