Grant Union wrestlers place second at home tourney

Published 9:30 pm Friday, January 24, 2020

Russell Hodge pins his opponent Friday at the Grant Union tournament.

Several Grant Union wrestlers earned titles in the team’s second-place finish at their home tournament Friday.

The Prospectors hosted nine teams at their annual tournament. Baker/Powder Valley edged the Prospectors by 33 points to take the top spot, 264.5-231.5, while Burns took third with 187.5 points.

Union/Cove took fourth with 83 points, while Heppner/Ione took fifth, Enterprise sixth, Irrigon seventh, Pine Eagle eighth, Crane ninth and Echo/Stanfield 10th.

Drew Lusco took the top spot in the heavyweight division, beating out Jaden Martin of Baker/Powder Valley, who took second, Drew Widener of Enterprise and Tim Standley of Irrigon, who took third and fourth, respectively.

Michael Day of Union/Cove took first in the 220 division. Trey Cooley of Burns and Eric Newman of Baker/Powder Valley took second and third.

In the 182 division, Trace Prosser of Burns took first, Grant Union’s Russell Hodge second, Tanner Davis third and Roberto Ayala of Irrigon fourth.

For 170, Gauge Bloomer of Baker/Powder Valley placed first, Harlen Gunderson of Burns second, Quinten Hallgarth of Grant Union third and Charlie Evans of Enterprise fourth.

In the 160 to 170, Adrian Allen of Baker/Powder Valley placed first, Noah Blood of Grant Union second, Tucker Carpenter of Grant Union third and Cyrus Piel of Irrigon fourth.

In the 160 division, Wyatt Epling of Burns placed first, followed by David Creech of Union/Cove and Alan Murguia of Irrigon.

Prospector Justin Hodge took first in the 152 weight bracket, as did teammates Jack Strong and Ben Henry their respective 145 and 126 weight divisions.

In the girls 145-155 weight bracket, Dakota Ballou of Baker/Powder Valley took the top spot, followed by Grant Union’s Sophie Brockway and Sierra Tipton.

Prospector Mercedes Locke took second in the girls 125-140 weight division as did her teammate Amelia Hall in the 100-105 division.

Grant Union wrestling coach Andy Lusco said the team wrestled hard, but overall they were tired.

“They’ve have had a grueling schedule with back-to-back meets, and tomorrow we have another one,” Lusco said.

Grant Union travels to Hood River tomorrow for the Hood River Elks Tournament. The tournament starts at 9:30 a.m., and it will be held at Hood River Valley High School.

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