Cougars Clean Up in Season-Ending Winter Sports Awards

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Though the 2021-22 winter sports season has wrapped up, and many athletes have gone on to their respective spring sports, that didn’t mean that the Canby Cougars stopped receiving attention.

As the Three Rivers League concluded their season with the coach’s awards, Canby names swarmed the sheets.

To top off an immensely successful wrestling season that saw the team finish seventh in state, individuals Ty Ewers and Ethan Ensrud placed third for their respective weight classes.

Ewers and Ensrud, along with fellow grapplers Matthew Young, Craig Williams, Wyatt Samarin, Cash Montgomery, Matthew Hagen and Colin Kennedy, all took home first-team All-Three Rivers League honors.

Ethan Ensrud was among the eight Canby grapplers to take home first team All-League honors in winter season awards.

Austin Matthews, Landon Sprague, James Keinonen and Jackson Doman all took second-team, while Brady Froyd, Nico Yazzolino, Benjamin Young, Pete Sansone, Thomas Marquez, Zach Netter, Isaiah Parsons and Luke Harms took honorable mention.

That directory of Cougar names was joined by senior Lexli Lopez-Zuriaga, who took home sixth in the girls state tournament earlier in the year. Lopez-Zuriaga also nabbed a second-team All-League award.

For Canby basketball, the boys saw three seniors nab each class of award for the year. Senior transfer Payton Meyers made the first team in his first and only year in a Canby uniform after averaging 19 points per game on the season, good for top 10 in the state.

Alex Evans finished his four-year Canby career with a second team honor, while football talent Jacob Strand also nabbed an honorable mention for his hoops prowess.

Girls basketball saw junior Allie Mead make the All-TRL second team after guiding the Cougars to the final playoff spot available. Senior Kayley Borntrager, one of the key senior pieces on a young Canby squad, finished her career with an honorable mention.

Not surprisingly, the elite Canby Cougar swim team cleaned up in season-ending league awards.

Swimming itself could have filled an entire billboard just to name its award winners. The two teams, both of which qualified for the state meet, saw their impressive performances rewarded in the TRL awards.

Kali Mull was the one Cougar to take home first-team All-League honors thanks to her dominant performance in the 200 free, an event she dominated week in and out.

Behind her was a host of Cougars repping the second team: Isaac Beck, Connor DeRisio, Hunter Derisio, Jack Hayhurst, Kennedy Hester, Avery Keinonen, and Allison Yancey all received the honor in their respective events, while the quartet of Allison Yancey, Amanda Yancey, Avery Keinonen and Kali Mull earned the award for the 200 medley relay.

The honorable mentions list consisted of Isaac Beck, Connor DeRisio, Kai Laitinen, Amanda Yancey, Avery Keinonen, and Kennedy Hester; some swimmers picked up multiple awards for different individual events.

For the relay events, the team of Conor DeRisio, Jack Hayhurst, Isaac Beck and Hunter DeRisio got mentioned for their performance in the 400 free. The girl’s 400 free team of Amanda Yancey, Avery Keinonen, and Kali Mull also received the same honor.

Finally, the squad of Hunter DeRisio, Kai Laitinen, Connor DeRisio and Jack Hayhurst, earned honorable mention in the 200 medley relay.

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