At the conclusion of the District 4 wrestling tournament at Joseph High School, four members of the Joseph team stood on the awards podium before of a crowd packed with classmates and hoisted first-place medals.

Senior Ben Garnett, his younger brother Sam, junior Nick Moncrief and junior Ethan Lowe each won spots in the state championship meet and highlighted a successful weekend (Feb. 8-9). Both Garnetts are making return trips to the state meet. Ben finished the 2006-07 season ranked third among 215-pounders, while Sam took fourth place in the 119 class. Seven Eagles earned high rankings at this year’s district event.

Ben pinned three opponents. Starting briskly the first day, he finished off Kevin Mitchell of Adrian High School in 16 seconds. He won a semifinal with another first-period fall of Elgin High School’s Nathan Crouch. Pine Eagles’ Richie Gonzales survived into the final minute of the last round before Garnett pinned him for the title.

Likewise, the Eagles’ other champions stormed through the competition. Sam, having moved up to the 130 class, pinned Elgin’s Dylan Green and scored a 10-3 win over Chris Horne of the Union-Powder Valley cooperative. Moncrief (140) sandwiched a pair of big scoring wins around his first-period pin of Enterprise High’s Jake Nichols. Lowe topped his first two opponents with falls in the opening seconds before winning the final with an 11-4 score over Crane’s Ray Thompson.

Lowe, Moncreif and the Garnetts advance to the Class 2A-1A State Championships Feb. 14-16 at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

Meanwhile, sophomore John Jordan rebounded from a loss in the semifinals to win two matches in the consolation bracket for third place. The late victories salvaged a strong close to Jordan’s disappointing season. Visiting his sister in Boston around Thanksgiving, he missed the season’s first two meets. Later he became sick and sat out another two weeks. After moving up to the 160-pound weight class, he struggled. “It feels like this whole season, I’ve been behind,” he said. “When you get behind everyone else, it’s hard to comeback.”

The second day of the district tournament, Elgin’s Scott Halsey pinned Jordan in the second period. Furious, Jordan came back with a 9-6 win over Heppner’s Wacy Coil. Then he closed the season with a pin fall of Elgin’s Dillian Moore. “I was lucky when (Moore) threw me and I managed to roll through,” Jordan said. “The key might’ve been my fireman’s carry. It was probably the slowest fireman’s you’ll ever see.”

Contact reporter Hector del Castillo at 426-4567, or by e-mail at hdelcastillo@wallowa.com.