Sweet Home wrestlers throttled their Capital Conference opponents Saturday, easily capturing the district championship at Molalla.
Coach Steve Thorpe’s grapplers send 15 to state this weekend in Portland after scoring 461 points to second place Molalla’s 223.5. Following were Stayton, 205.5; Central, 176; Cascade, 171; North Marion, 61.5 and Sisters, 33.
Sweet Home scored 91 extra points due to the number of pins and tech falls scored by the Husky grapplers.
Husky senior David Helfrich capped his year by being named the meet’s outstanding wrestler.
Helfrich, who has lost only one match this season, pinned his way through the tournament.
“David is very deserving,” said coach Steve Thorpe, who earned the coach of the year award. “He pinned all four of his guys. I think David is at the right place he needs to be as he heads into the state tournament.”
Coach Thorpe said senior K.C. Stokes also had a fine showing. Stokes, a methodical, calculating grappler, has compiled a 114-7 career record.
Stokes has been a solid addition to the Husky mat program after transferring from Central Linn two years ago.
“We’re taking 15 to state and I think, overall, it’s a tougher group than we took last year,” Coach Thorpe said. “We will need to score some wins early to get points built up.”
Coach Thorpe said Husky fans, who comprised the bulk of the crowd at Molalla, were treated to an excellent matchup between two Sweet Home grapplers in the finals of the 125 pound weight class.
Seniors Jordan Johnson and Michael Aerni, best friends, have also battled each other daily in the Husky practice room.
Saturday night, Aerni took a 6-5 win for the district championship but not without a royal battle from his fellow Husky.
“It was good for the fans to see what we’ve seen all year long between these two guys,” Coach Thorpe said.
Seniors Matt Vassar and Daniel Brewer, 185 and 215 pounds, took their second district titles with strong showings, Coach Thorpe said.
Jon Dearborn, 140, Kyle Temple, 135 and Michael Lummus, 152, took third wrestling up the backdoor.
“I’m very proud of Chris Harnden, a senior. “He took second to Andrew Swanson but wrestled the state’s third ranked wrestler to get there. I’m very proud of him.”
The Huskies lost the talents of 119 pound senior Neal Workman, who could not compete due to a shoulder injury suffered at a previous meet.
Coach Thorpe said Monday that senior
The Huskies took 27 into the district meet and placed 25 of them.
“There were a couple we should have won. No excuses, we should were out wrestled by a few people,” Coach Thorpe said. “As a whole, they really supported each other and took care of each other.”
Husky placings
103: Chad Workman, champion; Matt Maloney, fifth.
112: Andrew Swanson, champion; Chris Harnden, second.
125: Mike Aerni, champion; Jordan Johnson, second.
130: Chad Emmert, second; Adam Zurcher, fourth.
135: K.C. Stokes, champion; Kyle Temple, third.
140: Jon Dearborn, third; Robert Carr, fourth.
145: Chris Phillips, fifth; Tomas Rosa, sixth.
152: Mike Lummus, third; Keegan Burnett, fourth.
160: Adam Knight, second; Joe Rosa, fourth.
171: David Helfrich, champion/outstanding wrestler.
189: Matt Vassar, champion; Matt Miner, second.
215: Daniel Brewer, champion; Troy Scott, fourth.
275: Rob Martin, fourth; Logan Cooley, fifth.
The state wrestling tournament will begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
The championship finals will be held at 6:30 p.m.
“Phoenix, Burns, Estacada, Coquille and Banks will all be very tough,” Coach Thorpe said. “I think this is the toughest 3A lineup at state that we’ve seen in 11 years. We’ve never seen it so deep in talent.”
Opening round opponents for Husky wrestlers will include:
103: Chad Workman versus Stampke of Burns.
112: Andrew Swanson (No. 2 seed) vs. winner of Zgraggen (Lapine) vs. Holeman (The Dalles) match.
112: Chris Harnden, bye opening round, then meets winner of Sams (Mac Hi) vs. Holderbey (Junction City) match.
125: Jordan Johnson, bye opening round, then meets winner of Pedrick (Hidden Valley) vs. Hugg (LaGrande) match.
125: Michael Aerni meets No. 3 seed Mason of Lakeview. Aerni is going into the state tournament undefeated with 25 wins.
130: Chad Emmert (No. 1 seed) vs. winner of Iltis (Philomath) vs. Johnson (Elmira) match.
135: K.C. Stokes (No. 1 seed) vs. Prescott of Coquille.
140: Jon Dearborn vs. Hoffman of Burns. There are eight seeded wrestlers in this weight bracket.
152: Michael Lummus vs. Gerlach of Brookings.
160: Adam Knight vs. Potter of Sherwood.
171: David Helfrich (No. 2 seed), opening round bye, then meets winer of Christian (Astoria) vs. Lundgren (South Umpqua) match.
189: Matt Miner versus Thompson of Douglas.
189: Matt Vassar, opening round bye, then meets winner of Brown (Phoenix) vs. Jones (Tillamook) match.
215: Daniel Brewer (No. 2 seed) versus Gaskill of South Umpqua.
“We’re definitely not a shoe in,” Coach Thorpe said. “I have to thank our fans, though. They were with us all year and they were strong at districts. We appreciate their support and look forward to seeing everyone in Portland.”