The Clackamas Community College wrestling team has announced its 2010-11 season schedule which is highlighted by trips to the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, NV.  and NWCA National Dual Meet Championships in Cedar Falls, IA.  Last season the Cougars finished 15th at the ever tough TOC, highest finish among non-division I teams and captured 4th at the National Duals.

 

In addition to Conference duals with Region 18 teams the Cougars will host NAIA's Montana State-Northern on January 14th at 4:00 p.m. and then have a night cap with Conference rival North Idaho College at 7:00 p.m.  to celebrate Alumni Night.

 

Important Notes:  This year's NJCAA National Championships will be held in Spokane, WA at the Spokane Events Center.  The Cougars want your support and if you are interested in attending the event you can contact the athletic department for ticket information.  It was 40 years ago this season when the Cougar Matmen won the NJCAA National Championships and what a great way to celebrate that momentous occasion by rooting on the current team to victory in February.

 

 

Oregon City Or ~ the Clackamas Community College wrestling team announces the addition of two more commitments for the 2010-11 season.  Kegan Handlovic of Easton High School in Easton, PA and Brady Lee of Molalla High School in Molalla, OR have both committed to the Cougar squad.  Both wrestlers are top preps at their respective weight classes as both have made multiple state finals appearances.  Cougar head coach Josh Rhoden projects Kegan to wrestle at the 125lb weight class and Brady at either 149 or 157 lbs respectively.

 

Handlovic was a two time Pennsylvania state wrestling champion and a two time Reno Tournament of Champions runner up.  He comes to Clackamas as a transfer from Purdue University where he red shirted.  “Kegan adds a ton of talent and depth to the lower weights and brings the experience of winning big time matches,” said Coach Rhoden.

 

Lee was a four time District Champion, four time Oregon state finalist, and was an All-American placing 4^th at Greco Junior Nationals in Fargo, ND.  He comes to Clackamas following his graduation from area high school Molalla.  “Brady is a tough kid with a lot of talent and experience.  He will add some competition and depth to our middle weights,” added Rhoden.

 

Clackamas has some of the west's top wrestlers coming in this fall.  Below is a complete list of commitments that the Cougars have received to date.

 

Clackamas Recruits:

125- Tommy Siciliano (Newberg HS): 4x OR State Champions, NHSCA Sr. National Runner Up

133- Jordan O'Neal (Damonte Ranch HS): 3x Nevada State Finalist, 2x Reno TOC Placer (Transfer Sierra)

141- Clinton McAlister (Clovis HS): 2x CA Placer, 2nd @ Powerade, 8th at Walsh Ironman

141- Blake Borsberry (West Salem HS): 4x OR Placer, Champ '10, 2x Reno World Finalist, Champ in ‘10

149- Cody Randall (North Marion HS): 3x OR State Champion

165- Caleb Pendleton (Scappoose HS): 2x OR State Placer

174- Steve Conn: 3rd at Washington State Championships

197- Brett Frederickson (Moses Lake HS): Washington State Champion (Transfer North Idaho)

Chael Sonnen, UFC fighter, and former NCAA all-american for the University of Oregon is facing challenges on a few fronts in the coming months.  He will be featured in a title fight against Anderson Silva on August 7th, and will be battling for a spot in Oregon's House of  Representatives in November. Sonnen knows it will be a busy few months, but is up for the challenge.  He won the Republican primary last week, and will face off with the Democrat in November.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=mmajunkie-Chael_Sonnen_victory_Oregon_primary

North Marion standout wrestler Cody Randall has decided to continue his career at Clackamas CC. The latest sign by Coach Josh Rhoden continues to re-load a team that has really been on the upswing the past few years. Randall adds to an already growing excellent recruiting class.

http://www.clackamasreview.com/sports/story.php?story_id=127429816908330000

Great article about Washington native Kyle Bounds. Bounds was a 3x State Champ out of Washington who signed with the University of Oregon. He had a brief career there, until the Ducks dropped their wrestling program. This article follows his transfer and career at Michigan State University. Article is courteous of The Columbian.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/may/16/kyle-bounds-michigan-state-wrestling/

Cougars Sign 2 Top Preps for 2010-11 Season

 

Oregon City, OR- Clackamas Community College wrestling Coach Josh Rhoden has announced the signing of two of the nation's top prep wrestlers. Four time Oregon State Champion and NHSCA Senior National runner up Tommy Siciliano of Newberg High School and 2-time California Medalist and Walsh Ironman place winner Clinton McAlester of Clovis High School are officially Cougars!  Both wrestlers are ranked in the Top 25 of their respective weight class by Wrestling USA at 125 and 140 respectively.

