A look back at a memorable year in sports
January 6, 2016
Wrestlers from Chester and Quincy High participated in the Sierra Nevada Classic.
Chester’s Tony Rogers ended up taking fourth place in the 220-pound weight class. Rogers won his first three matches earning a spot in the semi-finals, where he lost to the eventual champion 4 to 3 in an extremely close match.
Devin Partain of Quincy finished with five wins and two losses in the 106-pound weight class. “Devin lost early, but fought back through the consolation side of the bracket. He made some key changes on the fly and thoroughly impressed me with his willingness to adapt his style,” said head coach Cody Clayton.
January 13, 2016
The Quincy High School Ski team competed in its first race of the season at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort in Norden on Monday, Jan. 4.
This ski team season started with more snow on the first race than all of last season. Kainoa Hall placed 11th, Cody Morrison placed 15th, and Luke Zempel rounded out the Trojan skiers in 31st.
January 27, 2016
Joey Romano, a senior at Portola High School, is making a buzz amongst college scouts all over the country.
Romano recently attended the Select 40 Pitcher and Catcher camp at San Diego State University on Dec. 22 and 23. This camp is only open to 40 players throughout the country.
Coming off a stellar junior season in the spring 2015, Romano started drawing interest from college scouts. While playing for both Portola High School and the Mountain Sluggers travel team, Romano continued to impress coaches everywhere.
He performed very well at the SDSU camp according to his recruiting profile on the NCSA recruiting website. His account has been flooding with emails, notifications and views from coaches all over the country.
Romano isn’t just your normal everyday high school pitcher. He’s a left-hander with serious skills. With his fastball clocking in consistently at 84 mph, and a curveball in the low 70s, he isn’t the hardest throwing guy out there, but there is no doubt he is a force to be reckoned with.
Now in his freshman season at Cal Lutheran, Romano is prepared to have a standout first spring season at CLU.
February 10, 2016
The Portola High School boys’ basketball team defeated league opponent Esparto 74-26 on Friday, Feb. 5, in Portola.
The Tigers have now won 11 straight games. Coach Tim Brubaker’s squad has not lost in over a month. The team’s last loss dates back to Jan. 2.
The Tigers maintained their top seat in the Mid-Valley League standings with the victory, as they improved to 17-5 overall and 5-0 in league play. The Spartans fell to 5-15, 0-6.
Defense was once again a key component for Portola. The Tigers forced 11 steals as a team and only turned the ball over 10 times.
Evan Leal led Portola with 26 points. Juan Rodriguez finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Kodi Lowdermilk finished with eight assists.
Out of the 13 players on the Tigers’ roster, 11 players scored at least 2 points.
February 17, 2016
The Feather River College men’s basketball team won the Golden Valley Conference Championship with its 80-76 victory over Butte College on Feb. 10 in Quincy.
The Golden Eagles are now 25-1 overall and 9-0 in GVC play after also defeating Lassen College on Feb. 13. With only one game remaining, FRC has clinched the conference championship.
March 2, 2016
The number four-ranked Portola High School varsity boys’ basketball team showed off to its home crowd with a victory against 13th-ranked Modoc High School in the first round of the playoffs Feb. 24 in Portola.
The Tigers then faced off against the number five seed Mt. Shasta Bears on Feb. 25, also in Portola.
Though the Tigers gave a valiant effort, Coach Tim Brubaker’s squad fell just short, falling 76-75 in a nail-biter of a game.
Lowdermilk led Portola with 23 points and Juan Rodriguez scored 19 points.
The Tigers finished with an overall record of 21-7.
March 9, 2016
The Feather River College men’s basketball team’s season ended on Wednesday March 2 when the Golden Eagles fell to Contra Costa College.
FRC had an excellent season, including going 10-0 in Golden Valley Conference play, and winning the conference title.
The Golden Eagles 103-84 loss to the Comets did not overshadow the incredible year this team put together.
The Chester High School girls’ basketball team hosted American Christian Academy on Tuesday, March 1, in Chester.
