On top again: Linebarger grabs Irwin title

In his next bout, the Riverhawk senior pinned Sean Hancock, of Ridgeview, in the second round at three minutes and 36 seconds.

That victory moved Linebarger into the semifinals against Redmond’s Bunker Parrish.

There, Linebarger picked up a 7-4 decision to advance to the finals against Culver’s MacKyle Little.

Towards the end of the second round, Linebarger finally imposed his will on Little, getting the pin right at the buzzer to claim his second straight tournament championship.

“Joe wrestled well and overcame a strong Culver wrestler in the final,” said TD head coach Greg Burkart. “The match came down to the final 10 seconds when Joe was able to score the winning take down and secure the win. It is good for Joe to have tough matches as he prepares for a very challenging league season.”

Following on the same winning path as Linebarger has been 170-pound standout, JR Scott.

Scott won four matches in all, but came up just short in his third-place match, but still managed an impressive fourth-place outcome.

Scott (12-5 record) had an opening-round bye, but then got to work against Nyssa’s Ismael Valentin, and the Riverhawk underclassman tallied a first-round pin at 41 seconds to move on to the quarterfinals against Bend’s Jacob Dupuis.

Dupuis secured a 14-0 major decision, so now Scott had to battle his way through the consolation bracket.

Not deterred, Scott tallied a 4-2 decision over Chris Ramirez, of Nyssa, and then he added a second-round pin win at the 2:06 mark against Mountain View’s Luke Schulz.

In the consolation semifinals, Scott had his shortest match of the tournament, taking down Mountain View’s Izaak Moffit at 1:32 of the opening round to vault into the third place match.

Scott went to work against Lakeview’s Simon Ballaine, but in this match, Ballaine notched a 10-2 major decision.

“JR wrestled in a very competitive weight class and had a very strong showing against veteran wrestlers from around the state,” Burkart said. “He wrestled all six minutes of his hard-fought matches. I think JR realizes that he is a 160-pounder and he will look to hunt for more success at that lower weight class. His attitude and work ethic are really paying off for him as he matures as a wrestler.”

Sam Tyler (7-6) wrestled at 126 pounds and went 1-2 with the lone win coming by a 12-9 decision over Culver’s Jesus Hernandez.

At 138 pounds, Orion Smith (3-4) won his first match by an 8-1 decision over Isaac Coc, of Gresham.

However, Smith lost in the third round of the quarterfinals against Culver’s Jerron Rhen at 5:38.

Smith then had his tournament cut short after a 17-6 major decision loss to Micah Cupp, of Ridgeview.

Glenn Breckterfield (4-4) grabbed a win in his three 145-pound bouts, a second-round pin at 2:56 against Gresham’s David Alvarez.

Wrestling at the 195-pound classification, Leon Linebarger (4-5) had one win in his three matches, with the victory against Jon Fletcher, of Gilchrist, by a first-round pinfall.

Micheal Parrish tallied one win to score four points for the Riverhawks at the 220-pound level.

After losing his first match by pin against Summit’s Noah Yunker, Parrish got on the winning side with a first-round pin against Bend’s Reese Buck.

Burkart signed up 12 wrestlers for action at the Irwin Tournament and he said the inexperienced grapplers competed at the level he expected them to at this point in their careers.

While he is looking forward to their progression moving forward, the coach wants to see more gains made from his veterans.

“We are going to need more production from some of our older more experienced kids if we expect to be competitive in our very tough league,” Burkart said. “That will need to start in the practice room over the course of the holiday season break. They have been wrestling long enough to know you only get out of this sport what you put into it. They need to be putting more into it.”

TD heads out to the Pendleton Tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 30 starting at 9 a.m.