| Pirates
win big over Orofino
The Prairie Pirates picked up an easy win against Orofino Tuesday Feb. 3, beating them 73-42 at Cottonwood. Prairie jumped out to a 23-12 lead by the end of the first quarter and extended the lead to 43-28 by halftime. They limited the Maniacs to just 3 third quarter points as they built the lead to 60-31 after 3 quarters. Jake Chaffee led the Pirates in scoring with 17 points and was 7 for 9 at the free throw line as he had a strong game inside. Matt Baerlocher added 13 points, Tyler Crane 12 and Jacob Nuxoll 10 as Prairie had 4 players in double figures. Chad Arnzen scored 9, Jacob Riener 6, and Mat Forsmann and Shane Doyle 3 each. Prairie also easily won the JV contest, 61-32. Orofino 12 16 3 11 -42 Prairie 23 20 17 13 -73 Prairie-T. Crane 4, 2-2, 12; Chaffee 5, 7-7, 17; Frei 0, 0-0, 0; Nuxoll 4, 2-2, 10; Forsmann 1, 1-2, 3; Riener 2, 2-3, 6; Baerlocher 6, 1-2, 13; Doyle 1, 1-2, 3; Arnzen 4, 1-2, 9; S. Crane 0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-T. Crane 2. Orofino-Savage 4, 2-2, 13; Crecelius 0, 0-0, 0; McLeod 0, 0-0, 0; Copeland 1, 0-0, 2; Garland 4, 2-4, 10; Blake 2, 1-3, 5; Marvin 5, 2-4, 12; Mangum 0, 0-0, 0; Rodriquez 0, 0-0, 0, Bowser 0, 0-0, 0; Hosley 0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Savage 3. Pirates beat Lapwai, again The Prairie Pirates recorded their first season sweep of the Lapwai Wildcats since 1981 with an 84-63 win at Cottonwood on Senior Night Friday, Feb. 6. Matt Baerlocher led the way for the Pirates as he hit 13 of 16 shots in the game and added 4 of 5 free throws for a game high 33 points. He had 22 points by halftime. Tyler Crane added 24 points with 15 of those coming in the second half. 
Lapwai scored first in the game but 2 free throws and then a driving lay-up by Baerlocher gave Prairie the lead. Lapwai came back to lead at 4-6 and 6-8 but a putback by Baerlocher and a basket by Shane Doyle gave prairie the lead for good. A 3-point play by Baerlocher made it 13-8. Lapwai came back to trim the lead to 13-12 but am 8-1 run to end the quarter made it 21-13 for the Pirates. Lapwai came back in the second quarter and cut the lead to 3 at 28-25 midway through the period but a backset by Crane and a 3-pointer by Baerlocher quickly put the lead back at 8. Baerlocher connected on his first 8 shot attempts of the game before missing a couple of 3-point attempts late in the half with one of those coming on a last second heave as the buzzer sounded. Prairie led 42-35 at the half. Prairie still led by just 6 at 50-44 midway through the third quarter but a 12-3 run to end the third quarter, fueled by a 3-pointer each by Baerlocher and Crane, gave Prairie a 62-47 lead heading into the final period. In the fourth quarter Prairie used free throws to help keep their big lead as well as add to it as they converted 11 of 16 attempts in the final quarter. With the lead at 20 points late in the game, coach Jerry Uhling subbed out his seniors one at a time so that the crowd could give them each their approval for a great season. The game was probably the Pirates best in many years as they connected on 27 of 45 shots, 60%, and committed just 10 turnovers against a Lapwai team that usually forces more than 20 against the Pirates. The only place Lapwai dominated was on the boards where they held a 26-41 advantage thanks mostly to Jay Leighton who had 19 rebounds. Prairie hit at least 50% of their shots in every quarter as they were 8 for 13 in the first, 7 for 12 in both the second and third and 5 for 10 in the fourth. Baerlocher was a perfect 10 for 10 from inside the arc in the game and 3 for 6 from 3-point range. Crane was 6 for 14 from the field and 10 for 13 at the free throw line with a pair of 3-pointers for his 24 points. Doyle scored 6 points, Jake Chaffee and Jacob Riener 5 each, Brent Frei and Chad Arnzen 4 each and Mat Forsmann 2. Arnzen and Baerlocher each had 6 rebounds to lead the Pirates while Baerlocher had 4 steals 5 assists while Crane had 6 assists. In addition to their hot shooting from the field Prairie was 24 for 42 at the line. Lapwai was 25 for 58 from the field, 43%, and 9 for 17 at the line. With the win Prairie improves to 9-2 in league play and 16-3 overall with one regular season game left to play. The JV team also won, avenging an earlier loss, 69-57. Mat Forsmann scored 30 points in the game in just 3 