The Lions fall for the first time in NWOC action

The streak had to end eventually, and though the Lions dropped their first Northwest Oregon Conference dual, a 39-29 loss to Liberty on Thursday night, St. Helens got treated to it's fair share of thrilling moments.

Freshman Myles Terry remained undefeated, getting a 13-7 decision of Liberty's Hunter Dehlin at 152 to stretch his run to 27-0.

Junior Cody Jackson also won, pinning Liberty's Kevin Rivas in 2:19.

The loudest cheer, though, might have come at 132 pounds.

In the 132-pound bout, with the Lions leading 11-6, Michael Bowen leapt on Liberty's Noah Ross, pinning him in just 18 seconds to give St. Helens their largest lead of the dual.

Liberty responded by winning the next two before Terry's decision at 152. Zilen Nichols got a pin in the second round at 170 pounds, but the Falcons won by fall in the next three matches. The last two, wins for Jose Alaguana and Alexio at 195 and 220 respectively, each came in the last four seconds of the match but ultimately ended with six points for Liberty. The pin at 220 sealed the win for the Falcons, but perhaps the dual's most exciting match was yet to come.

Lion senior Mario Olmedo and Liberty's Louise Rodriguez made for a fantastic heavyweight bout flying from one side of the mat to the other. Rodriguez narrowly missed a number of takedowns, but pushed Olmedo outside of the circle before scoring and with seconds left, Olmedo was only trailing 5-4.

As the buzzer sounded, Olmedo scored a takedown, pulling him ahead and winning the match by one and bringing the fans to their feet.

The dual concludes the home schedule for the Lions, who will travel to Sandy on Feb. 13. Regionals are scheduled for Feb. 21-22, with the state championships the following weekend.

Liberty (LIBE) 39.0 St Helens (STHE) 29.0

106: Ethan Wendell, LIBE, dec. Tyler Cooper, STHE, 8-2.

113: Haidon Allen, STHE, tech. fall Rodrigo Garcia Angeles, LIBE, 5:14 20-5.

120: Gage Vanderhoff, LIBE, dec. Colton Beisley, STHE, 8-1.

126: Cody Jackson, STHE, pinned Kevin Rivas, LIBE, 2:19.

132: Michael Bowen, STHE, pinned Noah Ross, LIBE, 0:18.

138: Joseph Roy, LIBE, pinned Hunter Ogle, STHE, 1:24.

145: Michael Feltman, LIBE, dec. Andrew Orr, STHE, 6-3.

152: Myles Terry, STHE, dec. Hunter Dehlin, LIBE, 13-7.

160: Jordan Grenfell, LIBE, pinned Garrett Kust, STHE, 5:28.

170: Zilen Nichols, STHE, pinned Devin Thompson, LIBE, 2:51.

182: Kaelin Himphill, LIBE, pinned James Poland, STHE, 0:57.

195: Jose Alaguna, LIBE, pinned Zach Shawgo, STHE, 5:57.

220: Alexio Martinez, LIBE, pinned Colton Albertson, STHE, 5:56.

285: Mario Olmedo, STHE, dec. Luise Rodriguez, LIBE, 6-5.