Sweet Home scored 10 pins Thursday, slicing through the Molalla Indians like a hot knife through butter and welding their lock on the Capitol Conference league title.
Coach Steve Thorpe’s Huskies saw only a couple of heavy challenges including Israel Helfrich’s 12-2 win over Kenny Roberts at 140 and Daniel Brewer 2:54 pin over Denny Kirk.
“Israel beat the number five ranked kid in the state,” Coach Thorpe said. “Daniel also beat a very good kid.”
Despite the 64-16 score, including two injury defaults by the Huskies, Coach Thorpe said Molalla actually has one of the better mat squads in the league.
“They have a good coach and some tough kids,” Coach Thorpe said.
Senior heavyweight Andy Ellis scored the fastest pin of the night, downing Ben Gulliford in just 33 seconds. David Helfrich only took 59 seconds to pin Joel Walkup at 160 pounds and Chad Emmert was just one second slower in beating Kyle Crawford at 112.
Sweet Home defaulted at 135 when Adam Zurcher injured a knee. Coach Thorpe said he will be back for this weekend’s district tournament.
145-pounder Adam Knight also defaulted due to severe leg cramps.
Saturday the Huskies traveled to neighboring Lebanon and again walked away with triple wins.
The Huskies pounded Philomath 64-5, Lebanon, 54-15 and Barlow, 54-8.
“We only lost six vasity matches all day,” Coach Thorpe said.
The Huskies crowned nine champions: Andrew Swanson, 103; Mike Aerni, 112; K.C. Stokes, 125; Kyle Temple, 130; Chris Phillips, 140; Israel Helfrich, 145; Matt Vassar, 189; Daniel Brewer, 215; Andy Ellis, heavyweight.
“This was a well-run tournament,” Coach Thorpe said. “Lebanon is improving and Barlow has some good wrestlers.”
Coach Thorpe said Andrew Swanson scored the highlight of the tournament by scoring a 1-0 decision over Jeff Taylor, a double all-American.
“Andrew had never beaten Taylor before. It was a big match for him,” Coach Thorpe said.
Matt Vassar, 189, scored a big win over Jay Wilson who pinned him a year ago. Sophomore Kyle Temple was solid at 130, scoring an overtime win.
The Huskies scored 58 points, Lebanon, 31, Barlow, 21, and Philomath, 12.
Sweet Home hosts the district tournament Friday and Saturday at the Husky gym.
Friday’s action starts at 11 a.m. Saturday wrestling gets underway at 11 a.m with finals slated for 7 p.m.
Sweet Home takes seven number one seeds into the tournament including Andrew Swanson, 103; Neal Workman, 119; K.C. Stokes, 125; Adam Knight, 135; Matt Vassar, 189; Daniel Brewer, 215; and Andy Ellis, heavyweight.
Cascade has five number one seeds.
“We’re ready for this tournament,” Coach Thorpe said. “This year, we take the top three from district to the state tournament. As a conference, we could have a shot at having a finalist at every weight at the state meet.”
Sweet Home 64
Molalla 16
103: Swanson pinned Jensen in 2:53; 112: Emmert pinned Crawford in 1:00; 119: Workman pinned Lanz in 3:20; 125: Stokes pinned Peters in 3:37; 130: Temple was decisioned 18-5 by Roberts; 135: Zurcher defaulted to Weigel; 140: I. Helfrich dec. Roberts 12-2; 145: Knight defaulted to Puhlman; 152: Lambert pinned Barr in 4:17; 160: D. Helfrich pinned Walkup in :59; 189: Vassar pinned Wilson in 1:06; 215: Brewer pinned Kirk in 2:54; 275: Ellis pinned Gulliford in :33.