By James Day
The Silverton High wrestling team qualified eight wrestlers for the OSAA Class 5A championships while finishing fourth at the Feb. 21-22 Mid-Willamette Conference championships.
Four Foxes finished second in their weight classes: Tristan Lanier (106); Austin Reed (113); David Horsey (170) and Cameron Clokey (285). Boston Merrifield (106), Ben Griesenauer (138) and Cody Gubbels (220) took third place at their weights and 132-pounder Jack Brundridge took fourth.
Silverton totaled 248.5 points, just a half-point behind third-place West Albany. Dallas won the team title with 408.5 points. Lebanon (315) finished second.
The OSAA championships at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, run Feb. 28 and March 1. The Foxes finished eighth at the state tournament last season.
Izaak Tobin: The freshman from Silverton is making strong contributions for Oregon State, which is ranked No. 25 heading into the March 2 Pac-12 Championships at Stanford. The Beavers will be gunning for their fifth conference title in the eight years Jim Zalesky has been coaching at OSU.
Tobin, who is wrestling at 133 pounds, has an 8-9 record with six pins while sharing time with fellow freshman Jack Hathaway and sophomore Drew Van Anrooy. In his senior year with the Foxes, Tobin placed second at 132 pounds in the OSAA Class 5A state tournament.
Basketball: Silverton’s boys and girls basketball team both held 8-4 records and strong playoff positions heading into the final week of the regular season. The Foxes’ boys team, 13-7 overall, is ranked ninth in Class 5A by the OSAA and would draw a first-round playoff bye if they can finish in the top eight.
Silverton’s girls team is 12-9 overall and is ranked 12th by the OSAA. The Foxes are in solid position to host a first-round playoff game March 4.
“I have been really proud of the girls, they are working super hard and night in and night out we have played well defensively,” first-year Silverton Coach Tal Wold told Our Town.
“The team wants to finish strong. It is one of those teams where they are so much fun to be around and treat each other so well you do not want the year to end. It does not happen like that every year. That in itself is a great accomplishment. We will keep sticking to our blue print and not worry too much right now about who or where we might play. Just keep trying to get better and be awesome teammates,” Wold said.
Dance: The Silverton dance and drill team qualified for the OSAA state championships with its showing at a meet Feb. 1 hosted by Stayton. The Foxes took second at a competition the weekend of Feb. 14-15 at Sherwood and will be competing March 1 at Sprague. The OSAA championships are March 19-20 at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
Swimming: Cole Hacket took seventh in the 100 butterfly, Matthew Giraud was seventh in the 500 free and Adrian Krouze took seventh in the 100 back to highlight Silverton’s participation in the Mid-Willamette championships.
Track and Field: March 15 there is a fundraiser for the Kennedy High Track and Field team at Burger Time, 450 N. Main St., Mount Angel. Grab a bite between 2 to 7 p.m. and 50 percent of all food sales go to the team. Proceeds will be used to purchase a new high jump pit and repair the pole vault pit. You can call ahead for take-out and they’ll have your order ready: 503-845-2280.
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