The Dalles wrestlers seek to build on past successes

The three-member girls team and 23-member boys squad is primarily a young and inexperienced group. Led by returning 2022 OSAA Class 5A state tournament qualifiers Silas Parsons (boys) and Maise Bandel-Ramirez (girls), the Riverhawks will be seeking to enjoy similar success they had last year. The Riverhawks are guided by new head Coach Jake Abrams, who takes over for former Coach Paul Beasley, who is an assistant coach this season.

“It is a huge thrill for me being the head coach and it’s a lot of responsibility, but I’m really looking forward to the season,” said Abrams, a 2010 The Dalles High grad, who was a Riverhawks volunteer assistant coach the last three seasons. “We have some kids with a lot of potential and I want to help bring the program back to its former glory. At one point, we were really good and in the early 2000s we had top-five ranked teams, and we had some state champions. I would like to bring our program back to the point where we have some guys that have the potential to win a state title.”

The Riverhawks are no longer in the 5A Intermountain Conference, having moved down to the Class 4A Special District 4 this season. The seven-member league includes strong La Grande, Crook County, Baker, Madras, Ontario and Pendleton. Like The Dalles, former 5A schools Crook County and Pendleton also moved down to 4A this year.

“Our district will probably be just as tough, if not tougher than last year,” said Abrams, whose dad, Barry, is a Riverhawks assistant coach. “The three standout kids that I expect to do pretty well this year are Silas Parsons, Julian Moorehouse and Maisie Bandel-Ramirez. We’re a very young team with a lot of young guys that have a lot of potential. I’m really taking over a program that was probably at its lowest point ever last year, so this is definitely a rebuilding season.”

The boys squad will have some big shoes to fill after losing five seniors to graduation, including Connor Blair, Angel Oregon, Freddy Rodriguez, Nipko Alexander and 5A state qualifier Taylor Moorehouse. Julian Moorehouse (Taylor’s brother), Parsons and freshmen Harley Scott and Alexander Delatorre, are considered as the Riverhawks’ top wrestlers this year.

Parsons is a returning state qualifier in the 220-pound class. Moorehouse (170), Delatorre (160), Brackenbury (152), Scott (126) and freshmen Zach Greene and Taven Velador will also be contributors.

“Alexander has a good chance to do well and since he’s only a freshman, he has a lot of time to improve,” said Abrams. “Harley has a lot of potential and he’s following in the footsteps of his older brother, JR Scott, who is a 2019 The Dalles High graduate.”

JR Scott is a college sophomore who is on the Southwestern Oregon Community College Lakers (Coos Bay) men’s wrestling team and is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in the 184-pound class.

The Riverhawks have three more seniors on the boys squad: Aiden Marx, Nathan Pyles and Nathan Ganders. Freshmen who will provide significant contributions for the Riverhawks include Zach Greene and Tevan Velador. Bandel-Ramirez, Daysha Baker and Diana Garcia are the three members of the Riverhawks girls squad.

“I want the team to be as good as we were back in 2010 and that will happen hopefully in four to five years, but it all starts at the club level, too,” said Abrams. “The club team has had a surge in kids recently with about 85 kids. We’ve had to split it up into different age groups on different nights because the facility can’t even accommodate having so many kids. So right now, there’s a lot of energy at the youth level and we’re headed in the right direction. We’re in the process of setting things on the groundwork at the high school level and then we’re trying to get things set up at the club level the best I can whenever I have time to do that.”