This game was the third round and section semifinal game in the North Section Division VI Championship Tournament.
The Lady Volcanoes fell to ACA by a score of 39-35 to finish the season with a record of 18-9.
March 23, 2016
The Feather River College sand volleyball team has its second ever season underway.
In the Coastal Conference Kickoff Tournament on March 4 at West Valley College, the pair of Nina Holmes and Morgan Hughes took first place in the entire tourney, beating over 30 pairs.
The Golden Eagles are playing extremely well. FRC played in Santa Cruz March 18, defeating Foothill 4-1, but falling to Cabrillo 3-2.
The pair of Holmes and Hughes went 2-0 on the weekend. Jasmin Sherman and Summer Vercruyssen also finished the weekend 2-0.
March 30, 2016
After falling to Butte on March 3, the Feather River College baseball team has put together an impressive seven game winning streak after defeating the College of the Siskiyous on March 24 and 25.
The Golden Eagles beat Siskiyous 12-4 in a single game played on March 24 then defeated Siskiyous 4-1 and 10-0 (7 innings) in a doubleheader on March 25.
With the wins, FRC improved to 14-7 overall and 9-1 in Golden Valley Conference play.
April 6, 2016
Cody Pack, a 2010 graduate of Quincy High School, is making strides in the sport of wrestling. Pack, a senior at South Dakota State University, headed into the 2016 NCAA Division One Wrestling Championships with a season record of 23-2. Pack has a 108-33 career record, which is the most in Division One history and tied for 8th in the overall wins list for SDSU.
The 157-pound senior wrestled on March 17 and 18 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in the NCAA tournament. Pack went 2-2, winning his opening match against Neil Richards from the Virginia Military Institute.
Pack then defeated John Boyle from American University, before losing in the third round of the bracket to the eventual fifth place finisher, Chad Walsh, from Rider University. The Quincy native’s run wasn’t done there however, as he moved into the consolation bracket, but fell to Dylan Palacio from Cornell, who finished fourth.
April 20, 2016
The Portola High School baseball team came back from an eight run deficit to beat Loyalton 12-11 on April 12 in Portola.
The Tigers led early on, but a strong five run fifth inning from Loyalton gave the Grizzlies the lead.
Portola bounced back scoring seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and one more in the bottom of the sixth to send the game to extra innings.
The Tigers scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Mitch Pearson singled to right, scoring Evan Leal for a walk-off win at home.
April 27, 2016
The Feather River College Rodeo Team, whose men’s team is the number one team in college rodeo, competed in the Cal Poly Royal Rodeo on April 15 and 16 in San Luis Obispo.
Clayton Biglow and Wyatt Denny, both from FRC, tied for first place in the bareback event. Quincy Crum took the buckle in the Saddle Bronc riding event.
Biglow took second place at the Red Bluff Roundup Rodeo on April 17 and is currently ranked number 10 in the World Professional Rodeo standings.
Lane Santos-Karney placed high in the team roping event as well as the tie down roping event.
The team’s regional finals take place May 4 through 8 in Las Vegas. The top three placers from the regional finals head to Casper, Wyoming, for the College National Finals Rodeo from June 12 to 18.
May 4, 2016
The Greenville Indians defeated Quincy High School 25-5 in a non-league match up on April 27 in Greenville.
The Indians improved their record to 11-8 with the win.
Darian Potts led Greenville offensively. Potts was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and four runs scored.
Brent Washoe was credited with the win on the mound. Washoe threw two innings and allowed two runs, all unearned, on three hits and two strikeouts.
Greenville faced off against American Christian Academy on April 29. The Indians dropped both games of the Evergreen League doubleheader. ACA took the first game 2-0 and won the second game 11-0.
Greenville finishes out its season May 5 when the Indians host Loyalton.
May 18, 2016
The Chester High School baseball team, the top seed in the Northern Section Division VI playoffs, defeated eighth-ranked Mercy 10-0 in five innings in the first round on Friday, May 13, in Chester.
