>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Then look at the record. On the season, the Eagles chalked up a perfect 29-0 mark. That’s a marvelous payoff for practice, practice and more practice.

Don’t forget the storybook ending. St. Paul was the same team that beat JoHi for the title at the 2007 state tourney.  Winning the second time around must have been sweet indeed.

All season long the Eagles showed fans that basketball is more than a game. At its best, it’s a proving ground for heart, soul, dedication, determination, pure human grit.

Way to go, JoHi. You’ve done yourself — and your community — proud.

Kudos to wrestlers, too

If there’s one thing that makes high school wrestling stand out as a sport, it’s the fact that participants travel so lonely a road in their quest for honors.

A basketball team has five players, a baseball team nine, a football team 11. High school wrestlers are a part of a team for scoring purposes, but in competition they go it alone. Out there on the mat, there’s no such thing as a sub.

It’s a grueling sport requiring strength, fast reflexes, thorough training and a special kind of courage. Winning a state championship is no small achievement.

Hats off now to three of the area’s best — John Tuck and Dylan McCallum of La Grande, and Jake Noyes of Imbler. At the end of a long, tough season, all three can claim they are the best in the state in their respective weight classes.

McCallum scored a 10-8 overtime win over Umpqua’s Brandon Bowers, the top-seeded wrestler at 103 pounds, for the state title. In the same Class 4A tourney, Tuck like McCallum a

La Grande junior, overcame an 8-0 deficit to beat Molalla’s Cody Weishoff for the 152-pound championship. In the Class 1A-2A state finals, Noyes, a 160-pounder, captured the title with a 5-1 victory over George Swartzlender of  Lakeview.

Good coaching and strong support from family and friends no doubt played a part as these three toughed out a season and emerged victorious. But in the end, the matches were there for them and them alone to win or lose. They rose to the challenge, a credit to their schools and communities.