By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– South Salem’s Austin Streety was in an absolute thriller of a dogfight for a chance to go to State at 190 pounds Saturday night in the Central Valley Conference Wrestling District Meet.
He and McNary’s Izaak Hendrix were in a defensive slugfest. It was tied at one at the end of regulation, still tied at the end of the first overtime, and was even still tied after the second overtime despite the two grapplers scoring in that second overtime.
It was tied at two at that point.
“Yeah, a lot of defense. I just pushed and pushed. That’s what all wrestling is. It’s all mental. By that third overtime, it’s all mental,” said Streety. “So you got to go-and-go. My defense, I knew it had to be on point.”
The two met earlier this season during the dual season, with Hendrix getting the win. In this rematch, however, it was Streety who returned the favor as he got the escape point to win the match in triple overtime.
“I had a fire underneath me going into districts,” Streety said of the defeat to Hendrix. “I saw how tired he was (Saturday), I was getting on his legs, I was just ready to go and get the win,”
The Saxons Ashenafi Kolb coming off a District Runner-Up finish as a freshman last year, got the job done this year, and won his first District Title when he defeated Logan Maule of Sprague 11-6. It’s the product of his labor, but Kolb knows that the job isn’t done just yet.
His goal is to place, setting his sights for a bigger prize now and knowing that he has a lot more work to get done to achieve it this year and moving forward in his High School prep career.
“I’ve been working for this since last year, but I’m shooting for higher up more and going towards State Placing. I know it sounds like a dream, but I’m trying to make it. I need to work on my skill…skill, technique, knowing when to shoot, knowing when to get on defense is really important,” said Kolb. “In this match, this guy got on my legs more. I got a lot to work for over these two weeks.”
The match itself saw Kolb having to respond to adversity, having to rally from 4-3 down to eventually build a 10-4 lead that he turned to to hold off Maule for the District Title.
“I was a little worried because at the beginning, it was like 4-5 or 4-6 or something. I thought I was leading, but I wasn’t. So I had to get up and try to get those takedowns. I wanted to get three or four more so it wouldn’t be a close call if he got me on my back,” said Kolb.
Bridger Haider (150), Damian Zaragoza (157), Maddox Santana (190), and Josiah Lunde (215) all finished District Runner-Up at their respective weight classes. Mark Yeoman-Milich (113) and Talmadge Lashmett (165) also qualified for State as the pair finished third in their respective weight classes.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
