Wrestlers roll into busy stretch of season

Heavy lifting: Hood River Valley High School wrestler Steven Swafford hoists Cleveland’s Nathan Thai before tossing him to the mat in route to a 12-3 victory last week at the Northwest Duals in Beaverton. Swafford went 5-3 in the dual meet tournament. Below, Oscar Villegas works a power-half on his Cleveland opponent. Villegas won all three matches he wrestled at the 182 and 195 weight classes. Below left is Christian Marquez in mind-form as he ankle picks an opponent on his way to a perfect 7-0 tournament showing. Below right, freshman Jason Shaner hip tosses an opponent to his back on his way to a 4-0 win in the match and a 5-2 tournament record.

Hood River Valley High School wrestlers stayed busy over the winter break, traveling to Reno for the three-day Tournament of Champions before Christmas and to Westview High last week to close out 2014 with the annual Northwest Duals, which pitted 28 teams against one another for two full days of combat.

With four duals each day, HRV wrestlers had up to eight matches during the weekend, which provided valuable mat time before the few days rest they got for the New Year holiday. The team picks up this week with back-to-back meets on the road; the first Wednesday in Stevenson for the annual Battle for the Bridge dual and the second Thursday when the Eagles get their first shot at Columbia River Conference rivals, the Pendleton Buckaroos.