Baker wrestling coach Brandon Young is expecting big things from his Bulldogs this season.

Baker, which placed seventh at the Class 4A state meet a year ago, returns a dozen state qualifiers, including four wrestlers who placed at the state tournament.

Returning state placers are Jace Hays, fifth; James AhHee, fourth; Korey Grende, fourth; and Dylan Feldmeier, second.

Also returning are GOL champions Alex Duran and Clay Keller.

Joining the returning 12 are 18 freshmen and newcomers bringing a total of 30 bodies to early practices.

“That’s the most we’ve had out in the seven years I’ve been coaching,” Young said.

“That’s a huge group of freshmen; the largest group we’ve ever had,” the Baker coach said.

“A lot of them have worked out in the offseason so they know their techniques.”

Young said the combination of the returning wrestlers, the talented newcomers and what he sees other top teams returning could mean a run at the 4A title for the Bulldogs.

“There are about five teams deadlocked for that title,” Young said. “Crook County has dominated for years, but they graduated a lot. I think we can be right there.”

Young said many of the new wrestlers could make a difference.

“The new kids are all athletes,” he said.

“They will be difference makers, particularly in the upper weights.”

And, depth will also be a plus for the Bulldogs.

“We’ll have several kids at most weights,” Young said. “The competition will make everybody better.”

Bulldogs dominate Burns tournament

Baker wrestlers dominated the Woodfin Robinson tournament Friday at Burns.

The Bulldogs topped Crane 72-6, Vale 72-5, Burns 67-6, and Lakeview 70-6 to run away with the team championship.

“We were happy with the intensity that all of our kids wrestled with as they put forth the most dominant performance that I have ever been a part of,” said Baker coach Brandon Young.

“Many of our wrestlers put in extra work in the off season that is paying off now. This team is already pretty scary: having all 12 wrestlers return from last season backed up by a strong group of freshmen, and our new recruits from football.”

Young said football and wrestling go hand in hand, especially for linemen and defense. He said that is a key to Sam Bootsma, Andrew Dun and Hudson Cole having success early on as beginning wrestlers.

“They are athletes. Wrestling is going to help them become even better football players,” he said.

“Hudson only had one match but it was amazing to watch him ‘flip the switch’ and go on the attack,” Young said. “He only got to actually wrestle one time, the rest were forfeits, but came away with a 20 second pin that could have been called in under 10 seconds! He just exploded right through his opponent taking him directly to his back.

“Another newcomer that did extremely well and showed a lot of natural talent was Adolfo Rodriguez as he pinned his opponent with a cradle,” Young said.

“I asked Adolfo, ‘who taught you that,?’ as we have not even covered a cradle at practice yet. He responded, ‘I saw the other kids on the team doing it so I thought I would try it too.’ Aldolfo is a natural athlete and shows that he has the ability to teach himself, which means the sky is the limit.”

Young said there are still several things the Bulldogs need to work on and Baker is not in great shape yet, as it was the first match of the season.

“We look to make another charge at the Muilenburg in La Grande for the team title as will be put to the test.”

113-Johnny Niehaus, Fr, 4-0 w/ 2 pins

120-Ian Feldmeier, Fr, 4-0 w/ 3 pins

120-Andrew Adams, Fr, 2-0 w/2 pins

126-Jace Hays, Sr, 3-0 w/2 pins

126-Nick Blair, Jr, 1-1 w/ 1 pin

126-Oliver Quezada, Fr, 1-0

132-James AhHee, Sr, 4-0 w/ 2 pins

132-Adolfo Rodriguez, Fr, 1-1 w/ 1 pin

132-Alejandro Davila, Fr, 1-0 w/ 1 pin

138-Jorge Duran, Fr, 3-1 w/ 3 pins

138-Alex Hammans, Fr, 1-0 w/ 1 pin

145-Elijah Banister, Jr, 4-0 w/ 2 pins

152-Korey Grende, Sr, 4-0 w/ 2 pins

160-Clay Keller, Jr, 4-0 w/ 3 pins

170-Dylan Feldmeier, Sr, 4-0 w/ 1 pin

170-Sam Harper, Jr, 1-1 w/ 1 pin

170-Donovan Austin, So, 0-2

182-G’ovi Quezada, Jr, 4-0 w/ 2 pins

195-Sam Bootsma, Sr, 4-0 w/ 1 pin

195-Andrew Dunn, Jr, 1-0 w/ 1 pin

220-Hudson Cole, Jr, 4-0 w/ 1 pin

285-Isiah Madison, Jr, 3-1