Sweet Home sent 16 Huskies to the state 3A tournament and placed five, with senior Andrew Swanson, 125, placing for the third time in his high school career.
The Huskies went into the tournament ranked 15 and finished fifth with 97 points. Burns took the championship title with 177 points. Banks was second at 149.5; Estacada third, 122; Tillamook, fourth, 106.5; Sweet Home, fifth, 97; Coquille, sixth, 94.5; North Valley, seventh, 77.5; Cascade, eighth, 73; Phoenix, ninth, 71.5; and Illinois Valley and North Bend, tied for 10th, 71.
“I’m very proud of this team,” Coach Steve Thorpe said. “Some folks kept saying we were in a down year, we were rebuilding. What type of team wins district by 180 points and then is fifth at state and calls it a rebuilding year?”
Eleven of 16 Huskies scored points.
“Rainier had more guys place at the tournament than us, but they didn’t score as much,” Coach Thorpe said. “The key for us that our guys not only score, but they get the extra points with major decisions and the like. That’s not very important early in the tournament but it becomes very important late when the going gets very close.”
Sweet Home wrestlers had eight first round byes that also impact scoring.
“A bye doesn’t allow us to score points. Some of our better guys had byes. They could have scored team points instead of getting advancement points after the second round,” Coach Thorpe said.
Husky placers included Shane Vandehei, freshman, 103, seventh; Andrew Swanson, senior, 125, third; Kyle Temple, senior, 140, fourth; Robert Carr, 145, senior, fifth; Rob Martin, junior, 215, eighth.
“We had an excellent tournament even though we didn’t put anyone in the finals,” Coach Thorpe said.
Swanson climaxed a high school record with three district championship title and three state placings: second at 103; fourth at 112 and third at 125.
“Andrew drew the top side of the bracket and that was a tough one,” Coach Thorpe said. “He lost a heartbreaker in overtime but he has matured so much this year and become a true team leader. I know he wanted a state title but he scored a lot of points for us.”
Coach Thorpe said Kyle Temple, “Wrestled the tournament of his life. He beater higher ranked kids and kids who are technically better wrestlers. That shows the size of his heart. But, he’s worked hard and has done all the extra things to become a winner.”
Robert Carr “surpised everyone but us” Coach Thorpe said. “He also had the tournament of his life with only one bad match. He came back a got fifth. He scored three falls for us and earned us six bonus points. Robert is the most natural wrestler on the team with natural ability and balance. He has made himself a better person in the last two years.”
Freshman Shane Vandehei had a first round loss to the number two ranked wrestler and came back strong to score four falls for the Huskies and take seventh place.
“It was a great accomplishment for Shane,” Coach Thorpe said. “He’s given our team so much this year and there is a very bright future for Shane.”
215 pounder Rob Martin has worked extremely hard over the past year, wrestling both Greco Roman and freestyle in the off season and competing with the Junior National Team.
That hard work paid off with an eighth place finish, even though he had to withdraw from one match with an injured knee.
“Rob is another one who has done what it takes to become a winner,” Coach Thorpe said. “To come back from that injury, change his style and place, took guts.”
Seniors included Adam Zurcher, 130, who wrestled with an injury and also injured his knee at the tournament; Chris Phillips, 152, who was just one match from placing; Joe Rosa, 152, a varsity wrestler all season and Brad Seiber, heavyweight, who spotted opponents up to 60 pounds.
“I think freshman Trevor Tagle epitomized the heart of this team,” Coach Thorpe said. “He beat a junior who had been ranked all year, then beat Roman Garcia of Central, a state qualifier last year. He did himself a world of good for next year and scored points for us along the way.”
Wrestling banquet: The Huskies will celebrate their season Monday at 6 p.m. at the SHHS cafeteria with their annual banquet.
Top 10 3A teams: Burns, 177; Banks, 149.5; Estacada, 122; Tillamook, 106.5; Sweet Home, 97; Coquille, 94.5; North Valley, 77.5; Cascade, 73; Phoenix, 71.5; Illinois Valley, 71; North Bend 71.
