Spring wrestling is over for the majority of Sweet Home wrestlers and what a spring it was.
Sweet Home High School finished with two Triple Crown winners and another wrestler who won both Greco and freestyle titles in the state Junior Tournament.
Also, Jackson Casteel of Sweet Home Junior High won a Triple Crown in the Schoolboy division at the state youth wrestling tournament held at Parkrose High School, Travis Thorpe won Cadet championships in both Greco and freestyle, and Braden Newport took home the Intermediate freestyle title at 75 pounds.
“It was probably one of our best years,” said Coach Steve Thorpe, who leads the high school and Sweet Home Mat Club programs in addition to chairing the Oregon state youth wrestling organization.
Here are the highlights of the season:
n Colton Schilling became the second three-time Oregon triple crown winner in history after winning the 126-pound Greco and freestyle titles at the Junior tournament held April 13-14 at Corvallis High School. It was his fourth freestyle championship in addition to the three Greco and folkstyle state titles he has won. Peter Russo of Newberg, now at Stanford, is the only other three-time Triple Crown winner in state history.
“Colton’s accomplishment can’t go unrecognized,” said Thorpe, who noted that the senior, who has signed to wrestle at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, cut to 126 pounds after wrestling at 135 during the high school season because his presence at that weight was more valuable to the Huskies. “To be a four-time state champ is incredible.”
n Tyler Cowger, wrestling at 160 pounds, also won a triple crown.
“That was his goal,” Thorpe said, noting that the Greco and freestyle tournaments involve all schools in the state, not just the 4A division. “He beat the 6A state champ and the two-time 3A state champ. He just kept beating people. He beat a who’s who of Oregon. For his first triple, that was just incredible.”
n Tyler Schilling, wrestling at 113 pounds, won both the freestyle and Greco titles after placing third in folkstyle at the high school championships in February. Schilling then went on to compete in the Western Region Junior Division Greco-Roman Tournament in Las Vegas April 17, where he finished second at 106 pounds.
n Trever Olson finished sixth in freestyle at 152 pounds. Other Sweet Home competitors, who did not place, at the high school Greco and freestyle tournaments were Ty Kirkland at 132 pounds and Nick Dady at 145.
In the Cadet division, Kobe Olson was fifth in freestyle and third in Greco at 106 pounds.
Tyrel Miller (113) did not place.
Thorpe said the entrants in the cadet and junior tournaments totaled 250 in freestyle and 210 in Greco.
In the state Kids wrestling Greco and freestyle tournaments held last weekend at Parkrose High School, Sweet Home finished with two placewinners in the Intermediate division, six in Novice and three in Schoolboy:
n In the Intermediate division, Bradyn Newport finished first in freestyle and second in Greco, and Kyle Watkins (60) fifth in freestyle.
n In the Novice division, Travis Thorpe took home state championships at 95 pounds in both Greco and freestyle; Jackson Royer (70) was third in Greco and freestyle; Robert Watkins (75) was sixth in Greco and fifth in freestyle; Robbie Yunke (85) was fourth in Greco and fifth in freestyle; Marissa Kurtz (80) was eighth in freestyle; and Damien Shocker (112) was fifth in Greco and fourth in freestyle.
n in the Schoolboy division, Jackson Casteel, who won a junior high folkstyle title in March, earned a Triple Crown after winning the Greco and freestyle titles at 205 pounds. Ricky Yunke (98) was sixth in Greco and fourth in freestyle in what Steve Thorpe described as “the toughest weight class of the tournament;” and Justin Kurtz (105) was fourth in Greco and fifth in freestyle.
All placewinners qualify for the West Kids and Cadet Regional Championships June 16-22 in Pocatello, Idaho.
Steve Thorpe said Newport and Travis Thorpe both won freestyle championships after losing their first matches, then wrestling back and beating the same opponents for their titles.
Intermediate, Novice and Schoolboy tournament participants numbered 370 in freestyle and 220 in Greco last weekend.
“That’s a lot of kids to be competing in the tournament,” said Steve Thorpe, noting that the total is up 150 from last year between the five tournaments. “As chair of Oregon wrestling, that’s great numbers. That’s almost 1,000 kids competing in state tournament.”
He credited assistant coaches Tomas Rosa and Alex Armstrong with developing the youth wrestlers.
“We’re not just a wrestling team, we’re a wrestling family,” he said, noting that Armstrong was a high school competitor last year.
“We’ve got a lot of kids dedicated to making themselves better. They’re deep into wrestling, but all these kids right now are also doing baseball or track. That makes me very happy that they’re not just wrestling. Competing in other sports makes them better – baseball, track, football, whatever they choose.
“We provide an opportunity and all spring long they’ve been training. We have anywhere from 20 to 40 kids there. After these workouts, they’ve been lifting. We haven’t done the grueling grind. We’ve made it fun. But we’ve set goals to get better.”