Duke, Martin Qualify for State as Baker/Powder Valley Girls Finish 14th

Hailey Duke placed second at 120 pounds and secured a state berth, and teammate Kylie Martin finished fourth at 115 to also qualify, as Baker/Powder Valley’s girls wrestling squad placed 14th of 25 teams at the district tournament in La Grande Feb. 20-21. The district meet sent the top four finishers in each weight class to the state tournament scheduled for Feb. 26-27 in Portland.

Duke advanced to her district final and secured qualification for the state tournament with the 2nd-place finish at 120 pounds. Martin’s fourth-place finish at 115 earned the other Baker/Powder Valley state spot from the girls side. Kate Norton wrestled at 170, advanced to the fourth-place match, but lost to Pendleton’s Madison Chase and did not advance.

The Baker/Powder Valley individual results list printed at the meet included Austin Hilton at 100 pounds, Neva Lynch at 115, Kylie Martin at 115, Hailey Duke at 120, Zea Young at 130, Sophia Ward at 140 and Kate Norton at 170. Not all of those listed wrestlers had placement details recorded in the meet summary; the team’s 14th-place finish was compiled from district scoring across the two-day tournament Feb. 20 and 21.

For regional context, Pine Eagle’s Brooklyn Bennett won her first match at 120 but lost in the quarterfinals and again in consolation round 2, reflecting the depth of competition in the middleweights that Baker/Powder Valley navigated. The girls district field included 25 teams overall, and the top four in each weight class were designated to advance to state competition in Portland the following weekend.

Baker/Powder Valley’s postseason representation extends beyond the girls qualifiers. Six Baker/Powder Valley boys already qualified for state following their district meet Feb. 13-14: Wyatt Valentine, Luis Rosales, Braiden Whitebread, Bowen McGuire, Daniel Maldonado and Roman Zickgraf. Those six joins Duke and Martin as local wrestlers headed to the Feb. 26-27 state tournament.

Local winter-sports activity on the same weekend included Powder Valley girls basketball clinching a district playoff spot by beating Union 50-44 on Saturday, Feb. 21, to take third at the district tournament at Baker High School. Powder Valley, the 15th seed, will host 18th-seed Rogue Valley Adventist Academy on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 5:30 p.m.; the Redhawks are 15-6 overall and Powder Valley is 17-9. The Powder Valley boys, seeded 20th among 32 playoff teams, will travel to Roseburg on Tuesday, Feb. 24, to play Umpqua Valley Christian at 6 p.m.; Umpqua Valley Christian is the 13th seed and 18-9.

Duke and Martin will compete in Portland Feb. 26-27 as part of the bracket that accepts the top four district finishers in each weight class, with state seeding and match times to be posted ahead of weekend competition.