State wrestling tournament, day 2 Saturday, February 28, 2009

Wrestlers and spectators come and go from Portland's Memorial Coliseum Feb. 27 between bouts at the state wrestling tournament. The 12,000-seat arena--formerly the home of the Trail Blazers--was dedicated in 1961.








Jeremiah Pine of Umatilla struggles to escape Brice Haskell's grasp on Feb. 27 in what would prove to be the last match for the Viking wrestling program.

[If you've been following my photos in the East Oregonian, you'll note that one appeared twice in today's online edition. One of them should have looked like this. -ed.]




[left] Thurston's John Hedge gets a nose adjustment as he tries to pin Pendleton's Mike Savage in the 135-pound semifinal. [below] Hedge (bottom) strains to keep his shoulders off the mat against Savage. Hedge held off the attack to win 11-6.