Huskies get help from all sides in district wrestling win

Scott Swanson

Sweet Home won its fourth straight regional wrestling title Saturday night, by a decisive 145-point margin, in the Special District 2 championships in the Main Gym.

The Huskies finished with five district champions: Connor Ford at 113 pounds, Bryce Porter at 120, Boe Baxter at 152, Hayden McDonald at 160 and Nich James at 170. They qualified a total of 15 wrestlers for the state championships, to be held this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16-17, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

In addition to the district champions, Sweet Home’s qualifiers were 106-pounder Tristan Spencer, Robert Watkins (120), Jackson Royer (126), Robbie Yunke (132), Travis Thorpe (138), Justin Kurtz (138), Zak Fox (145), Ricky Yunke (145), CJ Mitchell (152) and Bryce Coulter (195).

Coach Steve Thorpe emphasized that this was a unique accomplishment for his team.

“We don’t look at it as another regional title,” he said. “This is the only one that matters. I’m very excited for that. I’m proud of our kids. We entered 25 and all but one won matches. All those points add up. I’m pretty impressed by that.”

Sweet Home finished with 386.5 points, ahead of Cascade’s 241 and Junction City’s 189. North Marion was fourth with 172.5.

Thorpe said there were some surprises, both positive and negative.

“We had some overachieve and some underachieve,” he said. “We had different guys winning in finals than we are used to seeing.”

Sweet Home had 10 finalists, including Porter and Robert Watkins, who faced off in the 120-pound championship match. Watkins, a junior, has been out nearly all season with a hand injury, and got medical clearance just in time to compete in the district meet.

“That’s a young man with perseverance, is Robert,” Thorpe said. “He had to miss out on the one thing he wanted more than anything else, which is wrestling.”

Porter led 3-2 in the second period when Thorpe called the match, giving Porter the win by default.

“It was an awesome match,” he said. “We have two great guys at that weight at the state tournament.”

The parade of surprise winners started with Ford, who pinned Jacob Jarvis of Yamhill-Carlton in the 113-pound final.

“That kid’s beat Conner every time they’ve wrestled,” Thorpe said, noting the two hadn’t faced off this year until the district final. “I’m very proud of him.”

Ford, a sophomore who didn’t qualify for state last year, said he had confidence from the start.

“As soon as I shook hands with him, I thought, ‘I can do this.’

He said he looked at the coaches for guidance in the second period after Jarvis took him down and he escaped in the first round.

“Thorpe told me to go on top and cradle him, so I went on top and cradled him.”

Another big win came from Boe Baxter at 152 pounds, who finished fifth last year as a sophomore and didn’t make state because only four wrestlers got in from District 2.

Baxter decisioned Philomath’s James Howell 5-2 to take the title.

Teammate CJ Mitchell, also a 152-pounder, had an up-and-down weekend, but delivered when he had to to place fifth and qualify, Thorpe said.

“CJ came back in a pressure situation,” he said. “He fought his way through the back door.”

Hayden McDonald continued the string of upsets, scoring a major decision on Yamhill-Carlton’s Tabor Magnuson, the No. 1 seed, who came into the match with a 42-5 record.

McDonald, a junior who decided to join the team midway through the season, said he decided he had nothing to lose.

“At some point you have to tell yourself, ‘I don’t care if this guy is seeded high. It’s all a mindset because if you tell yourself that this kid is going to throw you around, this kid is going to throw you around.”

McDonald managed to avoid getting thrown by Magnuson early and was able to score some leg takedowns, then took advantage of some of his opponent’s mistakes to outscore him 23-12.

“He tried to throw me a couple of times and it wasn’t working and it was getting in his head,” McDonald said. “That’s when I was able to capitalize on his mistakes and get a near-fall out of it, score some points.”

At 170 pounds, sophomore Nich James delivered a clinical performance against North Marion’s Alec Roberts, winning a 9-1 major decision.

“Nich James is wrestling as good as he’s ever wrestled,” Thorpe said.

Some of Sweet Home’s top wrestlers, with state finals experience, found the district just as tough.

“The 126, 132, 138, 145 divisions in our region are probably the toughest four weights in the state,” Thorpe said. “We have an extremely tough region this year. It’s nice that we got that fifth-place qualifier.”

Senior 145-pounder Ricky Yunke, who has the most state experience of any wrestler on the team, said the Huskies did well at district, though “some people didn’t show up to matches, but I think we had a lot of people show up for their matches.

“Connor Ford should not have been a district champion, but he went out and performed his ‘A Game’ and that was just awesome.

“I think it sets us up for state really well. We’re taking 15 people, one more than we did last year when we won that title, and we have no dead weight this year. Everyone should win a match.”

