Iverson grabs bantamweight title
Hailey's Aric Iverson, 30, wowed the XFS X #10 "World's Collide" crowd at Boise's QWest Arena Friday, Feb. 5 and earned the bantamweight 135-pound championship.
Iverson's manager Tom Supnet said Aric came out to the song "Kung Fu Fighting" and showed his sweet spinning back heel kick to the head. The fans loved it but Team Hardcore's Justin Sevens didn't.
Aric decided to take it to the ground and immediately moved in for a darce choke when Sevens got to his side with half-guard control. He almost escaped but Aric got into proper position for the finish.
Iverson has an extensive martial arts background and started cage fighting three-and-a-half years ago. He fights for Primal Tribe under manager Supnet out of Hailey's Wild West MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) gym. Founders of Wild West MMA are Iverson, Kelly Wardell and Jason Stafford.
The new champion, who grew up in the Wood River Valley, said he couldn't have won this fight without the support of his team at Wild West MMA.
Presidents' Day Wolverine Baseball Camp is Monday
There won't be any school for Blaine County School District students Monday, Feb. 15, so Wood River High School baseball coach Matt Nelson (7578-5070 ext. 2731) is organizing a four-hour indoor baseball camp for youngsters ages 9-14. The camp focusing on hitting, pitching and infield fundamentals is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at the high school gym in Hailey. Cost is $30 at the door. Bring gym shoes, bat, glove and hat, if you have one.
Robie Creek registration begins at High Noon Monday
On your mark, get set...and get going for registration day for the 2010 Race to Robie Creek, Boise's 13.1-mile half marathon scheduled for Saturday, April 17. Be among the first 2,025 runners accepted by signing up online on Monday, Feb. 15 starting at noon. Entry fee is $40. The second-chance drawing to randomly choose 200 more lucky runners is Tuesday, Feb. 16 starting at 8 a.m. Visit robiecreek.com for details.
Hunter Jumper award recognition
Other local equestrians received ribbons at the Idaho Hunter Jumper Association annual meeting and awards banquet Jan. 16 in Jerome:
Ali Levy was grand champion with her jumper Avey in three divisions, 3-0 Jumper, 3-0 Children's Jumper and Level 2 3-3 Jumper; McKenna Anderson was grand champion in 2-0 Jumper; and Karen Sherrerd won three grand champions as well, in 2-0 Hunter, 2-3 Hunter and a tie with Suzanne Hausner in Adult Equitation.
Dodge ball tournament Saturday
Wood River High School senior Jordan Doan (721-1209 or 578-0931) is organizing a dodge ball tournament for Saturday, Feb. 13 at 11 a.m. at the Hailey high school gym. Cost is $30 per team or $5 per player. Sign up by Thursday in order to play.
Chess winners in Utah
Blaine County with its 11-student squad won the West Jordan (Utah) Scholastic Chess Tournament for the second year in a row. There were 17 elementary schools (54 students), 11 middle schools (60 students), and 12 high schools represented (42 players), and the Blaine County schools faired very well against them.
Wood River High played on the top six boards. Desmond Porth played on the top middle school board. Max Bates (5.0) earned a perfect tournament score and first place for 12th graders. Nick Bruck (4.0) earned second place in 11th grade. Raleigh Grossbaum (3.5) took second for 10th grade. Porth (4.0) won second place for seventh grade and Jake Whitlock won first for sixth. Andrew Uriarte, Chris Ellis, Shane Bruess, Riley Neel and Dylan Porth won trophies for scoring three or more points.
Team High Altitude runners
Wood River High School student athletes Chase Caulkins, James Paris, Ben Stout, Alison Town, and Dani McLaughlin competed last weekend in the Heritage Indoor Track Meet at The Idaho Center in Nampa. All runners had new personal records.