Sweet Home results
103, Shane Vandehei, seventh: was pinned by Brian Jacob of Tillamook in 5:33; decisioned Albert Cervantes of The Dalles 11-2; pinned Jimmy Linenberger of Mazama in 1:16; pinned Josh Brown of North bend in 2:13; was pinned by Justin Rogers of Seaside in 2:15; pinned Eric Harryman of Glide in 1:24.
112, Trevor Tagle: decisioned Brandon Zgraggen of LaPine 4-3; pinned Roman Garcia of Central in 3:29; lost by 18-3 tech fall to Ryan Dunn of Estacada; was decisioned 15-3 by Jesse Thom of North Bend.
119, Jon Farris: first round bye; pinned by Chaz Abarno of Banks in 2:24; was decisioned by Paulo Rocha of Illinois Valley 7-6.
125, Andrew Swanson, third: first round bye; decisioned Jeremy Brougher of Elmira 5-4; was decisioned by Nathan Barney of Wilsonville 8-3 in overtime; pinned Josh Grant of McLoughlin in 4:12; decisioned Andy Hulings of Scappoose 11-2; decisioned Rich McCullogh of Astoria 5-0; decisioned Nathan Barney of Wilsonville 11-9.
130, Adam Zurcher: was decisioned 6-2 by Seth Johnson of Elmira, decisioned Nick Verducci of Gladstone 5-4; pinned Garrett Manske of Glide in 1:55; was pinned by Shane Felton of McLoughlin in 1:35.
135, Tomas Rosa: first round bye; was decisioned by Paul Rangel of Ontario 9-7 in overtime; pinned Tommy Marshall of Sutherlin in 2:19; decisioned Jeremy Scott of Brookings-Harbor 5-2; was decisioned 11-5 by Nathan Garcia of Central.
140, Kyle Temple, fourth: first round bye; decisioned Sam Hale of Elmira 9-8; decisioned Matt Britt of Illinois Valley 8-6; was decisioned 10-3 by Joe Jacob of Tillamook; decisioned Nick Byrd of Rainier, 8-6; was decisioned 16-3 by Nic Demaris of Cascade.
145, Robert Carr, fifth: pinned Mike Schaff of Taft in 1:14; pinned Sean Barnes of Tillamook in 1:59; pinned Chance Skerjanec of Vale in 1:35; was decisioned 5-3 by Mike Deconti of Glide; was decisioned 9-2 by Pedro Rivera of Mazama; decisioned Isaac Holeman 8-4.
145, Chris Phillips: first round bye; decisioned Darrell Rardin of Central 8-7; was decisioned 15-6 by Sam Marsh of Scappoose; was decisioned 7-1 by Pedro Rivera of Mazama.
152, Joe Rosa: was decisioned 13-2 by Jesse Jacobson of Rainier; was decisioned 14-2 by Natty Krauss of Illinois Valley.
160, Mike Lummus: pinned Keith Martin of Yamhill-Carlton in 5:59; lost 15-0 tech fall to Talon Hofman of Burns; was decisioned 4-3 in double overtime by Ryan Osborne of Douglas.
171, Hance Woody: first round bye; was pinned by Jeffrey Caldwell of North Bend in 3:24; was decisioned 5-2 by Ruben Ramirez of Cascade.
189, Matt Harkey: first round bye; was pinned by Paul Stierle of Phoeniz; decisioned Ryan Hoen of Yamhill-Carlton 5-4; was decisioned 10-1 by Seth Morehouse of Mazama.
189, Jesse Aitkin: first round bye; was pinned by Terry Ball of Banks in 1:58; was decisoned 8-1 by David Sanderbrink of Cottage Grove.
215, Rob Martin: pinned Joe O’Donnell of Gladstone in 3:42; pinned James McCall of Cottage Grove in 1:09; lost by injury withdrawel to Jared Allison of North Bend; pinned Jeff Crowley of Astoria in 2:10; was pinned by Luis Palacios of McLoughlin in 0:54; was pinned by Jesse Weight of Cascade in 3:02.
275, Brad Seiber: first round bye; was decisioned 8-3 by Brandon Anderchuk of Banks; was decisioned 2-0 by Josh Pope of Illinois Valley.