Ethan Hoagland
Wrestling under their own roof, Sweet Home High School’s boys and girls teams picked up strong momentum during the Sweet Home Dual Tournament on Dec. 13. The evening started in high spirits, as the teams celebrated Kaylene Zajic signing her letter of intent with Southwestern Oregon Community College.
“I never thought that I would ever be in this spot,” Zajic said. “I’m very excited and proud of myself, and I’m just looking forward to it.” Zajic said she plans to major in psychology and become a police officer.
For Head Coach Steve Thorpe, Zajic’s signing is another achievement in the legacy of the Sweet Home Wrestling program.
“If their wrestling is what gets them in there to get an education it’s always a great thing,” Thorpe said. “We’ve sent several kids to Southwestern Oregon Community College.” Zajic is the 39th wrestler Thorpe said he’s sent to the next level, and there are several more wrestlers planning to sign this school year.
After the signing, the teams launched into the tournament. Taking on Newport, the boys varsity team won 82-0. From there, the boys toppled Elmira 81-0, beat Cascade 66-10, before ending the tournament with a 78-0 win over Stayton.
The girls varsity team opened with their own win over Newport, earning a guaranteed sixth place.
“We got to see three of our conference teams,” Thorpe said. “You come out, you wrestle three conference teams and you only lose a total of three matches? You know, we lost three to Cascade, but we blanked Stayton and we blanked Newport. That kinda gives us a little seeding leverage.”
But there’s no time to bask in the wins. The varsity teams headed to Thurston on Saturday, Dec. 16 for the LaMont Simons Wrestling Tournament, while some members hit the road to Reno, Nevada on Friday, Dec. 15 for the Reno Tournament of Champions.
“This is arguably one of the toughest tournaments in the country,” Thorpe said of the Reno TOC. “Kyle Sieminski wrestled a great tournament over here, coming up one match shy of placing. Which is very, very respectable.”
Some of Sweet Home’s freshmen showed up to face the national competition too.
“We had some youth come through. Jesse Landtroop, Harrison Kegler and Kyle Zajic as freshmen came in here,” Thorpe said. “They started off, each of them, 2-0 with falls. That’s a pretty good go for them.”
At the LaMont Simons Wrestling Tournament, Sweet Home suffered some losses. After taking down North Eugene 45-33, the team lost to Bend High School 62-10, Centennial 68-18 and Tillamook 65-12.