quarters of action, 23 of those in the first half. Forsmann and Seth Crane split the scoring in the first quarter as Forsmann had 9 and Crane 8 as Prairie jumped out to a 17-11 lead. Forsmann scored 14 in the second quarter as they built their lead to 37-23 by the half. Forsmann also played the third quarter which was unusual as he usually plays just the first half to leave two quarters for varsity action. He helped Prairie extend their lead to 45-28 before Lapwai started to rally. The Wildcats cut the lead to 11 but Prairie was able to lead by 13 going into the fourth quarter at 53-40. Prairie was sent to the line for 18 free throw attempts in the final quarter as two Lapwai players fouled out, and made enough of them to help hold their lead. Lapwai cut the lead to 9 on a couple of occasions but could get no closer. Crane wound up with 14 points with Sean Daly and Corey Schaeffer scoring 7 each, Kelby Wilson had 4, Kevin Funke 3 and J.D. Riener and Christopher Schumacher 2 each. Lapwai held a 37-41 rebounding edge with Schaeffer grabbing 9 to lead the Pirates with Crane and Funke grabbing 7 each. Forsmann had 8 steals in the game and Daly had 4 assists. Prairie was 27 for 51 shooting for 53% and 13 for 30 at the line while Lapwai was 23 for 72 from the field, 32%, and 7 for 13 at the line. Lapwai 13 22 12 16 -63 Prairie 21 21 20 22 -84 Prairie-Crane 6-14, 10-13, 24; Chaffee 2-5, 1-4, 5; Frei 1-1, 2-4, 4; Baerlocher 13-16, 4-5, 33; Doyle 2-5, 2-3, 6; Riener 1-2, 3-8, 5; Arnzen 2-4, 0-1, 4; Nuxoll 0-0, 0-0, 0; Forsmann 0-0, 2-4, 2. 3-pointers-Baerlocher 3, Crane 2. Lapwai-Mahuron 1-2, 2-2, 4; J. Leighton 8-12, 0-1, 16; Moody 6-13, 3-4, 17; Domebo 3-10, 1-4, 8; Ramsey 3-6, 2-4, 8; Reuben 1-2, 0-0, 3; Jones 0-1, 0-1, 0; P. Leighton 0-4, 0-0, 0; Running 3-8, 1-1, 7. 3-pointers-Moody 2, Domebo, Reuben. Wrestlers have tough final home match In their final home match of the season the Prairie wrestling team had a tough time against Kamiah on Thursday, Feb. 5 at Cottonwood. 
Alex Matson, who was honored as the lone senior on senior night, picked up the team’s only two wins of the evening. C.V. was also at the match but none of their wrestlers matched up with any of Prairie’s Matson was in Prairie’s first match of the evening as he defeated Daniel Moore of Kamiah, winning by pin 3:19 into the match. Later Matson defeated Coon of Kamiah, also winning by pin in 1:11. He contested both matches at 189 lbs. even though he usually wrestles at 171. At 119 lbs. Tony Duman lost by pin in 4:27 to Grupp of Kamiah. At 130 lbs. Shane Poxleitner lost 8-10 in overtime to Tyler Jackson of Kamiah. At 140 lbs. Richard Sonnen lost by pin to Rupp of Kamiah in 1:18. At 145 lbs. Nick Uhlenkott lost to Daniel Childers of Kamiah 6-11. At 152 lbs. Roscoe Arnzen lost by pin in 35 seconds to Roemer of Kamiah. At 160 lbs. Cody Gehring lost by pin in 5:17 to Evans of Kamiah. At 171 lbs. Logan Lustig lost by pin to Foster of Kamiah in 1:12. The Pirates have one more league match with Grangeville and Kamiah on Friday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. District tournament will be Feb. 21 at Kamiah. Poxleitner takes 4th at Weiser Shane Poxleitner took 4th place at the Weiser tournament after upsetting the number 1 seed in the opening round Feb. 6 and 7. He won 6-2 over Lusk of American Falls, the tournament’s number 1 seed at 130 lbs. Poxleitner then won 9-2 over Moore of Skyview to reach the semifinals. He then lost by pin to Nobel of Weiser to drop into the consolation bracket where he won by pin over Dill of New Plymouth to make the consolation final. There he ran into Lusk again and this time lost 3-8 to place 4th. Nick Uhlenkott had the next best showing as he also won 3 of 5 matches but finished 1 round short of the consolation finals. He won by pin over Riddle of Payette then lost 0-5 to Rogers of Gooding. He beat Pollock of New Plymouth 9-8 then won by pin over Lawson of Mountain Home before being eliminated 3-13 by Halzworth of Skyview. Cody Gehring won a pair of matches, winning by pin over Sherrill of Orofino then losing by pin to Chapman of New Plymouth. He won by pin over Skanter of McCall-Donnelly then was eliminated when Sheirbon of Melba pinned him. Alex Matson was the only other Prairie wrestler with a win as he lost in the first round to Baggs of Buhl then pinned teammate Logan Lustig in the second round before