5 YEARS AGO - photo
January 24, 2018
Since Culver started competing at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions 11 years ago, JD Alley estimates the Bulldogs have had a dozen or so finalists, though none had ever finished atop the podium.
On Saturday, Culver junior Lorenzo Vasquez became the Bulldog to “get the monkey off our back,” Alley said.
Vasquez won all five of his matches across the two-day tournament, culminating in a decision against Newberg’s Christopher Strange in the finals.
As the baby in the family with seven other siblings, Vasquez has long been called “Little.”
That nickname has carried him into the wrestling room. Hovering between the 113- and 120-pound divisions, Vasquez certainly fits the name. That, and having to prove himself, like other Bulldog state champs, to those who don’t think the accolades of a wrestler from 2A Culver carry much weight.
But when Saturday night came, Vasquez, who already has two state titles to his name, was a Little Man.
“To me, it kind of means a little bit more,” Vasquez said. “No one from Culver has ever won it. I go to these camps with other 6A, 5A, 4A kids, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m a state champ.’ They’ll talk you down, like, ‘Oh, you’re just 2A. It doesn’t mean anything.’ I’ve been told, ‘You’re lucky to be state champion, because you’re 2A.’ Going to these tournaments like Reser’s and doing pretty good, it feels good proving them wrong.”
With Vasquez reaching a height that other Bulldogs had come close to, but never completed, Culver recorded a 10-place finish out of 22 teams, all of which were between 4A and 6A besides Culver.
Less than 10 points separated Culver (114), from sixth-place Marshfield (122), so the Bulldogs could’ve climbed the leaderboard easily had a match or two ended with a better outcome.
But several Bulldogs scored key points that got them into that position in the first place.
10 YEARS AGO
January 23, 2013
The Madras girls’ basketball team took both North Marion and Molalla to the wire to open the Tri-Valley Conference schedule – and won both games.
The White Buffalos needed an extra session of hoops to beat Molalla 42-40 on Friday, but beat North Marion’ 32-29 in regulation at home Tuesday.
Against Molalla, Madras’ Leah Suppah provided the winning bucket with about a minute left in overtime to lift the home team to the win.
Point guard Mariah Stacona proved why she’s one of the conference’s best with a 25-point performance to lead all scorers. She converted a 3-point play the old-fashioned way in the extra frame to tie the ballgame and set up Suppah’s game winner.
The Buffs had their trouble handling the ball, however, and recorded 29 turnovers – 21 in the second half.
A big first half, especially on the defensive end, staked the Buffs to a 24-12 lead. They allowed just four points in the second period.
Inez Jones chipped in six points for the Buffs as they did just enough to notch their second Tri-Valley win.
On Tuesday, neither the Buffs nor the Huskies put the ball in the bucket with any regularity, but Stacona and Jones hit crucial shots down the stretch to lift Madras to the league-opening win.
With 1:51 left, Stacona pulled up from long distance and buried a 3-pointer with a North Marion defender on her to stretch the Buffs’ lead to 29-25.
Jones collected a nifty pass from Stacona and hit the layup to keep the lead at four points, 31-27, with 1:14 left.
North Marion had a chance to tie the game with 28.2 seconds left, but two missed foul shots gave the Buffs the ball back.
Stacona hit the front end of the 1-and-1 bonus foul shot, then North Marion’s Jasmine Florez chucked up a desperation 3-pointer that thumped the heel of the rim.
Jones led the way on offense with 12 points, while Stacona chipped in 10 and also had five steals.
Vanessa Esquivel had seven rebounds for the Buffs.
25 YEARS AGO
January 21, 1998
Culver’s boys basketball team opened their Big Sky West Division season with a pair of convincing wins.
On Friday the Dogs showed an outclassed Cascade Locks why Culver (2-0 Big Sky, 11-4 overall) is ranked No. 8 in the state with a 30-point victory over the Pirates.
The Bulldogs took it right to cascade Locks as they tallied up 24 points in the first quarter, compared to the Pirates’ 12.
Cascade Locks did close the gap in the second quarter as they outscored Culver 17-12, but still trailed 36-29 at the half.
Culver stepped up their defensive effort in the second half of play against the Pirates, while they continued to move the ball around on offense.
The Bulldogs outscored Cascade Locks 37-14 in the second half to take the victory at 73-43.
Three Bulldogs scored in double digits led by Alex Carlson with 24 points. Landon Roberts scored 15 points and Seth Boyer added 12.
50 YEARS AGO
January 25, 1973
The Culver Bulldog varsity wrestling team lost a close dual match to the White Buffalo junior varsity wrestling team last Thursday. The dual meet score was 31 to 29.
Ron Svensen, Bulldog grappling coach, stated, “We gave Madras 18 points in forfeits. I thought the kids wrestled extremely well considering all of the illness I the squad and many had to wrestle up a weight class.”
“Wayne Schjoll, Bob Hanson, Ray Alley, Bill Guiney, Tom Gates, Tony Boise and Bill Fields all turned in fine performances. Fields did an outstanding job as he came from way behind to tie the score in his match in the final period of wrestling. I am really satisfied that we wrestled that well as sick as we were.”
“We will take on the Madras junior varsity again on Thursday, January 25 ad the following Saturday, January 27, we will travel to John Day to compete in a tournament. Our season record stands at 12 wins, four losses and one tie.