In his career, wrestling has taken Dusty Dodge from The Dalles to Goldendale and now back to The Dalles.

Life has been a whirlwind, but he takes so much more away from his experiences that will last him through the test of time.

The Dalles wrestling team celebrated senior night at Friday’s Intermountain Conference dual versus Hood River at Kurtz Gym.

Steven Preston, Dusty Dodge and Mauricio Carrera each posted pins, and Zak Tackett won by forfeit, but Pendleton notched seven pinfall wins, a technical fall and two forfeits to take a 59-24 victory over The Dalles in a 5A Intermountain Conference wrestling dual Wednesday in Pendleton.

Back in Texas in 1975, a 12-year-old Paul Beasley was introduced to the wisdom of Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden by his mother, Lida Oliver Beasley. One of Wooden’s quotes —“Success is measured by improvement, regardless of the outcome”— is the mantra that Beasley now uses for his Riverhawk wrestling program.

HERMISTON – For 15 seniors, their final year started with weight training, camps and drills.

When it ended on a cold and foggy Saturday in Hermiston, The Dalles’ Ben Nelson, Michael Armstrong, Mac Abbas, Okean Green and Dalles Seufalemua had helped lead the way for a Riverhawk team that had chalked up more wins in one year than they had in the previous two combined.

In his final two seasons before heading off to Ridgeview, where he won a state championship, The Dalles head football coach Andy Codding posted a 14-7 record with consecutive playoff berths and a pair of playoff wins.

At the start of the offseason, Codding devised a team rallying cry for the 2019 campaign — 1-0.

The high school wrestling season may have ended a month ago, but for The Dalles wrestlers Steven Preston and Ophath Silaphath, there are no breaks in the offseason if they want to achieve ultimate success.

The Dalles wrestling head coach Paul Beasley was emotionally spent following two days of district action this weekend in Pendleton.

There were tears of joy, consoling hugs to athletes that were unable to qualify for state and there was a feeling of pride that the program is headed in the right direction.

Last week, The Dalles wrestlers were road warriors with league duals at Ridgeview and Hood River, and Saturday at the White Buffalo Invitational in Madras, the team had a season-high eight placers, led by seniors Andrew Richman and JR Scott, who won a combined five matches, four by pinfall, to take top honors in their respective weight classes.

Last week, The Dalles wrestlers were road warriors with league duals at Ridgeview and Hood River, and Saturday at the White Buffalo Invitational in Madras, the team had a season-high eight placers, led by seniors Andrew Richman and JR Scott, who won a combined five matches, four by pinfall, to take top honors in their respective weight classes.