 

“We are extremely excited about the opportunity to work with these two talented young men,” said Coach Josh Rhoden.  “We have really been blessed in this case as both of these guys are very talented wrestlers and both are great individuals,” he added.

 

The Cougars are projecting Siciliano, who recently was named wrestler of the year for the state of Oregon,  at 125 pounds.  Filling the shoes of 2010 All-American, Anthony Weerheim at 141, will be McAlester.  “These guys have proven that they can win at the highest levels of wrestling and we expect nothing less here at Clackamas," Rhoden said.  Referring to Siciliano’s runner up finish at Senior Nationals and McAlester’s finishes at the Walsh Ironman and Powerade Tournaments where he was 8^th and 2^nd. 

Mitch Lofstedt of Southern Oregon won the championship at 125 lbs, and Southern Oregon finished as the team runner-up for the second straight year. Notre Dame College won the championship, and have risen quickly as program after only being in existence 3 1/2 years. The Notre dame team scored 179.5 points to easily win the team title.  Southern Oregon was second at 120 pts., followed by western rival Great Falls at 118.5 pts.

Lofstedt was also named the NWCA/NAIA Wrestler of the Year for the outstanding season he produced for the Raiders. Teammate Barry Johnson chalked up a championship as well, defeating teammate Kyle Wirkuty in the finals, 6-4. Enoch Francois of California Baptist also finished as runner-up.

http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/030610aah.html

Notre Dame College has all but wrapped the NAIA team championship up, but individual titles are on the line as the championships head into the final day. The Notre Dame has put on a very impressive performance and lead the team race by 47 points earlier this morning. 

A few western teams appear to be in position to battle it out for 2nd place.  Southern Oregon and rival Great Falls are in race for the runner-up honors. SOU advanced seven wrestlers into all-American, including three wrestlers who will go for individual titles tonight.  Mitch Lofstedt at 125 returns to the finals for the second time. Last year he finished as runner-up.  He will face Chauncey Phillips of Cal Baptist.  The Raiders will also watch as Kyle Wirkuty and Barry Johnson will face each other for the national title.  Defending champion Chris Platt was eliminated for the Raiders.

Oregon State came in to the tournament needing a strong team effort, and that is what they got this weekend.  The team placed eight wrestlers in the top 4, and every man in the top 5 to bring the championship by two points over Boise State. Cal Poly was 3rd, after having a great tournament and being the first day leader.

Oregon State overcame a sluggish first session to put four wrestlers into the finals in session two.  Cal Poly put five wrestlers into the finals to lead after day 1. BSU placed three into the championship bout. Day two was set up to finish as a three team race, with several key head to head match-ups between the three teams.  

In the finals, Boise State won  two of the three, including Adam Hall's victory over Cal Poly wrestler Chase Pami.  Kirk Smith had a fall to get valuable points, but Oregon State had taken command after Colby Covington defeated BSU wrestler Nate Lee at 174 lbs. OSU won key 3rd place matches at 133 and 141, and when Matt Casperson defeated Chad Hanke by decision for 3rd place, OSU had won the team championship.

Overall, it was a great Pac 10 tournament, every team won at least one individual championship.  Cal State Bakersfield came ready to wrestle as well, putting three wrestlers into the finals and taking home two individual championships.  They wore black warm-up sweats and black singlets, rather than their traditional blue and gold school colors.  The Bakersfield administration informed the team and public two weeks ago that they would be cutting the program at the end of this year. The Roadrunner coaches and athletes, as well as wrestling community are still hopeful that they can save the program.

Individual winners were:  Anthony Robles-ASU, Boris Novatchkov-Cal Poly, Adin Duenas-Fullerton, Barrett Abel- UC Davis, Adam Hall- BSU, Nick Amuchastegui- Stanford, Colby Covington-OSU, Kirk Smith-BSU, Riley Orozco-Bakersfield, Mitch Monteiro-Bakersfield.

Adin Duenas (141) was named the tournament outstanding wrestler after winning the very tough 141 lb. weight class.