Senior state champion David Helfrich was named the Husky outstanding wrestler of the year last week at the sixth annual Husky wrestling banquet held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints church hall.
Helfrich finished the season with only one loss against 36 wins. He scored 165 team points for the season.
The most first takedowns award went to K.C. Stokes with 34. Stokes and Daniel Brewer shared the most falls award with 23 each.
The Iron Man award went to Jordan Johnson, Jon Dearborn and Matt Vassar.
Debbie Temple earned the Extra Mile Award for being committed to helping the wrestlers excel and Bob Day earned the Fan Appreciation Award.
The Huskies finished the season with a 24-3 record and won 460 matches against 203 losses.
Husky grapplers scored 227 falls to 76, had 18 tech falls to five and scored 43 major decisions to 10.
Letters went to:
Seniors: Mike Aerni, Daniel Brewer, Keegan Burnett, Logan Cooley, Jon Dearborn, Chad Emmert, Cindy Gourley, Kris Harnden, David Helfrich, Jordan Johnson, Adam Knight, Eric Lambert, Matt Miner, Troy Scott, K.C. Stokes, Matt Vassar and Neal Workman.
Juniors: Robert Carr, Mike Lummus, Chris Phillips, Joe Rosa, Nathan Snyder, Andrew Swanson, Kyle Temple, Adam Zurcher.
Sophomores: Bryan Corliss, Rob Martin, Charles Murray, Tomas Rosa, Chad Workman.
Freshmen: Matt Maloney.
Varsity stat girls include Heather Wall, Kara Howell and Tracee Scott.
Helfrich earns cultural exchange berth
David Helfrich earned a spot on the Oregon Cultural Exchange Team that will compete this summer in Japan during a weekend tournament held at Forest Grove.
Coach Steve Thorpe said the trials were open to all high school grapplers in the state.
“David becomes the fourth Husky in Sweet Home history to qualify for the exchange team this way,” Coach Thorpe said.
In all, Sweet Home has sent nine wrestlers on exchange programs. In 1997, seven Huskies traveled to South Africa and compete against world teams including the USSR.
In 1999 James Gourley traveled to Bulgaria.
Coach Thorpe said the exchange grapplers are slated to compete in five dual meets and tournaments.
Several Huskies competed at the trials but only champions in each weight class qualified.
Other Huskies included Mike Aerni, 132 pounds, fourth; Kyle Temple, 143, seventh; Adam Zurcher, 143; Tomas Rosa, 143; Joe Rosa, 154; Mike Lummus, 154 and Matt Harkey, 191.5.