In a high school baseball game, you wonder if the big inning is going to happen. With the Vols, it’s a matter of when that big inning will happen.
Chester has been explosive offensively all season long. The Vols have produced some big innings in key games throughout the year.
May 25, 2016
A total of 16 student-athletes from Feather River College received all-Golden Valley Conference honors for the 2016 spring season.
Four baseball players received all-conference honors and eight players were named academic all-conference, while four softball players were awarded GVC first team all-conference.
Sophomore Daniel Fentriss, freshman Keola Lutz, freshman Brandon Vial and sophomore Kila Zuttermeister received all-conference honors.
Rex Campbell, Kama Elldredge, Brad Galisatus, Jose Melendez, Mikey Rita, Peter Shearer and Jace Zampirro, all sophomores, were named academic all-conference.
For softball, Morgan Greene was named first team all-conference utility player, while Kaitlyn Folkers was selected for infield, Danielle Ortiz for outfield and Kerrigan Travens was chosen for catcher. All four players are sophomores and are spring graduates of FRC.
June 1, 2016
After a successful rookie season in the show beginning late last season, it seemed Cody Anderson would be the guy for the Cleveland Indians come April of 2016.
Surrounded by the hype, Anderson made his 2016 debut April 9 against the Chicago White Sox. Anderson pitched six innings, allowing two runs, both earned, on six hits, two walks, a homerun and only two strikeouts.
June 8, 2016
The Chester High School baseball team won its first Northern Section baseball title in school history on May 26 when it defeated American Christian 3-1 in Chester.
“I am very proud of our guys,” said Chester head coach Aaron Hardesty. “Their work ethic gave us a chance to compete in the championship game and ultimately win the section title for the first time in Chester High’s history.”
The game, scheduled to be played May 20 at Tiger Field in Redding, but due to rain, the game was postponed until May 24 in Chester.
However, after another delay, the game was moved to May 26, where after a brief hailstorm in the early innings, skies dried up and the teams were finally able to play.
Spencer Lee got the start on the mound for the Volcanoes.
Lee pitched all seven innings, allowing one run on four hits, one walk, and 16 strikeouts.
Jason Schlueter and Lee led the Vols offensively, each going 1 for 3. Schlueter had the only extra base hit of the game, which was a double in the third inning.
Schleuter, Adam Branch and Silas LaGroue scored Chester’s three runs.
June 15, 2016
Tony Rogers stood atop the podium at the California Greco-Roman State Championship Wrestling tournament June 5 in Fresno. Rogers, who hails from Chester, competed in the 220-pound weight class.
As a sophomore at Chester High, Rogers was dominant during the high school wrestling season, but injured his arm in March at the state tournament in Bakersfield.
Only three months after the injury, Rogers pinned two opponents and recorded one technical fall on his way to the 220-pound state title. In the final match, Rogers was losing 8 to 2 before throwing Nick Echeveeste of Firebaugh High School on his back and getting the pin to win.
June 22, 2016
The Feather River College Rodeo team competed in the Collegiate National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming, from June 12 to 18.
Head Coach Jesse Segura and six of his FRC riders took home the Collegiate Rodeo National Championship on Saturday, June 18, for the first time since the program began 12 years ago with a 200-point victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State University. They totaled the highest team score in CNFR history (1,000 points).”
While the team as a whole was successful, Segura said the key to the title was his team’s finish in the bareback event. Wyatt Denny and Clayton Biglow placed every round to make the team’s average skyrocket.
On top of the team title, Denny took home first place overall in bareback with a point total of 340. Biglow followed his teammate, taking second place in the event with a total score of 320. The next closest finisher had a point total of 175.
June 29, 2016
Just days after taking second place at the Collegiate National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming, Clayton Biglow made his way to the Reno Rodeo and won the overall bareback title.
On Tuesday, June 21, Biglow took his first in the Reno Rodeo bareback event, riding Flying Five Rodeo’s Rio’s Edge for 83 points. The CNFR reserve champion ended up in second for the night.
