A large group of 45 Hood River Valley High Eagle boys and girls wrestlers started practice Nov. 14 in preparation for the Class 5A 2022-23 season which starts Nov. 30.
The Eagles, guided by fourth-year Coach Tony Rolen and girls Coach Jessica DeHart, will compete in the Dennis Radford Memorial Triad Wednesday at 4 p.m. with the Pendleton High Buckaroos and The Dalles High Riverhawks at The Dalles High School’s Kurtz Gym. It’s the season opener for all three teams.
“We’re glad to have a large group and we’re excited for the season to get started with our first match on Wednesday,” said Rolen, whose assistants include Brad Keely, Austin Wallace, and Jessica Lister. “We’re still trying to build up our program through club participation in the middle schools and it’s been kind of tough to do that the last couple of years, but I think we’re on the right track now.”
The Eagles have a solid 35-member boys team led by defending 5A Intermountain Conference champion and OSAA state tournament qualifier Carson Farlow, a senior who won the 132-pound class district title a year ago. (The Eagles’ girls squad consists of 10 wrestlers.)
Carson’s brother, Connor, a sophomore, and senior Robert Wood, are Eagle returning state qualifiers. HRV has five seniors who will help provide leadership qualities for the Eagles. Connor Farlow was HRV’s top grappler at state as he took sixth place in the 106-pound class.
“It’s vital to have upperclassmen who have been with the team for a few years,” said Rolen. “It’s cool that the Farlow brothers are together on the team this year and they’ve had some success and they’re both team leaders.
“They’ve both done some preseason wrestling to prepare for this year. Last year was pretty close to normal with a little mask wearing, but it feels good to be back to normal conditions this year.”
HRV moved from the IMC to the Northwest Oregon Conference this year. The Eagles will compete in the district meet Feb. 17-18, a qualifier for the 5A state tournament Feb. 23-25 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
Rolen said other Eagle grapplers who could have a decent chance to qualify for state this year include senior Kevin Castro-Guzman and sophomore Jesus Ortega-Lara. “Kevin is a pretty experienced wrestler who could do very well this year,” said Rolen. “I’m excited about Jesus, who has really been putting in a lot of time; he’s working really hard, and he has set some high goals for himself.
“We have a good group of freshmen, too, but I’m not confident about their chance to reach state, but they’re working hard and we’re happy to have quite a few freshmen (14) and sophomores (12) on the team.”
The Eagles will enter the second event on the schedule Dec. 3 at 8 a.m. in the 21-team Tyrone S. Wood Invitational Tournament at Oregon City High School. The Eagles’ girls squad will compete in a six-team tournament Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. at Lincoln High School in Portland.
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