Sky Chappell
Alyssa Peterson became the latest Husky to sign a letter of intent to wrestle for Linfield University in a ceremony held prior to the dual against Tillamook, Feb. 1.
“I definitely did not think that signing for Linfield for wrestling would happen, as my freshman year was only three years ago,” Peterson said. Peterson started wrestling as a freshman.
After spending only three years with the high school, Peterson technically is a junior, but she has taken accelerated classes and according to Thorpe did what was needed to graduate early. Peterson reflected on her short time stating, “I feel amazing and proud of myself for pushing myself to the limits and doing something that I didn’t think was achievable for me.”
Peterson plans to continue wrestling through Linfield’s program while she studies pre-law. Once she’s done with that, she plans on going into the National Guard and pursuing a judge advocate general position.
For Coach Steve Thorpe, this signing laminates yet another achievement in the history of the Sweet Home wrestling program.
“I am very proud of Alyssa, and who she’s become, and the work she’s put in,” Thorpe said during her recognition. “Truly, to come out as a freshman that thought she’d try it, and now is a junior graduating early, going to compete at the highest level you can compete, is a pretty cool thing.”
After her signing, the Huskies had a dual against Tillamook in which both the boys and girls teams won. The boys won 64-6 and the girls 51-18.
Since 2013, Thorpe has followed the longstanding wrestling tradition of “leaving it at the mat.” At the end of their final home dual, the seniors, who would be wrestling for the last time, laced up and left their shoes at the edge of the mat.
Following the dual, Thorpe wanted to recognize those wrestlers that would be wrestling for their last time at home.
Senior Kyle Sieminski (46-3) is undecided on where he is going to college, but plans to pursue a degree in business and further his wrestling career.
Senior Trinity Landtroop (19-17) plans on attending cosmetology school.
Senior David Steagall (31-11) plans to do iron working for the local 29.
Senior Patrick Brouillette (0-1) plans on attending Clackamas Community College to study sports medicine.
Senior Kaylene Zajic (35-9) plans to attend Southwestern Oregon Community College to continue wrestling and study physiology.
Senior Ryker Hartsook (35-13) plans to enter an apprenticeship program to become an electrician.
Senior Riley Watkins (32-10) plans to attend college to study radiology.
Senior Lydia Wright (27-8) plans to attend Linn-Benton Community College to pursue occupational therapy.
Senior Jayce Miller (34-12) plans to attend Southwestern Oregon Community College to continue wrestling and study forestry management.
As these young wrestlers move forward, they carry with them the lessons learned on the mat, ready to face new challenges and achieve further success in their academic and professional endeavors. Both teams will be finishing off their season wrestling in the OSAA 4A Special District 2 championship that will be held Feb. 9-10 located at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
In other news:
Both Southern and Eastern Oregon universities had a college dual held here at home Friday, Feb. 2.
With a long-standing rivalry between the teams, it made for an exhilarating atmosphere as the wrestlers fought for the second time as conference opponents. Southern Oregon won the previous match-up, and won this dual as well.
Coach Thorpe touched on the SHHS alumni that have been sent to both.
“At Eastern Oregon University we have Coby Olson and Paige Chafin who are both wrestling there right now,” he said. “But at Southern Oregon University, I’ve had one or more there since 2003.”
Along with many alumni in attendance, Thorpe noted it was a good turnout.
“You know, when you have a high school meet, you’re going to watch somebody because everybody on the team is from the same place,” he said. “In a college meet, you had kids from Oregon, Washington, Idaho [and] California. You had kids from everywhere.”
Both Eastern and Southern wrestle for something known as the wagon wheel. Sweet Home, however, hasn’t seen one of these duals since 2016, according to Thorpe.
“I thought that you had two top 20 ranked teams competing against each other. It was, you know, pretty darn good. I thought it was great for wrestling,” Thorpe said. “It’s the second time I brought a college dual to Sweet Home.”