The Dalles wrestling enters midpoint of season

THE DALLES - The Dalles High Riverhawk Class 4A boys and girls wrestling teams are entering the midpoint of the season while focusing on improving to get ready for the upcoming district tourney in February.

The squad, guided by third-year Coach Barry Abrams and assistants Jake Abrams and JR Scott, competed in the Columbia Gorge Open nine-team boys meet at Stevenson High School Jan. 17. The 13-member Riverhawk squad had a solid performance while taking fourth place in team scoring.

“Our team has been reduced to a much smaller group with injuries and illness that has left some kids unable to compete very often,” said Barry Abrams.

The event at Stevenson included boys event highlights by The Dalles sophomore Adrian Miramontes, who took first place in the heavyweight class with a 2-0 record. Senior Harley Scott took second place in the 138-pound weight class while winning three out-of-four matches. Senior Eoin Herman (2-1 record) also had a solid performance by placing second in the heavyweight division.

The Riverhawk boys squad is led by Scott, who is a returning state qualifier expected to reach the state tournament again Feb. 26-28 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. The Riverhawks are members of the six-team Class 4A Special District 1.

“Our qualification for state is a little easier this year because Crook County moved up to Class 5A and they were always one of the top 4A teams in the state every year,” said Abrams. “We often had to contend with Crook County to get to state.

“Our best wrestler is Harley, and he’ll have real good chance of placing at the state meet this year. We expect him to qualify for state, and he wants to get on the podium and have a top-six finish there … he’ll have a good shot at doing that.”

The Riverhawks will compete in their next event Jan. 23-24 in the 24-team Tualatin Invitational. The girls will compete on Friday and boys events are scheduled for Saturday.  The boys 4A district meet will be held Feb. 13-14 at Madras. The girls district meet will be held Feb. 20-21 at La Grande. The Riverhawks girls’ squad competes in the 30-team Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 3. The top-four placers at district will qualify for the state tourney.