Scott Swanson
Years of focused hard work paid off Saturday as Sweet Home won its first state title since 2009 Saturday and put five wrestlers in the finals of the state wrestling championship tournament Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25.
The Huskies fought their way past Crook County, which had won the last four titles, finishing half a point ahead of the Cowboys. North Marion was third with 165, followed by Marshfield with 157.
Senior Kobe Olson was one of five Sweet Home wrestlers to make the finals, but the only one to come away with an individual title. He won his second straight state championship at 126 pounds by outpointing teammate Travis Thorpe, a freshman, in a match that was closer than the 4-0 score indicated.
Other Huskies who made the finals were junior Ricky Yunke at 138 pounds; senior Jake Porter at 145; and junior Bryce Coulter at 182.
Sophomores Robert Watkins (113) and Robbie Yunke (120) both placed fifth, and junior Justin Kurtz placed sixth at 138.
The championship was the crowning moment of a season full of them for Coach Steve Thorpe, who was named 4A Coach of the Year, along with his assistants, Tomas Rosa, Steve Schilling, Tim Boatwright, Brock Crocker and Zach Gill.
Earlier this season, Thorpe also broke the school record for dual meet wins, set by his predecessor Norm Davis, with 504.
This team title was the fifth for Thorpe, who noted he’s had teams win in the 1990s, 2000s and now the 2010s.
“That’s the thumb,” he said, holding up his hand to indicate five fingers. “That’s a mark for this program and the coaches and the parents and the kids that make up this program. I’m going to enjoy this one for a day, then we are going to go back to work.”
In the girls state tournament finals, Marissa Kurtz was second at 106 pounds and senior Gracie Olson was third. Kurtz and Olson, who qualified for the four-girl semifinals at an earlier tournament, faced off Friday, with Kurtz winning by a fall in 5:17. She lost in the final to Thurston’s Macie Stewart, 5-0. Olson pinned Rainier’s Allie Ocain in the third-place match Saturday, in 5:23.
“Macie Stewart has always been a good wrestler,” said Kurtz, who is 2-3 against Stewart. “We both wrestled our best.”
The girls tournament drew more than double the 100-some competitors in last year’s girls championship.
“There were some pretty good ones,” Kurtz said.
Olson said she’d pinned Ocain in the qualifying tournament, so she was “pretty confident” going into the third-place match. She said she was “happy” to place third.
“After losing to Marissa in the semis, I just wanted to end on an odd number,” she said.
Travis Thorpe and Olson drew a lot of attention in the 126-pound final, clearly a match-up between two wrestlers who knew each other well and a rematch of the District 2 championship final in which Olson beat Thorpe 2-0.
This time it was 4-0, thanks to two takedowns Olson scored – the second late in the match. Both wrestlers were leery about tying up and spent the first half of the match on their feet, hand fighting and carefully positioning themselves, probing and dodging each other’s shots.
“The first round went kind of slow,” Thorpe said. “He’s pretty long and strong and he knows how to wrestle really good with technique. Basically, I had to remain strong and stay in good body position. I was basically just trying to get my ties and not let him shoot on me.”
Olson said it was tough wrestling a teammate with whom he trains “once or twice a week.”
“We know a lot about each other,” he said. “Especially in the state finals, it’s nerve-wracking wrestling a teammate.”
He said he was “very, very thankful and humbled” in winning.
“Only 14 people in each division get that title. To be one of those is pretty awesome, to have that feeling a second time. Last year I had that feeling for about an hour, then it was over. I wanted to have it again.”
Thorpe said he started the season just hoping to win a spot in the line-up.
“Later in the year I found out I could run with these guys and I started writing goals.”
He said by mid-season he realized he had a chance to do well at state.
“I was thinking there were not a lot of people who could run with me, the way I train.”
Now that he’s placed second as a freshman, he said, his next move will have to be up.
“I’m looking forward to winning it the next three years,” he said.
Steve Thorpe said Olson’s second title was “incredible.”
“You can’t take that away from anybody. Not many people can say they’ve won a state title, but to win two of them – that’s pretty impressive.”
He said his son established a mark as “one of the toughest freshmen in Sweet Home history” as the fourth freshman to reach the finals. The match, he said, was “incredible.”
“That was one of Kobe’s best matches of the tournament.”
Yunke, who went into the tournament seeded fifth at 138 pounds, defeated two higher-seeded wrestlers including pinning Avidan Sanchez of North Marion, who had beaten him in the regional tournamnet, then scoring a 3-2 decision over top-seeded Riley Chester of McLoughlin in the semis before falling to No. 3 seed Garrett LeFebvre of Marshfield 5-2 in the final.
