The Sweet Home Wrestling program saw athletes represent Oregon about 5,000 miles away, in Japan. Jayce Miller and Ashton Swanson are two of 13 athletes who qualified for the team, thanks to the Oregon Wrestling Association.
Miller and Swanson earned this opportunity during the 2024 Oregon Cultural Exchange Championship that took place at the Sweet Home High School on March 16. According to Swanson, the pair were wild-card picks, both making it to the finals but not winning the tournament; the coaches chose these boys.
“I qualified by being selected as a wild card by coaches at the tournament, meaning I didn’t win the tournament but coaches still thought I should go,” Miller said.
After qualifying, these boys had months of preparation leading up to this trip. This preparation led up to the day they left, leaving June 30.
“I am incredibly proud of Ashton and Jayce,” Head Coach Steve Thorpe said. “Very proud of them and how they represented our program.”
On their first day, July 1, the team started with a dual meet after exploring Mie Prefecture, a mainland part of Japan known for various sacred locations. They then traveled to Toyama Prefecture.
The next day the team spent exploring.
“It was amazing, the people were very welcoming, the food and culture were amazing as well. We visited a lot of temples and statues,” Miller stated. “We also got to get immersed in Japanese culture in a way not a lot of people would be able to.”
The group also spent time attending a class at Tokaoka High School learning about an international business course and had another joint practice with the Japanese team. While in Japan, the team also took part in wrestling at a dual at Takaoka Koryo High School.
“[I] learned a new throw there,” Swanson said. “Learned a little bit of their language.”
Miller mentioned that regardless of the language barrier, he still learned from the coaches that were there.
Along with learning new things, Miller commented on his enjoyment of the food whilst there. He reflected on the sushi and how fresh it was. Swanson followed this up and stated what he truly enjoyed while there was the gift-giving.
“We got gifts before matches,” Swanson said. “We [also] had a host family. They gave us a gift when we got there, and gifts before we left.”
“Not only were they representing our community, but they were representing our state and our country,” Thorpe said. “Experiences like these are often once in a lifetime.”
The experience may have been a once in a lifetime, but Swanson is still optimistic about the potential of visiting in the future.
“[I] would very much like to visit there again and hopefully see my host family again,” Swanson said. “They’re very nice people.”