By Keeghan Gittins
For The New Era
When some 250 boys converged on Sweet Home High School last week for the Santiam Wrestling Camp, it marked the 25th year for the event.
Wrestlers from around the state attended the three-day camp, which started in 2000 as the training camp for the Junior Nationals tournament in Fargo, N.D. That year it drew about 100 athletes. Now it is the biggest in Oregon.
“Fargo,” whose real moniker is the USA Wrestling Junior and 16U National Championships, held July 10-19 this year at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D., is one of the largest youth wrestling tournaments in the country, drawing more than 8,000 competitors in 2024.
One Sweet Home wrestler aiming to place is Jesse Landtroop, who won his second straight state title as a sophomore this year.
““I think it’s very good to go to camp because I’m training when other people aren’t,” Landtroop said. “I like that it is hosted in Sweet Home.”
The camp is co-directed by Steve Thorpe and Tomas Rosa of Sweet Home, and Mike Simons, coach of Thurston High School, a perennial state contender at the 5A level.
This year’s camp featured multiple former camp participants who have gone on to wrestle in college or win national titles, including Roseburg alum Nash Singleton, a PAC-12 champion from Oregon State; former McKay wrestler David Rubio who won a national title for Corban University; Roseburg alum Hunter Sparks, a national champion at Eastern Oregon University; and former Sweet Home wrestler Kobe Olson, who also wrestled for EOU last year.
Also leading camp sessions were Linfield Head Coach Frank Johnson, Corban Head Coach Kurtis Clem, and high school coaches Dan Herb (Banks), Ken Thompson (Irrigon), Shane Sheppard (Sweet Home) and Luke Larwin (Bend).
“This camp has something to offer to every kid that attends it,” Herb said. “It has kids who are first-year wrestlers training with kids who are multiple state champs.”
Larwin said he likes the price: There’s not another camp around where you can go for four days, get this kind of training, and get fed at such a low price,” he said.
Local coaches emphasized that the camp is a group effort.
“The high school opens its facilities, and the administration, maintenance staff, cafeteria workers, and transportation department all play key roles in making the event run smoothly,” Thorpe said.
Said Rosa: “I don’t think there are many schools that would allow a camp like this to happen on their campus. “Once again, our school and community opened up their arms to not just benefit the Sweet Home wrestling program but create opportunities for kids all over Oregon.”
The camp puts heavy focus on drills, techniques, and strategies that athletes can take back to their home programs.
“There are not a bunch of egos that get in the way of building Oregon wrestling,” Simons said. “It’s truly one of the purest things in our sport.”
