Staigle wins title at 19-team wrestling tournament

Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Matt Staigle, the only small-school finalist at a 19-team wrestling tournament held Friday and Saturday in La Grande that pitted wrestlers from schools of all sizes, won an individual title there wrestling for Enterprise High School in the 195 lb. weight class.

His individual title earned enough team points to propel Outlaw wrestlers past Heppner and claim the small-schools title and trophy, edging Heppner 66-63.

At the Muilenburg Invitational Wrestling Tournament, no attempt was made to shield small-school wrestlers from competing against opponents from schools of any size. Staigle not only defeated Bailey Apon of 4A Scappoose in the 195 lb. final, but pinned Apon in the first round.

Wrestling coach Jed Stone said he took seven wrestlers to the two-day tournament. One of the seven could not compete for a score because two EHS wrestlers were in the same weight class; one lost his first two matches and quickly was eliminated; two wrestlers lost early matches yet earned team points progressing through consolation brackets; and three won one or two opening matches and advanced into the semifinals.

Of those three, Staigle was the only one to win every match and claim an individual title.

The other two semifinalists were Kyle Roepke (145 lbs.) and Jordan Widener (220 lbs.) who each exited the double-elimination tournament after posting two wins and two losses.

At 106 lbs., Outlaw Lars Skovlin lost his first match, and then won two additional matches in the lower bracket of the consolation bracket before losing on points in that lower bracket final.

Also competing in the consolation bracket following a first-round loss was 285 lb. wrestler Kurt Norton. Norton won his first match in the consolation bracket, then lost his second match of consolation and was eliminated from the tourney.

The other two EHS wrestlers entered in the tournament, both in the 160 lb. weight class, were Sawyer Wick and John Green.

Wallowa

Wallowa wrestling coach Mel Byers took three Cougar wrestlers to La Grande and, in total, those three generated eight team points for the black and orange.

One highlight for the Wallowa squad came in the first round of competition when 132 lb. Alex Coutant, a sophomore in his second year of wrestling under the tutelage of Byers, recorded his first-ever match win. In a competitive match against a wrestler from Mac-Hi, Coutant emerged victorious on points, winning the match by a 12-8 score. He lost his next two matches and was eliminated from the tournament.

Junior Patrick Rummell, competing in the 126-lb. weight class, advanced to the semifinals of a consolation bracket, winning two of four matches before exiting the tourney on Saturday.

The third Cougar competitor in the 19-team tourney was senior Dalton Tanzey who wrestled at 138 lbs. Having never wrestled before this season, Byers said Tanzey wrestled well but, not unexpectedly, lost in both of his matches.

Schools participating in the tournament where six wrestling mats were operating at all times and an estimated 700 matches were staged were: Weiser, Ida; Heppner; Oregon City; Imbler; La Grande; Mac-Hi; Banks; Pullman, Wash.; Scappoose; Vale; Barlow; Burns; Baker; The Dalles; Enterprise; Elgin; Irrigon; Wallowa; and Union.