losing to Randall of Melba 6-17. Tony Duman, Richard Sonnen, Roscoe Arnzen and Lustig all lost twice by pins. by Cody Gehring Wrestling is an individual sport as well as a team sport. The team has to work together throughout the year to become better athletes. They are constantly striving to improve themselves and each other. Wrestling is a family sport as well. Parents are a major factor in the sport, without them the wrestlers wouldn’t be out on the mat. Wrestling takes mental, physical, and emotional strength. A wrestler needs dedication, patience, and perseverance. Wrestlers live by the motto: win with dignity, lose with integrity, do both with pride. Respect is a major factor in the sport. Wrestlers need to respect their opponents, teammates, coaches, officials, as well as themselves. These are the makings of a good wrestler. Wrestling isn’t all about winning either. A good wrestler not only wins well but also can handle losing a match. They learn from their mistakes and work to get better. Just to give you a little information about a wrestling match, a regulation match consists of six minutes. These six minutes are divided into three periods, which are two minutes each. There are no timeouts in a match, unless a wrestler is injured or for some other reason that the official deems worthy. Six minutes may not sound like a very long time, but it is extremely strenuous. In these six minutes the wrestler must attempt to take their opponent down, and put them in a pinning combination. Every muscle in their body is being used. Another issue in wrestling is weight loss. A wrestler must acquire the self-discipline to lose weight and make a certain weight class. This year a new regulation has been applied that sets a minimum body fat percentage. The wrestler goes through a body fat test to determine how much weight they can lose. The wrestler is not required to lose a certain amount of weight, but most of them do this so that they can wrestle opponents that are closest to their size. The wrestlers themselves also work to help fund their sport. Among some of the things the team has done are helping haul furniture when people are moving, cleaning up the fairgrounds after the Idaho County Fair, and cleaning after all the home sports activities. The team is willing to work hard to be able to pay for everything. The coaches put in a lot of time for the wrestlers too. Coaches Steve Lamont and Dan Altman have dedicated 12 years of service to Prairie High School Wrestling. They both have had significant past achievements in wrestling and now want to pass their experience and wisdom on to further generations. They are willing to do a lot for the team to help them succeed. They and their families take out a lot of their own time to help out with the sport. Now you probably have a basic idea of what really goes into the sport of wrestling. So next time you hear that a wrestling meet is coming up, come support your local wrestlers. They may not have a full roster, but they make up for it in attitude and heart. The wrestlers are working hard to qualify for state and can use all the support they can get. The District tournament is February 21 in Kamiah. So we encourage you to come and show some Pirate pride and cheer on the wrestlers. Local team places 2nd A group of 7th and 8th grade boys, coached by Jerry Forsmann, traveled to the Knights of Columbus tournament on Saturday, Feb. 7. 
They played four full games and two quarters of basketball and came away with a second place trophy, losing to the Lewiston KC’s 29-35 in the championship game. The teams in the tournament were Sts. Peter and Paul from Grangeville, Nezperce, 8th grade Cottonwood girls and the Lewiston KC’s and two AAU teams that were in the tournament just for practice. The Cottonwood boys had to play both of those more experienced AAU teams and they did very well despite losing. To get into the championship game, they beat Sts. Peter and Paul and Nezperce. Members of the team were back from left: Zachary Frei, Austin Wassmuth, Kenneth Enneking, Tyler Forsmann, Dustin Lustig and coach Jerry Forsmann. Front from left are Kyle Daly, Steven Baerlocher and Eric Daly. Winter Sports Schedules February 18, 19, 23, 25, 26, 28 District continues February 21st Districts Kamiah TBA February 26th/28th State Pocatello TBA |
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