On an emotional Senior Night Thursday, Feb. 11, with a flower arrangement from the funeral of longtime Sweet Home wrestling supporter Pat Baxter standing next to the end of the Huskies’ bench, Sweet Home won its sixth straight Sky-Em dual meet wrestling title.
And now it gets very real for the Huskies as they go to the regional tournament to qualify as many of their wrestlers as possible for their true goal this season: state.
“It’s been good to finish up all of this and focus on the regional tournament,” said Coach Steve Thorpe after a 57-21 victory over Elmira. “We’ve won every year we’ve been in the league. It’s been a lot of work. I’m pretty proud of those kids.”
Thursday’s match was a showcase for Husky wrestling from the beginning, when Mat Club wrestlers mixed it up in three different styles and the Sweet Home Junior High wrestlers, fresh off their own district championship, were recognized. Serving as honorary team captain for the night was 6-year-old Ryder Nightingale, a Mat Club member who recently lost his father, a log truck driver, following a collision with another truck. That came as a suggestion from one of his wrestlers, Thorpe noted.
Trevor Tagle, a local rising country music star who won a state championship for the Huskies at 140 pounds in 2006, sang the national anthem, and the senior wrestlers were introduced. When their matches were finished, they left their wrestling shoes on the edge of the mat, signifying that it was their last appearance in Sweet Home’s gym.
The match was another demonstration of a team that has gelled this year. Dillon Stutzman edged a tough Riley Craig 6-5 at 126 pounds and senior Joe Rasmussen made quick work of Zach Russell at 138 pounds, two of the big wins of the night, Thorpe said.
“The kids wrestled hard,” he said. “We had some class acts.
“There’s just something special about that Senior Night. Not everybody gets to win on Senior Night,
but although we whipped them pretty good, it’s still about being there, being in the moment, embracing them, our seniors.”
The Huskies have wrestled what Thorpe says is the toughest schedule he’s ever put a team through.
“We maxed out on our dates and we maxed out on our match limits,” he said. “We’ve had kids getting beat left and right, but we’ve put them in competition where we want to get them beat.”
The Huskies will see how it all comes together as they defend last year’s Special District 2 championship this weekend at Elmira. The regional competition, which includes 12 teams, stretching geographically from Cottage Grove to Yamhill-Carlton, west to Newport and east to Sisters, will start at noon Friday, Feb. 19, and continue Saturday, Feb. 20, also at noon.
Cost is $8, or a two-day pass for $15.
Sweet Home 57, Elmira 21
106 – Robert Watkins (SH) won by default; 113 – Robbie Yunke (SH) pinned Hunter Davis (E) (0:49); 120 – Kobe Olson (SH) pinned Logan Walker (E) (2:46); 126 – Dillon Stutzman (SH) dec. Riley Craig (E) (6-5); 132 – Ricky Yunke (SH) pinned Scott Sanders-Anderson (E) (1:25); 138 – Joe Rasmussen (SH) pinned Zach Russell (E) (0:46); 145 – Tyrel Miller (SH) pinned Brandon McElhose (E) (3:50); 152 – Mason Walker (E) dec. Jake Porter (SH) (19-14); 160 – Ethan Agnes (E) pinned Oscar Hernandez (SH)(1:02); 170 – Levi Hanson (E) pinned Bryce Coulter (SH) (5:10); 182 – Daniel Rooney (SH) pinned Mat Thorne (E) (2:38); 195 – Brandon Keenon (SH) pinned Matt Olsen-Evers (E) (0:12); 220 – Dalton Doerfler (SH) pinned Logan Schmidt (E) (1:39); 285 – Dale Miller (E) pinned Gavin Baskin (SH) (0:48).