Owen second at wrestling nationals

Brian Owen could have spent the first part of his summer lounging at a lake or playing video games on his couch. Instead the University High School senior wrestler decided to make a name for himself on the national level.

Owen won his first 11 matches before falling in the finals at the Junior Freestyle National Championships July 21-26 in Fargo, N.D., taking second place in the country’s premier junior wrestling competition.

Owen, wrestling in the 119-pound division, rampaged through his first 11 matches, winning all 22 rounds until two-time Pennsylvania state champion Jordan Oliver beat him 2-1 in the finals.

After winning the first round in the finale, Owen was one round away from a national title, but dropped the last two rounds and had to settle for second.

Owen, last year’s State 4A runner-up at 125 pounds, also fared well at the Greco-Roman Junior Nationals earlier in the week, finishing third with a 10-1 tournament record.

•Deer Park’s Ryan Jorgensen placed seventh at 152 pounds in the Cadet Greco-Roman division.

Softball

Kelsie Vallies, who pitched North Central to fourth place in the State 3A softball tournament last spring, is going national.

Vallies pitches for the Washington Ladyhawks, who qualified for the USA/ASA 18-U Gold Fastpitch National Championships in Oklahoma City from Aug. 5-12. Gold is the top level of ASA select play.

In earning the second berth from the Region 15 tournament, which began in Seattle and because of rain was completed in Yakima, the Ladyhawks defeated the Spokane Sliders 12-10, rallying from a 7-0 deficit after two innings. They scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh for the win.

Spokane won three elimination games before falling to Vallies and the Ladyhawks in the championship.

Vallies has played with the team the past two seasons, the first year as a pitcher-outfielder, when she threw 250 innings with 385 strikeouts and 1.24 earned run average and batted .331.

•Western Washington’s rainy weather didn’t do the Spokane Sliders 16-U team any favors, but there was a silver lining behind the dark clouds.

The Sliders, coached by Kirsten Flerchinger and Stephanie McVay, earned an at-large berth to the USA/ASA Class A Nationals that began Sunday and continues through Aug. 5 in Sioux Falls, S.D.

“We were 3-0 at the regional in Seattle and in a five-way tie when we were rained out,” said Flerchinger. “We got no berth to nationals because too many runs (6) had been scored against us. I was disappointed when I left the meeting. I felt I’d let the girls down.”

Fortunately the regional commissioner lobbied for the Sliders who were invited to the 138-team event.

Team members are Taryn Russell, Northwest Christian; Afton Allred, Timberlake; Jessica Berlinger, Shadle Park; Briann Joseph, Post Falls; Genasee Aman, Central Valley; Melissa Natwick, Mt. Spokane; Lela Work, Lake City; Blake Meredith, Post Falls; Jennifer Rambo, Gonzaga Prep; Kori Holcomb, Mt. Spokane; Carey Campbell, Medical Lake; and Jessica Ulrich, Lewiston.

Because Flerchinger and McVay coach at Shadle Park, where Berlinger plays, neither could coach the team in Sioux Falls due to WIAA restrictions. Jerry Holcomb, Jay Rambo and Darren Ulrich took on the duties.

•Another Sliders team will play in the 36-team 12-U A Western Nationals in Portland, Ore., Wednesday through Aug. 5. The team of players from the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas won 23 games and three tournaments.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said first-year coach John Moore. “The 12s had never gone before. It’s going to be a really good deal.”

Players are Vanessa Ahrendt, Lauren Ramsey, McKenzie Peterson, Julia Rambo, Casey Stangel, Mariah Linahan, Samantha Moore, Reannon Riley, Devyn Russell and Carrie Ann Suer.

Chris Stangel and Bill Suer are assistant coaches.

•The Amateur Softball Association Girls 18-U B Fast Pitch Western National Tournament at Franklin Park begins Wednesday and runs through Sunday. Five Spokane area teams will participate, including Eagle Sportswear, Spokane Crash, Spokane Fury, Coeur d’Alene Crush and Hayden’s Northwest Wildfire team.

Pool play begins at 2 p.m. on Wednesday with the double-elimination portion of the tournament beginning on Friday. The championship game will be on Sunday at 1 p.m.

•Spokane Crash pitcher Mollie Buelow was left off the team roster in a story that ran on July 24.

Baseball

The Spokane Dodgers 18-U select team went 1-2 and took fifth place at the Connie Mack Regional Tournament held July 25-30 at the University of California in Irvine, Calif.

The Dodgers fell 6-4 to the Arizona Angels in their opener on July 25, then beat the tournament favorite Colton Nighthawks 10-3 the next day. West Valley’s Bryan Peterson hit a three-run home run in Spokane’s eight-run fourth inning. The Dodgers saw their tournament come to an end the following day, losing 4-3 to the Seattle Stars.

Spokane, which won the Washington State Connie Mack Championship in Tacoma, finished the summer with a 39-16 record.

Spokane Dodgers 18-U team roster: Beau Brett, Nate Burgher, Derek Gianukakis, Tanner Hamilton, Danny Higgins, Adam Hill, Andrew Kittredge, Brodie McCormack, Bryan Peterson, Mark Purser, Aaron Reinland, Alex Reyes, Mike Richard, Andy Seaman, Ryan Simmelink, Paul Smith and Shea Vucinich.

