It was a big weekend of wrestling for Sweet Home as the girls team won its first big tournament, the junior high wrestlers won their district meet and the high school boys competed at Reser’s Tournament of Champions, regarded as one of the most competitive in the state.
The varsity boys placed eighth, with Travis Thorpe and Hayden McDonald both finishing second. The junior varsity squad placed second behind Roseburg, with individual wins from Connor Ford and Bryce Porter.
“That was a lot of wrestling,” Coach Steve Thorpe said. “That was a confidence-builder for districts.”
The Huskies warmed up for Reser’s with a 57-22 dual win over Junction City on Thursday, Jan. 24, with a parallel dual between Sweet Home Junior High and Junction City’s junior high team.
The high school wrestlers will be back in action at 6 p.m. this Wednesday, Jan. 30, for their final home match and Senior Night, hosting West Albany.
Reser’s Tournament of Champions
“I tell you, that is a tough, tough tournament,” Thorpe said of the 21-team tournament held Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26-26, at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.
Place-winners for Sweet Home in the varsity tournament were Travis Thorpe, second at 152 pounds; Hayden McDonald, second at 170; Robert Watkins, fourth at 126; and Nich James, fourth at 182.
“Robert and Nich found the back door,” Steve Thorpe said. “Hayden McDonald has come on and come on and come on. He’s not what you’d call a fluid wrestler, but he’s just so strong and athletic, he’s finding ways to win.
“Making the finals of this tournament is quite an accomplishment.”
He noted that Travis Thorpe’s 3-2 win over Austin David of Roseburg, last year’s 6A runner-up, was the first time the two had met since fifth grade.
“It’s fun because they get to wrestle people they’ve grown up wrestling.”
The Huskies finished with 115.5 points in eighth place, one behind La Grande (120.5). Newberg was the team winner with 214 points. Lebanon was 10th and Cascade 12th.
On the JV side, the Huskies had seven placers who took them to second place overall with 204 points, behind Roseburg (204) and ahead of Crook County (173) and La Grande, eighth with 128 points.
Ford was first at 113 pounds and Porter at 132. Other place-winners were Lance Hanson, second at 195; Treyson Smith, third at 106; Noah Moore, third at 170; Keegan Fox, fourth at 120; and Isaac Schaffer, fifth at 145.
Hood River Elks
Ladies Tournament
Sweet Home’s five place-winners gave the Huskies enough points for a first-place team finish over the other 26 teams in the tournament Saturday.
“That was pretty impressive,” Thorpe said.
Senior Marissa Kurtz was the lone individual titlist for Sweet Home, winning the 115-pound division.
Senior Madelyn Neusch-wander was third in that weight class after running the table following an opening-match 7-2 loss to Emma Blackwell of Hillsboro, whom Kurtz pinned in the final (3:31). Their weight bracket was by far the largest of the tournament, nearly double the number of wrestlers over most of the others.
Junior Lexi Schilling was also third, at 105 pounds. Junior Katen Edwards was second at 155 and Sophomore Sicily Neuschwander was fourth at 100.
Also wrestling, but not placing, were Jessy Hart at 125 pounds and Dyanna Arnold at 145.
Sweet Home won with 103.5 points over Hood River Valley (96) and Scappoose (91).
Valley League District Tournament
Sweet Home Junior High wrestlers won the Valley League District Tournament at Jefferson Saturday, Jan. 26, outscoring second-place Pleasant Hill 213.5-180 in the 15-team field. Philomath was third with 161 points.
Place-winners for the Tigers were: Kyle Siemenski, first at 70; Jacob Siemenski, first at 91; Ethan Spencer, first at 144; Daniel Goodwin, second at 112; Brady Nichols, second at 128; Jeremy Zook, second at 136; Colton Bennet, second at 265; Alex Hartley, third at 175; Connor McMullen, third at 210; Evan Ashcraft, fourth at 65; Ashton Swanson, fourth at 105; Ryan Clark, fourth at 112; and Kaden Zajic, fourth at 120.
