Sweet Home wrestler Travis Thorpe is one of three grapplers statewide chosen to receive the Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation’s annual Ron Finley Scholar Athlete scholarship.
The other winners were Elijah Cleaver of Nyssa High School and Gabriel Vidlak of Cascade Christian High School.
“These champions demonstrated remarkable academic and athletic achievement, extra-curricular participation, along with community service,” the foundation said in a statement.
Cleaver will receive a one-time scholarship award of $3,000 and Thorpe and Vidlak will receive $1,000 and $1,000 respectively.
Funded by the Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation, the scholarship program was enacted to give greater opportunity to Oregon student athletes to further their education and compete in wrestling at the collegiate level anywhere in the United States.
The program seeks to offset the loss of collegiate wrestling opportunities “for Oregon’s many talented high school wrestlers,” the foundation said.
“SOW has a long-standing history of promoting the sport of collegiate wrestling, and this fund supports Oregon s great scholar athletes who share our commitment and represent our future.”
This year, 14 applications were accepted from Oregon students attending schools in Carmel Valley, Dundee, Eugene, Fall Creek, La Grande, LaPine, Nyssa, Roseburg, Sweet Home, Tigard, Turner, Williams and Yamhill.
The Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to the reinstatement of the University of Oregon Varsity wrestling program and the restoration of collegiate opportunity for Oregon’s great high school athletes.
SOW created the Ron Finley Wrestling Scholarship Awards to honor the late Ron Finley, who was the 1984 U.S.A. Olympic wrestling coach, and was head coach emeritus at the University of Oregon, and a National Wrestling Hall of Fame member who developed Olympians and national team members and promoted wrestling at every level as a valuable athletic component to foster individual growth and educational development.
The 2020 Ron Finley Wrestling Scholarship Awards finalists and award winners were selected through review of the student’s scholarship applications, conducted by the SOW scholarship committee, headed by SOW’s CEO, Kelly Finley-Sopp, daughter of Ron Finley; and three additional members of SOW’s Board of Directors.
Thorpe will attend Southern Oregon University in the fall. He has a 3.71 GPA and is a folkstyle Wrestling State Champion, four-time folkstyle Wrestling state placer, two-time state Greco-Roman Wrestling Cadet champion, one Junior Greco-Roman championship, eight-time Greco-Roman state placewinner, all-league football linebacker, two-time all-league baseball catcher and currently holds his school’s throw-out record.
Thorpe also received Scholar Athlete All-American honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
His community services include four-time Sweet Home Mat Club coach, three-time wrestling’s Pop Warner volunteer, and four-time Sweet Home High School’s Thanksgiving baskets and Gift Tree.
Thorpe’s hobbies include any outdoor activity, including hunting, fishing, sports, and he loves hanging out with family and friends.
Nyssa’s Cleaver plans to attend Stanford University in the fall. For Nyssa, he participated in wrestling, football and baseball, held a 4.0 GPA and is a four-time class valedictorian, and a four-time Student of the Year in math and science.
Cleaver’s athletic achievements include: three-time wrestling state champion, two-time all-league football linebacker and tight end, and all-state baseball utility player.
Cleaver is also a two-time recipient of the National Honor Society award. His community service includes four years as a crew supervisor at Beck Farms, and four years volunteering as a peer tutor at Nyssa School District. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, golfing and camping.
Cascade Christian’s Vidlak plans to attend Oregon State University in the fall of 2020. A resident of Williams, south of Medford, he holds a 3.78 GPA.
Vidlak focused his athletic career primarily in wrestling. He is a three-time state wrestling champion, four-time Grants Pass Winter Kickoff champion, three-time Coast Classic champion, a Sierra Nevada Classic champion, including Best of the Northwest Champion and Flo Reno Worlds Champion his sophomore year, and was ranked No. 1, pound-for-pound, his senior year.
Vidlak also volunteered as a counselor at the Rouge River Kids Wrestling Camp, in addition to three years of volunteering to help in the kids wing at his church.
His other interests include hunting, fishing and four-wheeling.
Donations to the SOW scholarship fund are being accepted online at http://www.SaveOregonWrestling.com.