Jeff Simmelink, Bobby Brett and Barry Matthews are the coaches.

•The Dodgers 17-U team took first place at the Wood Bat Championships held July 26-29 at Gonzaga Prep, beating the Seattle Rainiers 6-4 in the championship game on Sunday.

Spokane won all five of its games.

•The Legion baseball state tournaments begin this week. The 16-team AA tournament will be played Aug. 1-7 at Central Valley and University High Schools. Four Spokane teams earned berths including Central Valley, University, Newport and Freeman.

The Spokane Bandits and Spokane Northstars will compete in the AAA tournament beginning Saturday in Yakima.

The A tournament starts Saturday in Mt. Vernon and will include University and Central Valley.

Basketball

The Spokane Stars went 4-1, finishing second in the silver bracket at the River City Classic held July 22-25 in Memphis, Tenn.

The Stars won their first four games before falling to the East Bay Xplosion 43-28 in the championship game on July 24.

Jackson High School’s Kristi Kingma led the way for Spokane, averaging 14.8 points per game. Lewis and Clark’s Brittany Kennedy was named one of ten most valuable players while both Kingma and Shadle Park’s Lexie Pettersen were named to the All-Tournament team for the silver bracket.

Spokane completed its season with a 1-4 finish at the Nike National Championships held July 27-31 in North Augusta, S.C. The Stars were knocked out of pool play with a 36-35 loss to Alabama on Monday.

Spokane finished its spring/summer season with a 28-10 record.

•The Spokane Blazers girls 15-U team went 5-0 in bracket play before falling to the Silver Bullets of New York in the championship game of the AAU National Championships held July 20-27 in Nashville, Tenn.

The Blazers, last year’s 14-U national champions, lost 69-63 to the Silver Bullets in the finals on Friday.

Including pool play, Spokane went 9-2 at the tournament, losing both of their games to the Silver Bullets.

Spokane Blazers team roster: Kellie McCann-Smith, Katie Baker, Carli Rosenthal, Daisy Burke, Jazmine Redmon, Christian Kirkwood, Danielle Walter, Tiffany Idler and Mikaela Rivard.

•Two Spokane area teams will participate in the AAU girls Grades Based National Championships held Aug. 1-5 in Reno, Nev.

The Spokane Dawgs will compete in the seventh-grade division while the Spokane Lady Hawks will play in the sixth-grade division.

Spokane Dawgs team roster: Jordan Blaine, Allie Brown, Athina Brown, Maya Bowden, Rai Franklin, Aleisha Hathaway, Baylay Kellogg, Amanda Stewart and Kalen Via.

Spokane Lady Hawks team roster: Jade Redmon, Aaliyah Ashley-Meek, Brenna Russell, Cassidy Finn, Joni Dorr, Kaycee Hert, Megan Ulias, Aaliyah Johnson, Kendalyn Brainard, Tori Wynecoop and Zari Reeves.

Football

Four Spokane area players were named to the Washington Preps Preseason Top 40 list.

Ferris wide receiver Jared Karstetter was 17th on the list, followed by Lewis and Clark linebacker Alex Shaw (31), Central Valley linebacker Tyler Cochran (32) and West Valley quarterback Bryan Peterson (38).

Golf

Colbert’s Sierra Bezdicek, 11, dominated her division at the Washington Junior Golf Association State Championships held July 25-27 at Fircrest Country Club and Meadowpark Golf Course in Tacoma.

Competing in the 8-11 girls age group, Bezdicek shot a 36-hole score of 154 and won by 14 strokes.

Savana Bezdicek took third place amongst the 12- and 13-year-olds with a three-round total of 238.

Top local finishers in each age division were Hank Frame (seventh, boys 16-17), Chris Williams (first, boys 14-15), Tyler Carlson (ninth, boys 12-13), Michael Baldeck (fifth, boys 8-11), Lauren Howell (seventh, girls 16-17), Kaitlen Parsons (fifth, girls 14-15).

Shooting

Spokane’s Bryce Purdy shot successfully at the Oregon State Sporting Clays Championships held July 19-22 at Mitchell’s Clay Target Sports in Salem, Ore.

Purdy, 12, was the sub-junior (age 16 and under) champion in the 410-guage, 28-guage, 20-guage and 5-stand events, including second among all ages in the 5-stand.

Track & field

Four local athletes fared well at the USA Track & Field National Junior Olympic Championships held July 24-29 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif.

Ashley Hutchinson was tenth in the Young Women’s discus throw and 13th in the shot put while Melissa Mauro took 11th in the high jump. In the Young Men’s 800 meters, John Coyle was 13th and Brad Whitley was 19th.

Miscellany

Spokane’s Cody Mace took first place in his classification in the field pentathlon at the National Junior Disability Championships held July 21-28 in Spokane.

Mace, a member of Northwest Adaptive Sports based in Washington and Northern Oregon, was also recently awarded a scholarship from the University of Arizona and will compete in track and basketball for the university.