Reser’s Tournament of Champions
Boys Varsity Results
106 – Kyle Watkins lost maj. dec. to Brayden Boyd (Sprague) 12-1; pinned Tanner Wallace (Lebanon) (2:26); lost by fall to Nicky Olmstead (Newberg) (0:30); Did not place.
113 – Christian Gregory lost by tech fall to Kagen Lawrence (Redmond) (17-2, 5:26); pinned Jordan Piercy (Culver) (4:26); lost by fall to Tyson Oliver (Mountain View) (1:00); Did not place.
120 – Tristan Spencer pinned Wyatt Wood (Crook County) 1:53; lost maj. dec. to Tanner Ulrey (Crater) 17-4; pinned Tanner Santesson (Liberty) 0:51; lost 9-0 maj. dec. to Kaden Goff (West Linn); did not place.
126 – Robert Watkins pinned Adam Young (David Douglas) 1:55; lost 5-2 to Micah Worthington (Newberg); pinned Dylan Miller (Sandy) (1:36); won 5-3 sudden victory-1 over Braden Carson (La Grande); lost 12-0 maj. dec. to Tristin Keffer (Hillsboro); lost on medical forfeit to Wyatt Richardson (Lebanon); placed sixth.
132 – Jackson Royer lost 9-3 to Charlie Evans (Newberg); lost 4-2 to Kellen Kerrigan (Crater); did not place.
138 – Gavin Walberg dec. Lane Downing (Culver) 4-3; lost by fall to Jacob Curry (Redmond) (1:57); lost by fall to Joey Moody (Newberg) (3:00); did not place.
145 – Robbie Yunke lost maj. dec. to Cael Brunson (West Linn) 10-1; pinned Luke Merzenich (Sprague) (2:39); lost 8-4 to Tristin David (Roseburg); did not place.
152 – Travis Thorpe pinned Leo Rios (Sandy) (2:44); won by tech fall over Nathan Santoni (Crater) (19-4 5:35); dec. Austin David (Roseburg) 3-2; lost 14-0 maj. dec. to James Rowley (Crescent Valley); placed second.
160 – Boe Baxter pinned Cole Peters (West Linn) (4:29); lost 6-0 to Parker Robinson (La Grande); lost by fall to Chase Miller (Lebanon) (2:12); did not place.
170 – Hayden McDonald pinned Tobias Cook (Liberty) (1:25); pinned Tanner Lee (Crater) (1:13);
dec. Colton Burkhardt (Mountain View) 3-1; dec. Logan Folsom (Roseburg) 3-2; lost 15-5 maj. dec. to
Sean Harman (West Linn); placed second.
182 – Nich James pinned Cade Miller (West Linn) (1:31); maj. dec. Joseph Blisseck (Lebanon) 11-1;
lost by fall to Kyle Knudtson (Crook County) (1:45); maj. dec. Jared Coxen (Dallas) 8-0; lost 4-0 to
Blake Ohlson (Mountain View); placed fourth.
195 – Forfeit.
285 – David McMullen lost by fall to Broderick Reese (Century) (1:00); lost 2-1 ultimate tie-breaker to Colton Chase (La Grande); did not place.
JV Results
106 – Treyson Smith maj. dec. Jordan Tawa (West Linn) 10-1; pinned Cristian Martinez (Roseburg) (0:22); lost by fall to Malaki Amaya (Newberg) (2:49); pinned Kayden Keller (Sandy) (0:56); pinned
Bo Davis (Sprague) (1:29); placed third.
113 – Connor Ford – pinned Caleb Hawkes (Sandy) (0:48); pinned Edgar Ruiz (Century) (0:28);
pinned Coby Hibbert (La Grande) (1:21); dec. Tanner Nicol (Newberg) 8-5; placed first.
