Sweet Home won its 11th straight regional wrestling title Saturday evening, Feb. 22, and qualified 18 wrestlers for this week’s state championships, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Feb. 27-28, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
The Huskies finished with 25 placewinners, who combined for 449 points, well ahead of second-place Cascade (325.5) and host Philomath (169.5). Rounding out the team scoring for Special District 2 were North Marion (166), Cottage Grove (165.5), Stayton (114.5), Newport (79.5) and Junction City (49.5).
Sweet Home had eight individual district champions: sophomore Keegan Jefferson at 106, sophomore Riley Vaughn at 113, sophomore Jesse Landtroop at 120, junior Tytus Hardee at 126, junior Dillan Davis at 132, sophomore Kyle Zajic at 157, senior Jacob Landtroop at 165, and junior Luke Rosa at 175.
The top four finishers in each weight class move on to state.
“We had 50 falls and five tech falls, and Keegan Jefferson and Riley Vaughn and Luke Rosa pinned their way through the tournament,” said Coach Steve Thorpe. “Everybody got to shine, but Dylan Davis went into that tournament and he beat Jeffery Conklin (of Cottage Grove) who had soundly beaten him earlier this year and then he beats a returning state placer in Henry Bankhead (of North Marion) – he just wrestled so well and he goes into the state tournament solid.
“Riley Vaughn had a decisive win in the finals and Tytus Hardee dominated his weight class as well. Then we had Kyle Zajic at 157 and Jacob Landtroop and Luke, who kind of put a stamp on it.
“Jacob was a district champion as a freshman and now he’s a regional champion as a senior.”
Davis noted that he forfeited the final to teammate Kyle Sieminski last year, who went on to win his fourth state championship, so this year Davis got his chance.
“It felt good,” he said, adding that he was motivated by his earlier loss to Conklin and had a “different mindset” in this tournament. “It felt like all I could think about was revenge.”
Runner-ups for the Huskies were senior Russell Dickerman (138), junior James Hearick (150) and senior Colton Bennett (285).
Consolation champions, winning third-place matches, were sophomore Cael Stevenson (120), junior Jeremiah Steagal (190) and senior
Dylan Sharp (215).
Finishing fourth to round out Sweet Home’s state qualifiers were sophomore Damian Ryan (106), freshman Brodee Gay (144), freshman Elijah Cruz (175) and junior Lynkin Royer (215).
Fifth-place finishers were freshman Gavin Baker (144) and junior Jackson Knight (157).
Finishing sixth was sophomore Liam Martin (285), and finishing eighth were freshman Ryder Carr (126), sophomore Conner Spencer (132), freshman Jasper Victor (138) and sophomore Zeek Gosnell (165).
A disappointment for Sweet Home was the ejection of senior Ashton Swanson, who was a state titlist last year at 175 pounds and was expected to be a prime candidate for a 190-pound state finals appearance for the Huskies. Swanson won his quarterfinal against Cottage Grove’s Mason Barnett, but in the semifinal against Solomon Sandoval of Cascade, he was disqualified and ejected from the tournament.
“That tournament’s always bittersweet,” Thorpe said. “You lose some matches you wish you would have won and there’s kids in that tournament every year that win matches that maybe they shouldn’t have. It’s a tournament of ups and downs.
“This week was filled with adversity for us as a team and as individuals, and losing Ashton – our team kind of rallied and came back to it. They did what they needed to do to be successful and I’m proud of those guys for that.”
Rosa said the district tournament “went pretty good for us, despite everything that happened.”
“I think we had a good tournament. I think I went out there and executed Step 1 of the plan. Now we have to execute at state.”
The Huskies have experience.
Jesse Landtroop will return to Portland from a state-championship season last year, and Jacob Landtroop, his older brother, won his own state individual title as a freshman in 2022.
“I’m just going there to do good and try to win another state title,” Jesse said. “That is my plan.
“I think we (as a team) can do it, even with what happened. I think we can still find a way to do it. Kids need to win matches.”
Said Rosa, who finished second last year and is aiming for the top spot this time around: “We’re going to have to win a couple matches we shouldn’t, but I think we can do it.”
Jefferson was sixth last year at 106 pounds, behind Landtroop; Hardee was fourth at 113; Zajic fifth at 144; Sharp third at 215 and Bennett fourth at 285, so the Huskies have experience in the upper reaches of the state tournament.
“Our goal has never changed,” Thorpe said. “We’re going there to make noise and win a state title and get as many guys placed as we can. It’s a brand new season again.”
Also making the trip to Portland this week are the four girls who qualified a week earlier: freshman Lyla Ventura at 105 pounds, freshman Bella Rico at 130, sophomore Madi Looney at 135 and two-time defending state champion Bailey Chafin, a junior, who will wrestle at 125.
“We’ve got a lot of experience going into that tournament, which helps us,” Thorpe said. “We put them through a schedule this year that would prepare them for a state tournament.
Davis said the grueling schedule has helped the Huskies ready for the tournament that counts the most.
“There are a lot of tough kids that we wrestle at these tournaments, like when we went to Reno,” he said.
Thorpe said the Huskies are ready for the challenge.
“We’ve got 18 boys and four girls. That’s a big crew of Sweet Home wrestlers. I’m pretty proud of what we’ve accomplished up to this point but I know that we’ve got much more to do.”
