Weather forces early end to Pac Rim
Published 9:50 am Sunday, January 8, 2017

- Knappa's Luke Goozee, left, is moved by Vernonia's Mekhi Williams in a 126-pound semifinal bout during the Pacific Rim Classic Wrestling Tournament on Saturday at Seaside High School.
SEASIDE — The annual 2017 Pacific Rim Wrestling tournament … was also the quickest annual Pacific Rim Wrestling tournament.
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In order for visiting schools to beat Saturday’s bad weather on their way home, wrestlers wrestled late into the night Friday to complete action through the semifinals, and Saturday’s action began at 8 a.m.
And the tournament was done by noon Saturday, with 15 schools wrapping up the action on another Pac Rim.
Nine-time team champion Estacada was a no-show, leaving Tigard (a 6A Oregon school) and Ilwaco (1B Washington) to battle it out for the team title.
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And the Tigers of Tigard had three individual champions and lots of top five placers to win the team title, with 213.5 points. Ilwaco had five wrestlers in the finals, with three champions to finish second with 192.5 points, followed by Scappoose (186.5) and St. Helens (117).
Astoria placed 10th, with Seaside 12th, Knappa 13th and Warrenton 15th to round out the local schools.
Chase Conner of Corbett — the individual champion at 126 — was the Most Valuable Wrestler for the lower weights, and Tigard’s Parker Kuntz (160) won the award for the upper weights.
Knappa’s Andrew Goozee added another tournament first-place medal to his collection, as the Logger senior was 3-0 at 195 pounds.
After a 6-0 decision over Ilwaco’s Marcus Connor in the quarterfinals, Goozee pinned Skyler Bhagat of Scappoose in 23 seconds, then took down Nestucca’s Chase Cook in the title bout, pinning Cook in 1:52.
Logger teammate and brother Luke Goozee lost in the semifinals at 126, and eventually finished fifth with a pin (1:31) over Seaside’s Shane Smith in his last match.
Astoria junior Juan Jimenez lost in the semifinals at 106, but bounced back with two wins in consolation to take third, capped by a pin (2:40) over A.J. DeGrande of Scappoose.
The consolation final at 145 pounds came down to a match between Astoria’s Tyler Ranta and Warrenton’s Giovanni Martinez.
Ranta gained a quick advantage and pinned Martinez in 1:04 to take third.
Martinez “fought hard, won three tough matches and took home fourth,” said Warrenton coach Corey Conant. “Gio has really started to turn the corner in his development and win the close ones.”
The tournament also included a girls’ division, and “our girls team was able to get some mat time and went 4-2 as a unit,” Conant said of the Lady Warriors. “Noel O’Bryan, Jade Freniere, Bella Carr and Asia Lambert all earned gutsy wins. Alma Bolanos and Ivy McCargish each gave up considerable weight to their opponents and lost their matches, but mat time itself is invaluable at this point in the year.”
Astoria junior Trey Hageman took fourth at 152, and Fisherman Kaden Gilbert was fourth at 182.
The hosts from Seaside had their own highlights.
Freshman Andrew Gastelum lost in the quarterfinals at 113, but he recovered and won four straight in the consolation bracket.
Gastelum finished with an 8-4 decision over Tigard’s Jose Carrasco in the third-place match.
Adding points for the Gulls was freshman Luke Nelson, who also lost in the quarterfinals, but responded with two wins in consolation before a loss to Tigard’s Javier Velasquez in the third-place match.
Ilwaco’s list of individual champions included Jack Odneal at 145; Brandon McMullen at 182; and Alec Bell at 220.
Ghannon Whelden took second at 113, and Marcello Lazaro was second at 285.
Final team results: Tigard 213.5, Ilwaco 192.5, Scappoose 186.5, St. Helens 117, Yamhill-Carlton 113, Stayton 111.5, Columbia 101, Nestucca 90, Vernonia 85, Astoria 83, Clatskanie 68, Seaside 61, Knappa 60, Corbett 57, Warrenton 28.