120 – Keegan Fox pinned Aaron Joklur (Sprague) (0:46); pinned Harrison Womack (Newberg) (1:43); lost 14-8 to Damon Chavez (Hillsboro); pinned Oscar Romeo (Liberty) (0:36); lost by fall to
Reid Kerr (Crescent Valley) (0:49); placed fourth.
126 – Ryan Tyndall lost by fall to Braeden Chapman (Culver) (1:01); pinned Nathan Watts (West Linn) (4:40); pinned Braxton Molen (Century) (0:43); lost by fall to Boulder Friesen (Newberg) (1:31); did not place.
132 – Bryce Porter pinned Jaden Poulshock (David Douglas) (2:40); pinned Damien Morales (Newberg) (1:15); pinned Damien Rash (Lebanon) (3:51); dec. Brayden Gray (Crater) 13-7; placed first.
138 – Parker Lemmer lost by fall to Davin Chamberlain (Century) (4:46); lost by fall to Ben Fisher (Crater) (4:28); did not place.
145 – Isaac Schaffer pinned Xavier Luttrell (Liberty) (0:53); pinned Brody Kincade (La Grande) (1:54); pinned Sean Ellis (Hillsboro) (3:39); lost by fall to Tanner Higham (Mountain View) (3:10); lost 9-1 maj. dec. to Isaiah McIntosh (Dallas); pinned Alexander Vail (Crook County) (1:32); placed fifth.
160 – Jesse Jamison won by tech fall over Leo Torres (Aloha) (16-0 3:41); lost 14-3 maj. dec. to
Eli Mignola (Roseburg); lost by forfeit to Jackson Price (Hillsboro); did not place.
170 – Noah Moore lost by fall to Gabe Saenz (Crook County) (4:55); pinned McCromic Sananap (David Douglas) (3:18); pinned Jonathan Moody (Newberg) (0:42); pinned Jesus Nunez (Hillsboro) (0:38); dec. Nico Fox (Sprague) 9-2; pinned Gabe Saenz (Crook County) (3:08); placed third.
182 – Damion Schocker pinned Owen Scott (Sprague) (3:36); won 6-5 on tie-breaker over Luke Williams (Mountain View) ; pinned Isaac Anores (Culver) (3:44); lost 10-7 to Bryant O`Grady (Roseburg); did not place.
195 – Lance Hanson pinned Adrian Hinojosa (Liberty) (2:54); pinned Aiden Garcia (Redmond) (0:55); dec. Mason Barber (Dallas) 8-4; lost by fall to Tyler Estes (Roseburg) (1:06); placed second.
220 – Jake Fanning lost 1-0 to David Sherman (Sprague); pinned Thomas Rocha (Dallas) (2:40); lost by fall to Garrett Olbrich (Crescent Valley) (2:22); did not place.
285 – Colby Gazeley lost by fall to Isaiah Mays (Crater) (0:34); lost 11-5 to Sanje Freeman (Century); did not place.
Sweet Home 57, Junction City 22
106 – Kyle Watkins (SH) pinned Timothy Jones (JC) (0:36); 113 – Cameron Truesdell (JC) maj. dec. Christian Gregory (SH) 8-0; 120 – Tristan Spencer (SH) pinned Zane Shadrick (JC) (4:23); 126 – Evan Potter (JC) pinned Keegan Fox (SH) (3:23); 132 – Robert Watkins (SH) won by forfeit; 138 – Jackson Royer (SH) won by forfeit; 145 – Robbie Yunke (SH) pinned Garrett OCallaghan (JC) (1:16); 152 – Travis Thorpe (SH) dec. Tanner Gibson (JC) 3-1; 160 – Boe Baxter (SH) pinned Brandon Andresen (JC) (0:43); 170 – Hayden McDonald (SH) won by forfeit; 182 – Nich James (SH) won by forfeit; 195 – Lance Hanson (SH) won by forfeit; 220 – Antheny Widmiaer (JC) pinned Nick Rice (SH) (5:20); 285 – Bryer Moore (JC) pinned David McMullen (SH) (3:19).