Co-op kicks off as champ

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The past eight months had been long enough.

Forrest Cox wasted little time Dec. 4, when this wrestling season opened with the Enterprise Kickoff. The Wallowa High School junior admitted he was out of shape, but he managed to score two pins and became champion of the 130-pound weight class. He finished each match in less than a minute. He did that, after only two practices.

“I needed a note from my doctor in order to practice,” said Cox, one of seven accident victims in the March 31 crash near Imnaha. “My mom kept telling them to fax it. We had to try four times.”

Cox joined seven teammates, who also won first-place medals. Freshman Austin Reimer bested the 103-pounders, sophomore Luke Aguilar the 112s, sophomore Josh Higginbotham 119s, sophomore Brock Hayes 135, senior Ethan Osterloh 145, senior Jake Nicholls 160 and senior Cameron Princena 285. Together, the new Enterprise-Wallowa team accumulated enough points, 199, for the tournament trophy. Pine Eagle came in second with 149.

Cox wrestled with a rod still holding together some bones of his right leg. The femur snapped about eight months ago as the pickup, which was taking his youth group home from a camping trip at Snake River, tumbled down a steep ravine. Doctors told him the rod might remain for at least 18 months.

However, Cox made it seem as though there was no rod. He flattened Caio Antoni of Adrian in 30 seconds. In the finals, he pinned Adrian’s Jake Wilde in 42 seconds. “On the mat, I don’t think about it,” Cox said.

Next, Enterprise-Wallowa will travel Dec. 11 and 12 to a tournament in Culver.