“I felt good,” Yunke said about his run. “I had some butterflies in my stomach at first because, I mean, I’ve gone to the state tournament twice but I haven’t placed.”
He said the final was “kind of culture shock. I’d always watched them and I’d just … it made me a little nervous. This is just going to help me with more – when you go to big tournaments, you get stage fright sometimes. Doing this that helps me overcome it, gives me more experience against better guys.”
Thorpe said Yunke’s run to the finals was “absolutely incredible.”
“He beat the No. 1 seed in this tournament. Ricky, he’s one of the harder-working kids in our room. He’s dedicated. You’re not disappointed if you do everything you can do and that’s what he did.”
Porter appeared to be on his way to a win over No. 3-seeded Clay Keller of Baker in the 145-pound final, leading 8-7 when he ended up on his back underneath Keller after a scramble and was pinned.
“I should not have gotten thrown. That kid, he’s tough,” Porter said afterwards. “He’s really strong. I don’t think anybody could break that body lock he got on me.”
Still, he was happy to make the final.
“It’s better than what I’ve done past two years. I’ve only gone 1-2 both years. I didn’t even go my freshman year. This is a big improvement compared to what I’ve been doing.
“Now I get to look forward to freestyle and Greco and win those.”
Thorpe said “one mistake” cost Porter the match.
“But that doesn’t define him. He’s a regional champion. He pinned people in this tournament. He was a leader in this tournament. I wish Jake could have won. I feel bad for Jake.”
Coulter, facing Mazama senior Josh Hammers in the 182-pound final, gave up a pair of near falls to the defending state champ, then lost more points on takedown attempts as he tried to turn things around in a 12-1 loss.
“I haven’t wrestled him at all and I don’t really know anybody who has,” he said of Hammers. “I was just kind of feeling it as I went on the fly.
“I’m kind of disappointed in the outcome, but not really, because I left it all on the mat. He was good on top and turned me a couple of times. But I think if you take away those turns, it’s a different match. I wouldn’t have had to force those two throws at the end.”
Thorpe said he was “proud of Bryce Coulter.”
“Bryce lost in the finals but Bryce tried to win the match the entire time.”
Freshman Jackson Royer placed third at 106 pounds.
“I was hoping for first, but I just gotta go for it next year,” he said. His only only loss was a 5-2 decision to Crook County’s Hunter Mode, who finished second.
“I lost to him earlier in the season,” Royer said. “I didn’t wrestle too bad. There were a couple of things I could’ve done a little different. I’ve been working on that for six weeks.”
Noted the difficulty of Royer’s bouncing back from a semifinals loss to win two matches and place third, Thorpe said Royer and other placewinners’ finishes were all as important as the finalists’ in a half-point victory margin.
“We won this tournament. Let’s say Jackson Royer doesn’t get a fall or doesn’t win that match, or Robert Watkins doesn’t take fifth. Or Jake doesn’t make it to the finals. One little slip and we lose the state title. So I’m proud of them.
“I’m happy with them. I’m proud of what we accomplished,” he added, emphasizing the “we.”
“That makes me happy.”
Watkins finished fifth at 113 after getting pinned by eventual champion and No. 1 seed Richard Huff of Siuslaw and then 7-2 to No. 2 seed Kane Nixon in a rematch of their District 2 final.
“It was a little tougher than last year,” Watkins said of the 113-pound division after taking third last year at 106. “The kids were a little bit bigger than me. I felt it was good. I probably could have wrestled better. I was just exhausted.”
“Robert Watkins, to come back and get fifth place for us – that kid is a two-time state placer,” Thorpe said. “He’s one of the few kids that could be a four-time state placer. And even in his losses, he wrestled with everything he had. He never backed down. He took it to the kids in his losses. I’m very proud of him.”
Robbie Yunke, who took fifth at 120 pounds by pinning Crook County’s Zachary Mauras, was happy with his first trip to state.
“I felt really good. I was hoping to place a little higher, but I went out on an odd (-numbered placing), so that makes me happy. I’ve got more motivation for next year.”
Yunke “took advantage of his opportunity,” Thorpe said. “When you finish on an odd number, finish with a fall against a team you’re in the race for, that’s a stand.”
He also credited Kurtz, whose only losses came at the hands of seeded competitors, with taking sixth.
“Justin Kurtz, winning with a fall in the quarterfinals to get in the semis – that was an outstanding achievement by him.