Crook County and Tillamook both look like they will give Sweet Home a run for its money, but Thorpe said the Huskies have “good numbers” with 15 qualifiers.

He noted that he has seven qualifiers with state experience in Porter, Watkins, district 126-pound runner-up Royer, district third-place winner Robbie Yunke at 132, district 138-pound runner-up Travis Thorpe, Ricky Yunke at 145 and 195-pound district runner-up Bryce Coulter.

“The cool thing is we’ve got eight new guys who’ve never been there, never had their opportunity,” he said. “We have to beat guys in the consolation bracket because not everybody is going to win a state title.”

In addition to the 15 boys, junior Marissa Kurtz and sophomore Lexi Schilling have qualified for the girls semifinals, which will be wrestled Saturday, both at 105 pounds.

Kurtz, who placed second last year at 106 pounds, said she plans to win.

“My first match should be tough, but I’m expecting to win that one,” she said.

Thorpe said the Huskies are ready to head north.

“Our work’s been done. We’ve had the same goal all year. We’re just going to see how high a trophy we can get.”

Thorpe said he appreciated the help he got from parents and wrestlers, and school staffers to make sure the district tournament ran smoothly.

“Sweet Home is the right place to do wrestling,” he said. “I’m very grateful for that.”

District 2 Wrestling Championships

Team Scores – (1) Sweet Home 386.5; (2) Cascade 241; (3) Junction City 189; (4) North Marion 172.5; (5) Sutherlin 139.5; (6) Philomath 126; (7) Yamhill-Carlton 113; (8) Cottage Grove 109; (9) Elmira 107; (10) Sisters 86; (11) Newport 63.5; (12) Stayton 15.

Sweet Home Individual Results

106 – Treyson Smith lost by fall to Evan Potter (JC) 3:25; won by TF over Blake Brouwer (P) 16-1, 2:09; lost 9-2 to Matthew Carillo (Suth); did not place.

106 – Tristan Spencer pinned Sabrina James (CG) 00:53; pinned Justin McConkey (NM) 1:24; lost 14-8 to Cameron Truesdale (JC); pinned Matthew Carillo (Suth) 1:26; lost 8-2 to Reily Liesengang (Y-C); placed fourth. Spencer will open state wrestling against third-seeded Kiez White of McGloughlin.

113 – Preston Ulrich lost by fall to Chris Horner (Suth) 3:28; pinned Tristen West (JC) :20; lost 6-0 to Zane Shadrick (JC); did not place.

113 – Connor Ford won by major decision over Zane Shadrick (JC) 15-4; lost 9-5 to David Villegas (Casc); pinned Jacob Jarvis (Y-C) 28-13 (Fall 2:37); district champion. Ford, seeded fourth, will open state wrestling against Marcos Grijalva of Ontario.

120 – Bryce Porter pinned Grey Canada (E) 1:53; pinned Joseph Baxter (Casc) 2:26; won by injury default over Robert Watkins (SH) 5:38; district champion. Porter, seeded fourth, will open state wrestling against Cole Wiles of Newport.

120 – Robert Watkins pinned Angel Bedolla Lopez (NM) 0:57; pinned Hunter McCaskill (P) 0:48; pinned Chance Ralston (CG) 1:08; lost by injury default to Bryce Porter (SH) 5:38; placed second. Watkins, seeded fifth, will open state wrestling against Isaiah Franco of Klamath Union.

126 – Gavin Nichols lost by fall to Kane Nixon (Casc) 2:52; pinned Dalton Ford (Sist) 0:38; lost by fall to Anthony Rath (P) 1:18; lost by fall to Alejandro Ayala (JC) 4:57; placed sixth.

126 – Jackson Royer pinned Cainan Sanchez (NM) 1:01; pinned Anthony Rath (P) 2:26; lost 6-0 to Kane Nixon (Casc) ; placed second. Royer, seeded sixth, will open state wrestling against Nick Blair of Baker.

132 – Robbie Yunke pinned Case Wells (Suth) 1:06; pinned Keltin Benson (P) 1:29; lost 11-4 to Noah Thompson (Casc); maj. dec. Bryce Olsen (Suth.) 10-2; pinned Keltin Benson (P) 2:27; placed third. Yunke, seeded fifth, will open state wrestling against Ian Feldmeier of Baker.

132 – Gavin Walberg lost by fall to Dakota Elliott (Casc) 1:49; dec. Brandon Gilliam (JC) 5-3; pinned Morgan French (P) 0:50; lost by fall to Keltin Benson (P) 5:04; did not place.

