Mat Club gets three titles

Jace Hays, Korey Grende and Jon Gonzales each won individual crowns.

Baker’s 13-14-year-old age group wrestlers edged Nyssa by one point to win that age division title.

The individual titles were a first for Baker in the past six years.

“The last Baker wrestler to win a state title was Sam Pearson his sixth grade season,” said Baker coach Brandon Young.

Pearson is now a senior wrestler on the Baker High School team.

Young said the team championship was a first for Baker as far as he can find.

“Everyone is excited to see what this group of kids will accomplish in the next two years when  they are all in high school,” Young said.

“After this year we should be pretty well set with good incoming freshman classes. It takes a while to rebuild a wrestling program. We figure that by the time the eighth graders are seniors the program will be set into full motion.”

ORWAY State Tournament

(Baker results)

Age 9-10 — 2. Hank Laeger, 0-1. 3. Johnny Niehaus, 3-1. 3. Trent Ashby, 2-1. 5. Derritt Gwynn, 1-2.

Age 11-12 — 1. Jace Hays, 3-0. 2. Drew Story, 0-1. 3. Gage Niehaus, 0-2. 4. Dominick Grende, 0-3. 4. Elijah Banister, 0-3.

Age 13-14 — 1. Korey Grende, 2-0. 1. Jon Gonzales, 3-0. 2. Juan Diaz, 0-1. 3. Logan Valentine, 1-2. 3. Sean Stanford, 2-1.