On Biglow’s night two, Wednesday, June 22, the Clements native rode Rosser Rodeo’s Get your Kix for the night’s top score of 81 to move up to second place overall.
Biglow then had the ride of his life to win the bareback riding title. Biglow entered the final round in first place and secured the win with an 89.5-point ride on Flying U Rodeo’s Lil Red Hawk. That was the highest marked ride of the 20-year-old’s career. He ended up winning the title and the spurs with a total score of 253.5 points.
July 20, 2016
The 2016 Patriot 16 Bike Ride in Graeagle on July 2 saw 22 riders brave the course in a ride that challenged riders from all over the north state.
The course began at the Howling Dog Bike Shop in Graeagle and trekked throughout Blairsden, on Highway 70 to Mt. Tomba, then turned around and finished up back at Howling Dog for a 16-mile ride.
Kris Rohman from Berkeley bested the course and took the win with a time of 49:30.
John Ludden, the director of the Patriot 16 ride, even rode the course himself. Though Ludden did not win the ride, he donned an Uncle Sam-like racing uniform to show his patriotism.
July 27, 2016
The 17u Paradise Storm legion baseball team took down the 17u Reno Muckdogs by a score of 3-0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Feather River College on July 6. No score was reported for the second game.
The Storm team is comprised mostly of athletes from Paradise High School, but features six of Plumas and Sierra County’s own players.
Drew Baumgartner, Bowdy Griffin, Tyler Lake, Cody Morrison, Brenden Murray and Jake Rick all played together on the Feather River All-Stars team as they developed into high school baseball players.
August 17, 2016
Fans packed the stands at the American Valley Speedway on Sunday, Aug. 14, to watch the 2016 Plumas Sierra County Fair auto races.
Mini-stocks, Hobby stocks, Sport Mods and the IMCA A-Mods all excited the crowd with “neck ‘n neck” racing all night long.
The Sport Mod main event featured the top four racers in the state, where the Cooper Brothers, hailing from Yuba City, went first and second. Brian Cooper, who took first in his 17-car recently locked up the IMCA Sport Mod state championship.
His brother, Todd Cooper, who is currently top ranked in the IMCA Sport Mod division in the state took second in his 27-car. Damien Merritt took third place in his 22m-car.
For the IMCA A-Mods, Jeff Olschowka continued his main event domination. His 121-car came flying from the middle of the pack to the front in the final laps to catch Erica Buhr in the 69-car. Olschowka passed Buhr with three laps to go and took the win. Buhr took second place.
Richard Papenhausen, who battled with Olschowka and Buhr most of the early part of the race, took third place in his 4n-car.
August 24, 2016
Portola High School, the defending Mid-Valley League Champions, is coming off an undefeated regular season and a North Section Championship appearance.
A familiar offense will return to Portola, as new head coach Joe Sanchez and the Tigers, with help from Offensive Coordinator Howard Thomas, will run the Fly Offense, created by Sanchez’s High School coaches, Thomas and Ron Jacobson Jr., in the early 1990s.
Standout running back Edgar Cuevas, quarterback Kodi Lowdermilk, and fly back Dominic Vukobradovich are expected to lead this young Portola team.
Cuevas, who rushed for 2,204 yards that ranked the junior 24th in the state for total yards, looks to improve on that number in his final year at Portola.
Vukobradovich, who had 20 receptions for seven touchdowns and 389 total receiving yards returns for his senior season as well.
Sanchez expects juniors Antonio Maddalena, Eric Jacobson and Brandon Caballero, as well as sophomores Hunter Cabral, Ricky Johnston and Chandler Ross to step up and lead as well.
August 31, 2016
The Portola High School football team opened its season last Friday night against the Foresthill Wildfire in Portola, where the Tigers were victorious 54-12 behind 541 yards of total offense, 418 by way of the run.
Senior running back Edgar Cuevas finished the day with 251 rushing yards on 10 touches with four touchdowns. Dom Vukobradovich finished with 70 yards rushing and quarterback Kodi Lowdermilk went 3 for 5 passing with 81 yards passing and a touchdown.