138 – Travis Thorpe pinned Brandon Soric-Rogers (P) 0:44; pinned Ben Roth (Casc) 2:24; pinned Saul Tarula (NM) 3:07; lost by maj. dec. to Brandon Gibson (NM) 13-3; placed second. Thorpe, seeded fifth, will open state wrestling against Keith Oswald of La Grande.

138 – Justin Kurtz pinned Joey Casiano (Casc) 1:41; dec. Jacob Dunn (CG) 2-1; lost by maj. dec. to Brandon Gibson (NM) 24-12; dec. Garrett O`Callaghan (JC) 11-4; won OT dec. over Saul Tarula (NM) 8-6; placed third. Kurtz, seeded sixth, will open state wrestling against Kaden Wood of Mazama.

145 – Zak Fox pinned Kyler Wells (Suth) 1:30; pinned Cole Pade (Sist) 3:38; lost 6-4 to Kade VanDeHey (Casc); pinned Damien Wills (Sist) 3:30; lost 7-6 to Tanner Gibson (JC); placed fourth. Fox will open state wrestling against third-seeded Ryan Mount of Molalla.

145 – Ricky Yunke pinned Matthew Stahlberg (Casc) 3:53; pinned Damien Wills (Sist) 3:31; pinned Tanner Gibson (JC) 3:05; lost 3-1 to Kade VanDeHey (Casc); placed second. Yunke, seeded fifth, will open state wrestling against Antonio Chacon of Tillamook.

152 – CJ Mitchell lost 18-6 maj. dec. to Bryce Anderson (Suth); dec. Edgar Gonzalez Tiscareno (NM) 5-2; maj. dec. Westin Nelson (Casc) 11-0; pinned Shane Cazimero (E) 2:31; lost by fall to Dustin Smith (Sist) 3:20; maj. dec. Dylan Donnell (P) 13-5; placed fifth. Mitchell will open state wrestling against teammate Boe Baxter, seeded third.

152 – Boe Baxter pinned Wasurat Keeratirat (E) 0:24; pinned Dylan Donnell (P) 3:18; maj. dec.Dustin Smith (Sist) 10-1; dec. James Howell (P) 5-2; district champion. Baxter, seeded third, will open against teammate CJ Mitchell.

160 – Hayden McDonald pinned Issiah Blackburn (P) 1:46; pinned Ulises Maldonado (NM) 4:18; dec. Nate Farrell (CG) 10-5; maj. dec. Tabor Magnuson (Y-C) 23-12; district champion. McDonald, seeded fourth, will open state wrestling against Ulises Madonado of North Marion.

160 – Noah Moore pinned Cody Griffin (P) 1:32; lost by fall to Tabor Magnuson (Y-C) 2:09; maj. dec. Brandon Andresen (JC) 8-0; lost 8-6 to Rowdy Ramirez (E); did not place.

170 – Nich James pinned Dustin Talbott (Y-C) 0:29; pinned Clay Dickerson (Stay) 3:28; pinned Ayite Mettle (N) 2:25; maj. dec. Alec Roberts (NM) 9-1; district champion. James, seeded third, will open state wrestling against Alex Werner of Tillamook.

170 – Damion Schocker pinned Trace Nelson (CG) 5:03; lost by fall to Alec Roberts (NM) 0:49; lost 16-2 maj. dec. to Will Singleton (Suth); did not place.

182 – Jake Fanning lost by fall to Korbyn Jones (Suth) 0:37; lost by fall to Kalvin Schunn (P) 5:35; did not place.

182 – Iakona Howerton lost by fall to Mat Thorne (E) 4:43; pinned Chayce Sproat (Sist) 3:07; pinned Austin Dempsey (CG) 5:49; lost 7-3 to Matthew Clark (Casc); lost by fall to Korbyn Jones (Suth) 1:02; placed sixth.

195 – Bryce Coulter pinned Terrin Sheridan (NM) 0:12; maj. dec. Nick Payton (E) 13-0; dec. Tyler Morris (JC) 12-6; lost 7-1 to Ramon Organiz (NM); placed second. Coulter, seeded fifth, will open state wrestling against Gabe Shuckle of La Grande.

195 – Levi Baird pinned Caleb Hunter (E) 2:28; lost by fall to Ramon Organiz (NM) 1:03; lost by fall to Jared Minter (P) 2:44; did not place.

285 – David McMullen pinned Keenuie Deutsch (N) 0:51; maj. dec. Zackary Rodriguez (Y-C) 10-2; lost by fall to John Dover (JC) 1:32; lost by fall to Casey Warburton (Sist) 13:11; lost by fall to Zackary Rodriguez (Y-C) 4:08; placed sixth.

Total
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