Alex Paul
Two months of intensive training and a rigid freestyle and Greco Roman schedule have resulted in five Husky wrestlers qualifying for the Cadet National and Junior National mat teams.
Cadet team members will be John Sutten, 119; Daniel Smith, 125; Trevor Tagle, 140; and Colton Cooley, 145.
Junior team members are Jon Farris, 125 and Chris Kelley, 275.
“We had an outstanding spring season,” Coach Steve Thorpe said. “We averaged 15 guys at Monday and Wednesday night practices over the last two months, that also turned into some Tuesday, Thursday and Friday after school workouts. None of the workouts were mandatory, these guys came out because they want to get better.”
Coach Thorpe said he had some athletes “set incredibly high goals. We talked about what it was they had to do to realize those goals and their payoff was the successes they enjoyed this spring.”
Husky grapplers competed in six spring tournaments.
Junior Chris Kelley, 275, qualified for the National Scholastic Dual team and competed April 1-3 in Dover, Del.
Tomas Rosa competed April 7-10 at the Western Regional Freestyle and Greco tournament held in Las Vegas, Nev. and was only one match away from placing.
The Cadet freestyle and Greco state championships were held April 3-4 in Bend. Cadet placers (16 and under) were John Sutten, third in Greco; Daniel Smith, fifth in freestyle and fourth in Greco; Trevor Tagle, third in Greco; Colton Cooley, fourth in Greco.
The Junior freestyle and Greco state championships were held April 24-25 at Oregon City.
Junior placers were Jon Farris, fourth at 125 freestyle; Trevor Tagle, third in both styles at 140; Tomas Rosa, third in freestyle and fifth in Greco at 145; Rob Martin, second in freestyle and fifth in Greco at 275; Chris Kelley, fifth in freestyle at 275; Matt Harkey, sixth in freestyle at 275.
“This is the most placers I’ve had as a head coach at this tournament,” Coach Thorpe said. “All school classes from 2A-4A compete as one unit here.”
Coach Thorpe said it’s important to wrestle the freestyle and Greco seasons, just as summer baseball and basketball are to those programs.
“Spring and summer wrestlers make winter champions,” he said. “A wrestler who competes in freestyle and Greco programs get an edge over someone who doesn’t due to the extra mat time, learning new techniques and training when others aren’t. During a regular season, a wrestler can get in 25-35 matches. By competing in the off season, he can get another 25-30 matches in. That will make a difference.”
Sweet Home has posted three All-Americans at the national tournament held in Fargo, N.D.
They include Andrew Swanson, two-time Cadet all-American who placed fifth in freestyle at 83.5 in 1999 and fourth in freestyle at 88.5 pounds in 2000.
David Helfrich placed eighth in Greco-Roman at 167 pounds in 2000.
James Gourley, junior all-American, placed fourth in Greco-Roman at 197 pounds in 1999.
To help defray the $5,500 cost of sending the five Huskies to the Junior and Cadet Nationals July 24-30, a dinner and auction will be held May 22 at the Jim Riggs Community Center.
Wrestlers are also selling chances on a four-wheeler. Tickets are $25 each or $100 for four and includes five hours of labor from a wrestler. A maximum of 300 tickets will be sold.
Tickets are available at The New Era, Deb and Beth’s Hair and Nail, and from participating wrestlers.
In addition to the national tournament, the Huskies will also host the Santiam Mid-Intensive Wrestling camp July 12-16 in Sweet Home.
Members of Oregon’s national teams, the Canadian National team and other campers will train locally.
Row one: Jake Smith, 112; John Sutten, 119; Travis Walker, 125; Jon Farris, 125; Daniel Smith, 125; Trevor Tagle, 140. Row two: Andrew Knight, 145; Colton Cooley, 145; Tom Helfrich, 145; Matt Harkey, 215; Chris Kelley, 275. Not pictured: Tomas Rosa, 145; Rob Martin, 275.