“We played well,” said Lowdermilk. “We did make some mistakes, but that’s football. To get the first win of the year at home is a great start to the season. We had some unnecessary penalties that hurt us at times, but we stuck together and pushed through.”
The senior quarterback also had 34 yards rushing and a touchdown.
September 7, 2016
The Feather River College volleyball team defeated Southwestern Oregon 3-0 on Wednesday, Aug. 31, at FRC.
FRC started off the first game very strong, jumping out to a 10-3 lead early on after a vital block from the Eagles front line.
Sophomore Morgan Hughes followed the block with a big kill to give FRC momentum. The Eagles extended their lead to 17-9 thanks to a kill off the hand of sophomore Summer Williams.
FRC kept the lead and took the first game 25-17.
With the score 24-19, Hughes dominated the net once again and finished off the SWOCC squad and gave the Eagles a 25-19 win for a 3-0 sweep.
September 14, 2016
The Quincy High School varsity football team has been unstoppable thus far in the season. Though only entering the third week of the year, this Trojan team demolished its first two opponents behind a dominant defensive side.
On Friday, Sept. 9, Quincy rolled over the Lions of Etna High 38-0 for its second win of the season.
In the season opener on Sept. 2, the Trojans easily defeated the Modoc Braves 34-0.
Big Red’s defense has been the story early on in the year, despite the offense putting up over 30 points in both games.
Jeff Ray and the Trojan defense held Modoc to only 81 yards of offense, while Etna only managed 159 total yards.
Led by senior linebacker Caleb Allred with only 12 total tackles in both games combined, Quincy made 23 tackles against Modoc and 46 against Etna, unusually low for high school football proving how tough this defense is.
September 21, 2016
The Quincy High School Varsity boys’ soccer team won a handful of games from Sept. 13 to 18.
The Quincy boys’ team started its winning week with a 4-3 victory over Paradise Adventist Academy on Sept. 13 and a 3-2 nail biter over Redding Christian on Sept. 15 before handing a whopping 11-0 loss to Squaw Valley on Sept. 16.
The win against Redding Christian came on a goal late in the second half on a pass from Miles Rubalcava-Cunan to Luis Santos to give Quincy its first win on Redding Christian’s home turf in nearly six years.
With the wins, the Trojans improve to 5-2 on the season and 2-0 in league play.
October 5, 2016
The Quincy High School football team improved to 5-0 when it defeated Foresthill High School 50-0 on Sept. 30 at Foresthill.
Cody Morrison led the Trojans in rushing, with 144 yards on nine carries. Justyn Conston added in 87 yards on 14 touches, while Brendan Murray chipped in 73 yards, Crowe Herbertson-Deemer added in 67 yards, and Caleb Allred racked up 64 yards.
Defensively, Allred and Michael Fowler led the Trojans with six total tackles each.
October 19, 2016
The Grinduro bike race drew in over 700 riders to Quincy on Oct. 8.
The Grinduro is a grueling bike course that covers 60 miles of riding that incorporates 7,500 feet of climbing.
The course features a mix of surfaces such as smooth pavement, gravel and hard-packed dirt and with two main climbs, one long valley and two world-class descents. One descent includes a fast, flowing single-track trail, as well as a trail that descends downhill for 30 miles.
October 26, 2016
The FRC women’s soccer team took down Redwoods at home 2-0. FRC tied with Lassen College 2-2 on Oct. 18.
Kelsi Avana scored both goals for the Golden Eagles against Redwoods. Avana was assisted by Brianna Alvarez on her first goal and by McKay Leos on her second goal.
Against Lassen, Lara Pflicke scored one goal for the Golden Eagles and was assisted by Kara Campbell. Avana scored the other goal and was assisted by Vanessa Hamilton.
November 2, 2016
The Tulelake Honkers defeated Quincy in the Northern Section fall soccer championship game on Saturday.
Tulelake, the overall top seed in the tournament, defeated Quincy twice and lost once earlier in the season.
