By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club honored McKay’s Angelina Paniaqua (Girls Wrestling), South Salem’s Alex Dexrozuc (Boys Wresling), McKay’s Sarahi Chavez (Girls Wrestling), Sprague’s Liam Spencer (Boys Basketball), North Salem’s Mariko Sonis (Girls Wrestling), North Salem’s RJ Chacon (Boys Wrestling), Sprague’s Josh Camillo (Boys Wrestling) and West Salem’s Emma Zuniga (Girls Basketball)

Here is the Press Release:

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from McKay Wrestling, is Angelina Paniaqua.

Angelina is a sophomore for the Scots, who according to coach Logan Fore, “has steadily improved all year long and wrestled a really good regional tournament”, capping it off with her first regional title at 105 pounds. Seeded #2 in the tourney she ended up beating the #1 seed from North Salem in a tight final’s match by a single point. She finished her regular season with an impressive 35-8 record.

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from South Salem Boys Wrestling, is Alex Decrozuc.

Alex is a senior for the Saxons. He is currently 28-1 on the year. Last weekend he finished the district meet with a championship at 220 pounds and will be ranked #1 in his weight class at State next weekend.

Alex will be pursuing a nursing career in college and possibly will continue wrestling as well.

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from McKay Wrestling, is Sarahi Chavez.

Sarahi is a sophomore for the Scots. She competed at the prestigious Kelso Invite wrestling tournament which is now considered the biggest girls wrestling tournament in the country. Sarahi finished second in her weight class pinning her way to the finals and helping McKay place 5th of 96 schools participating. Sarahi finished the season 20-2, capping it with her second consecutive regional title while pinning her way through the tournament. She helped McKay win their second consecutive regional title.

This is Sarahi’s third AOTW honor.

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Sprague Boys Basketball, is Liam Spencer.

Liam is a senior for the Olys who are 11-11 for the year and 5-5 for the season. Liam has stepped up this year and is currently averaging 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals per game. In the win over South Salem Liam had 31 points, and in the close loss against West Salem he had 26 points.

Liam hopes to continue playing basketball in college.

—–

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from North Salem Wrestling, is Mariko Sonis.

Mariko, a junior for the Viks, won her 2nd regional tournament title two weeks ago in West Albany. She has an overall season record of 23 wins against just 3 losses. Last weekend Mariko entered the boys district tournament in the 120-pound weight class. She wrestled tough for four full matches. Each of her first three matches she gave up the first takedown but battled back to win. In the finals, she ended up losing a 5-3 decision to her teammate Andres Alvarez. Consequently, she qualified for state in both divisions but is choosing to compete at girls state. From Coach Andy Pickett: “She is wrestling at a really high level right now and left some impressive performances on the mat. Everyone is excited to see her lay it on the line at the state tournament … Mariko is a great kid and one of my all-time favorites!”

This is Mariko’s second AOTW honor.

—–

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from North Salem Wrestling, is RJ Chacon.

RJ is a sophomore for the Viks. He has been coming on strong this last month and capped it off this past weekend by winning a regional title at 126 pounds, pinning every opponent he faced. In the finals, he got thrown to his back in the first period and nearly pinned. He was able to fight back to stay alive through the first period. He then started on top in the second period and arm barred his opponent to pick up the win by fall.

—–

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Sprague Boys Wrestling, is Josh Camillo.

Josh is a senior and team captain for the Olys. Josh finished undefeated in league, as well as taking 4th at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions, the toughest tournament in the state of Oregon. Last weekend Josh won another district title, placing himself in elite company as a 4-time conference champion.

Josh will be attending Wayland Baptist next year as he continues his wrestling career.

This is the third AOTW for Josh.

—–

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from West Salem Girls Basketball, is Emma Zuniga.

Emma, a freshman for the 17-5 Titans who are 10-0 in conference. In the last 5 games Emma has averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1½ steals per game as West has topped league rivals North, South, McKay, and McNary. Coach Katie Singleton added, “Emma has not only done a great job scoring and leading us in rebounds, but she also demonstrates great sportsmanship every game.”