Caulkins smashed the WRHS 3200-meter record running a 9:18.72. He placed first in the two-mile event. Paris posted his 3200m best of 10:04.39 and was third. Ben Stout (8th) ran a 2:08.78 in the 800m, bettering his mark by two seconds. Town (5th) ran her first-ever 800m in 2:44.62. McLaughlin (6th) clocked 2:51.01, bettering her 800m best by almost three seconds. Caulkins also ran the 1-mile in 4:28.96 (4:27.76 converted to 1600m), and Paris ran a 4:41.17 (4:39.03 converted to 1600m) placing sixth overall.
WRHS graduate Ashley Rendahl of Bellevue, running for Northwest Nazarene, ran a new personal best of 19:42.48 in the 5000m college race.
Senior Hockey update
Morgan's Fine Finishes (6-5) defeated SunValley.com (4-6-1) by a 4-2 score Monday night behind goals by Dave Hennessy (2), Jim Laski and John Ellison Jr. Ryan Enrico (2 goals) and Bobby Sloper (2 assists) scored for SunValley.com.
SV Auto Club/Grumpy's (5-5-1) got past Yoga College (6-5) by a 5-4 score on resort ice. John McGuone tallied two goals for Grumpy's and Taylor Rothgeb had a pair for Yoga.
Ketchum Five Star wins Jackson Hole hockey
Led by Most Valuable Player Annie O'Sullivan, the 13-player Ketchum Five Star Kitchen Design women's ice hockey team went 3-0-1 and won the "B" Division championship of the Debra Doom tournament Jan. 29-31 at Jackson Hole, Wyo.
O'Sullivan scored a three-goal hat trick, with three assists going to Sara Schroeder, in Ketchum's 3-0 Saturday afternoon victory over the Wasatch (Utah) Wings.
In Sunday's championship game of the seven-team division, Ketchum blanked the Missoula (Mt.) Icehounds 2-0 with goalie Danae Commons earning the shutout. Casey Mills scored a second-period goal on assists by Lia Johnson and Laci Watkins, and Bege Reynolds added an empty netter, from Johnson.
Ketchum opened Friday skating to a 1-1 tie with the Jackson Hole Shooters, O'Sullivan scoring from Schroeder. On Saturday morning, Five Star nipped the Icehounds 4-3 on goals by Watkins, Reynolds, Schroeder and Jini Griffith.
Weekend scoring: O'Sullivan 4 goals/1 assist, Schroeder 1/5, Reynolds 2/1, Johnson 0/3, Watkins 1/1, Mills 1/0 and Griffith 1/0. Rounding out the championship squad were Kris Josey, Jennifer Embree, Nancy Brown, Merri Whitehead and Lacie Hernandez.
Signups underway for Payette Lakes Ski Marathon
McCall hosts the 29th annual Payette Lakes Ski Marathon Saturday, Feb. 20. It's one of the oldest Nordic ski marathons in the northwestern U.S.
This is the second year on a new point-to-point, 33-kilometer course, beginning at the Little Ski Hill west of McCall, and finishing at Blackhawk On the River.
Classic (striding) races start at 9 a.m. followed by freestyle at 10 a.m. New is a 2k children's race. The marathon course follows the Payette River, climbing onto Red Ridge on an old railroad grade, and finishing at the new Blackhawk on the River Club House. Food and drink await all finishers.
Pre-registration Friday is 5-8 p.m. at Gravity Sports in McCall. Day-of-race registration is at the Blackhawk clubhouse, starting at 7 a.m. Racers will be shuttled to the race starts from Blackhawk.
Class divisions are in 10-year increments in 10k freestyle and 33k classic races. Younger age groups for the 33k freestyle race will also be in 10-year increments, with older age groups (30-and-up) in five-year increments.
All entrants (except those entering the kids race) will receive duffle bags. Awards will be given to top finishers of all age groups as well as overall winners. Hats will be available for purchase by everyone and proceeds will go to the Bear Basin Grooming Fund.
For details and online registration go to mccallnordic.com.
