Grant Union girls win Joseph wrestling tournament; boys finish fourth
Published 1:15 pm Monday, January 9, 2023
- Grant Unions Rylan Cox poses at the top of the podium with his tournament hardware following his firs place finish at the JO-HI wrestling tournament on Saturday, Jan. 7.
JOSEPH — The Grant Union wrestling teams competed in the Jo-Hi Tournament in Joseph on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 6 and 7, and left with a pair of top four finishes.
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The girls defeated 19 other teams to win the tournament with 95 team points. The boys placed fourth out of 13 teams with 141 team points.
The lone first place finisher for the Lady Pros was defending state champion Mallory Lusco, who took top honors in the 198-222 pound weight class. Lusco won both of her matches by pinfall.
The 163-188 pound weight class produced two top four finishers for the Lady Pros, with Savanna Hodge placing second and Jaydika Anderson placing third. Both Hodge and Anderson lost via fall to eventual champion Gracie Baker of Crane.
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The pair of losses in the 163-188 pound weight class set up a matchup between Hodge and Anderson to determine second and third place. Hodge would win that matchup, capturing second place honors and leaving Anderson with a third place tournament finish.
Zoey Beam was the other second place finisher for the Lady Pros, finishing as runner-up in the 127-131 pound weight class. Beam won her quarterfinal and semifinal marches by fall before losing to Riverside’s Katelyn Wiseman in the tournament final.
Serenity Marcano was the team’s lone fourth place finisher. Mercano lost her quarterfinal matchup and rebounded to win both of her matches on the way to the consolation final by fall.
Marcano would lose to Union’s Jenna Denton in the consolation finals for a fourth place finish in the tournament.
Just behind the Lady Pros in second place was Culver, which finished with 90 team points. Third place Riverside was well behind the tournament leaders, finishing with 67 points.
Heppner finished in fourth place with 59 team points. Rounding out the top five teams for the ladies was Elgin, which finished with 45.5 team points.
The Grant Union boys crowned one tournament champion in heavyweight Rylan Cox. Cox won all of his matches prior to the tournament final by fall.
The championship match was a 9-2 decision over Allen Rodriguez of Riverside.
Grant Union’s lone tournament runner-up was Taylor Parsons at 126 pounds. Parsons won his quarterfinal and semifinal matches by fall to set up a matchup with undefeated Mateo Rockwell of Riverside in the championship.
Parsons would lose via fall to Rockwell and settle for second place honors at 126 pounds.
The 120 pound weight class produced a third place finish for the Pros, with all of Frankie Beam’s wins coming via pinfall. Beam lost in the championship semifinal before pinning his way through the consolation bracket to capture third place honors.
Jack Strong and Zack Ostberg added fourth place finishes for the Pros at 152 and 220 pounds, respectively. Strong would lose a 6-2 decision to Tegan Evans of Enterprise in the 152 pound consolation final, and Ostberg would lose a 7-2 decision to Irrigon’s Austin Wells in the 220 pound consolation final.
Culver ran away with the boys tournament, finishing with 243 team points. Second place Clearwater Valley finished with 179.5 team points.
Finishing just ahead of the Pros was Elgin, which racked up 156 team points in the tournament. The Pros were not far behind with 141 team points.
Fifth place Irrigon finished well behind the Pros with 107 team points at the tournament.
Grant Union’s wrestling teams will be in action next in Madras for the Madras Duals on Thursday, Jan. 12, in preparation for the Oregon Classic, which will take place in Redmond on Frida and Saturday, Jan. 13 and 14.
The Madras Duals have a start time of 5 p.m. The Oregon Classic’s start time is to be determined.