State wrestling tournament, day 1 Saturday, February 28, 2009

Cleveland senior Shaun Palakiko makes quick work of Pendleton's Sheehan Barnhart, pinning him in just 15 seconds Feb. 26 in the first round of the class 5A, 285-pound bracket at the state wrestling championships in Portland. Palakiko is the defending heavyweight champion.

The state wrestling tournament kicked off at Portland's Memorial Coliseum Thursday with the early rounds of the class 4A, 5A and 6A brackets. With the class 3A and 2A/1A wrestlers, who joined them Friday morning, there are more than 1100 athletes participating in the event.

Hermiston 145-pound wrestler Ethan Parks (right) winces as he lands awkwardly on his left arm early in his first round match against Ashland's Jake Scarminach. Parks continued the match but lost 8-0.

No doubt all these kids are tough, but special mention has to go out to Hermiston's Ethan Parks. The senior, who was sidelined with an injury for most of the season, expected to do well at the tournament. But just seconds into his first round match, he landed awkwardly on his left arm as he was taken to the mat by Ashland's Jake Scarminach.

After consuming his entire two-minute injury allotment, I thought he was done for the year, but he resumed his match. Though he was obviously in pain and his arm was basically useless, Parks managed to survive the full length of the match. He lost 8-0, but prevented his opponent from picking up any bonus points.

The tournament continues through Saturday night. Full results are posted on the OSAA website.

[right] Hermiston senior Dillan Massey takes Crater's Jeremiah Swing to the mat en route to a 9-0 win in the first round of the class 5A, 160-pound bracket. [below] Quayde Fisher of Illinois Valley (left) tries to grab Dalton Sheets's leg in a hard-fought 10-9 over the McLoughlin senior in the first round of the class 4A, 135-pound bracket.