The Honkers defeated Paradise Adventist 8-0 and Weed 3-1 to get to the finals, while Quincy took down Fall River 7-1 and then Mt. Shasta 2-1 to reach the finals.
Against Mt. Shasta, Theo Moresi, who scored both goals including the game-winner, led the Trojan offense. Moresi netted a free kick from well outside the box in extra time last Thursday to propel Quincy into the Championship game.
Congratulations to the Trojan soccer team on an outstanding season.
November 9, 2016
The 2016 Division V high school football playoffs are set to begin this Friday. This year’s playoff features two out of the three Division V schools in Plumas County.
The Quincy Trojans secured the number two seed with a 46-24 win over the Maxwell Panthers on Friday night in Maxwell.
Quincy ends the regular season with a 9-1 record and a share of the Mountain Valley league title with the number one overall Biggs Wolverines.
November 16, 2016
The Portola Tigers defeated Redding Christian in straight sets 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-23) to advance to the Northern Section Division VI Championship game on Nov. 12 against Fall River at Red Bluff High School.
The Tigers fell to Fall River 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-22) but also advanced to the state playoffs.
Portola is the number eight-seeded team in the NorCal Division VI playoffs. The Tigers play tonight at Woodland Christian in Sacramento at 7 p.m.
En route to the Championship, Portola also took down county foe Greenville 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-14) on Nov. 8.
November 23, 2016
The Feather River College Golden Eagle men’s soccer team took down West Valley 3-0 in the first round of playoffs Nov. 19 at FRC.
The Golden Eagles fought through the nasty weather that included rain, sleet and snow to come out on top.
Jack Fulton was the hero of the day for FRC. Fulton scored all three goals for the home squad to earn a hat trick.
Ryan Birchfield assisted Fulton twice and John Ryan Holland assisted on one goal.
November 30, 2016
The Feather River College volleyball team fell to Fresno City College in the second round of the state playoffs on Saturday 3-1 (14-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-27) at Fresno.
FRC ends its season with an overall record of 17-9. Statistically, the Golden Eagles finished third in the state in kills per set with 13.29 and led in conference play with 13.85.
FRC will return freshman standout middle back Cyan Blackdeer, but will lose sophomore outside hitter Morgan Hughes who led the team in kills this season with a total of 370.
Libero Katie McKay is set to return for her sophomore season next year. McKay finished a stellar first year at FRC, leading the team in digs with 391. Also returning next year for FRC is setter Precious Helekahi, who led the team in assists with 874.
Feather River will also be losing Kim Austin and Summer Vercruyssen who finished the season with 200 kills and 115 kills, respectively.
Though the Golden Eagles will lose some power hitters, next year’s team will feature a very mature team, expecting 10 players to return as sophomores
December 7, 2016
The Greenville High boys’ basketball team grabbed a second place finish at the Greenville Invitational this past weekend with a 2-1 record.
The Indians took down Happy Camp on Thursday evening by a score of 50-23, before defeating Herlong 47-12 on Friday night.
The only loss of the tournament came in the championship game against Redding Christian, where the Lions defeated the Indians 47-25.
All-tournament players for Greenville were Sheridan Kusel and Zack Pew.
December 14, 2016
The Portola High School varsity boys’ basketball team had a successful weekend at its home Tiger Classic tournament.
Portola started off in a hole, when it fell to eventual tourney champion Modoc by a score of 62-46.
Kodi Lowdermilk led the way for Portola with 10 points, followed by Antonio Maddalena, who contributed eight points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers.
Portola found momentum Friday night, as the Tigers took down the Biggs Wolverines by a score of 56-48. Once again, the duo of Lowdermilk and Maddalena led the way for Portola with 14 points each.
Dom Vukobradovich chipped in 12 points. Portola’s big man Maddalena dominated the boards, finishing with 25 rebounds on the night.
The Tigers continued to roll on Saturday night, when they were victorious over rival Quincy by a score of 58-29 to improve to 3-5 overall.
All-tournament players for the Tigers were Lowdermilk and Maddalena.
