Sweet Home Mat Club won the Junior Comet Bring the Heat Team Challenge wrestling tournament Dec. 13 at the Jackson County Fairgrounds.
The tournament allowed each team to enter 15 scorers, Coach Steve Thorpe said, “so every team is equal, not just who sends the most kids.”
Sweet Home’s finished ahead of second place Eastside Wrestling Club of California and the third-place Junior Comets of Crater.
First-place individual winners for Sweet Home were Tristan Spencer, Robert Watkins, Jackson Royer and Braden Newport.
A week later, Travis Thorpe won the Schoolboy 105-pound division in the Battle for the Belts Tournament at West Linn on Dec. 20.
He was voted Outstanding Wrestler by the coaches after scoring three falls on his way to the title.
“Sweet Home Mat Club is doing so good because have so many good people involved right now,” Thorpe said. “We have a dozen coaches, dads who are down there helping.”
He said it’s not uncommon for club members to wrestle 40 to 50 matches a season, some competing in as many as 100.
“We’re not asking them to be specialized,” Thorpe noted. “We want them to compete, whether it be in wrestling or another sport. You can practice all you want, but there’s not substitute for competing.
“There’s such commitment, such buy-in from kids and parents. A lot of people say they’re too busy to be coaches, but these guys make it happen. We’ve got several moms involved as well, including Amanda Royer, who’s kind of the team mom, the manager of the program.
“As a dad of a kid who’s part of our Mat Club, I’m proud to be associated with it.”