Adams’ 4-0 record paces Eagles at dual event

HOOD RIVER - The Hood River Valley boys wrestling team competed at the Oregon Classic Duals Jan. 16-17 at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond and they had some solid performances by a number of their athletes.

The Eagle squad, guided by Coach Austin Wallace Lister, had seven wrestlers with multiple wins at the 50-team event. The event highlight for HRV was by Leyton Adams, who had a 4-0 record in the 144-pound weight class.

Other Eagle wrestlers with two or more wins on the mat included Aaron Smith (215 pounds), Cohen Wagner (113), Copeland Louis (126), Drew Lucas (132), Ethan Clough (120), Jayce Myers (175), and Risor Reierson (190).

Smith won three-of-five matches, Wagner won two-of-four and Copeland won both of his matches. Lucas won three-out-six matches; Clough won two-of-four; Reierson won two-out-of-three; and Myers won three-out-of-six.

The Eagles are focusing on continuing to improve, as they get ready to prepare for the upcoming NWOC district meet Feb. 21 at Rex Putnam High School in Milwaukie. The top four placers in each weight class qualify for the Class 5A state tourney Feb. 26-28.

“It’s a lot of work being the head coach, but it’s also a lot of fun,” said Wallace Lister, who was an HRV assistant to Coach Tony Rolen for the previous four years. “Things are going good and we have a lot of tough wrestlers. I think we’ll probably have five to 10 kids who will qualify for the state tournament this year.”

The Eagles boys and girls teams will have their first home meet of the season Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. in a Northwest Oregon Conference dual versus the Canby High Cougars.

“The kids and their parents are all excited about the first home meet and I’m really looking forward to it, too," said Wallace Lister. “We have a several home meets coming up during the remainder of the regular season … so that will really be kind of cool for us.”