The only other finalists from Special District 2 were North Marion’s Russell Stigall (120) and his brother Lane at 152, Gregory Wing (160), Cascade’s Louie Sanchez at 220, and and Dylan Porter of Elmira and John Dover of Junction City, who faced off in the heavyweight final.
Both Stigalls won, Lane securing his third state title, and Porter took the gold at 285.
Thorpe said the Huskies will be back.
“We’re graduating some good kids but we have some youth coming in,” he said. “We’re only graduating two place-winners. The rest are coming back.”
He said he found personal motivation in the Sweet Home swimmers winning both the boys and girls state titles the previous week, Feb. 18.
“That doesn’t happen by accident,” he said. “I took something from that. That motivated me, knowing that those teams did something no one’s done at Sweet Home before.
“They were there every morning, training before other kids were even crawling out of bed. I know they were there because we were there too. Each morning, training, working out, getting ready for today. All those hours were spent getting ready for a two-day tournament.”
OSAA 4A Wrestling Champoinhips
Sweet Home Results
106 pounds – Jackson Royer won by inj. def. over Brock Bresser (Henley) 1:22; pinned Tannon Joyner (Crook County) 3:54; lost 5-2 to Hunter Mode (Crook County); pinned Jesse Jones (McLoughlin) 2:11; dec. Quinton Metcalfe (Tillamook) 3-1.
113 pounds – Robert Watkins pinned Luis Macias (Tillamook) 1:15; pinned No. 4 seed Ezra McIntosh (La Grande) 3:35; lost by fall to No. 1-seeded Richard Huff (Siuslaw) 1:40; lost 7-2 to Kade Nixon (Cascade); dec. Frankie Harlow (Marshfield) 4-1; placed fifth.
113 pounds – Bryce Porter lost by fall to Frankie Harlow (Marshfield) 4:33; lost 16-6 maj. dec. to No. 2 seed Kane Nixon (Cascade); did not place.
120 pounds – Robbie Yunke pinned Kody Grossman (Henley) 0:15; lost maj. dec. to Pacer Quire (Crook County) 11-0; pinned Chase Conner (Corbett) 2:29; lost 5-3 to Ryan Ninman (Stayton); pinned Zachary Mauras (Crook County) 1:15; placed fifth.
126 pounds – Kobe Olson pinned Lorenzo Mazzolari (Tillamook) 1:09; pinned Zach Ware (Ontario) 1:19; pinned Jace Hayes (Baker) 3:15; dec. Travis Thorpe (Sweet Home) 4-0; state champion.
126 pounds – Travis Thorpe pinned Christian Garfield (North Valley) 5:27; dec. No. 2 seed James AhHee (Baker) 4-2; dec. No. 2-seed Colton Morgan (Crook County) 8-5; lost 4-0 to Kobe Olson (Sweet Home); placed second.
132 pounds – Dillon Stutzman pinned No. 7 seed Jorge Duran (Baker/Powder Valley) 4:16; lost 10-3 to Tyler Fioravanti (Crook County) 10-3; lost 12-6 to Alvin Lopez (Gladstone); did not place.
132 pounds – Zak Fox lost by tech. fall to No. 1 seed AJ Lira (Marshfield) (18-1, 3:25); pinned No. 8 seed Diego Smith (Crook County) 1:32; pinned No. 5 seed Boss Clark (Henley) 1:41; lost by fall to Sean McCully (Tillamook) 1:25; did not place.
138 pounds – Ricky Yunke maj. dec. Dylan Dickson (Tillamook) 11-0; pinned No. 4 seed Avidan Sanchez (North Marion) 4:45; dec. No. 1-seed Riley Chester (McLoughlin) 3-2; lost 5-2 to No. 3 seed Garrett LeFebvre (Marshfield); finished second.
138 pounds – Justin Kurtz dec. Grayson Jensen (La Grande) 5-3; pinned Saul Tarula (North Marion) 4:15; lost by fall to No. 3-seed Garrrett Lefebvre (Marshfield) 9-1; lost 6-2 to No. 4 seed Avidan Sanchez (North Marion); lost 10-1 maj. dec. to No. 2 seed Austin Weeks (Tillamook); placed sixth.
145 pounds – Jake Porter pinned Ben Pruitt (Molalla) 0:21; dec. Asa Alexander (Cascade) 8-2; dec. Parker Robinson (La Grande) 10-6; pinned by No. 3 seed Clay Keller (Baker) 5:14; finished second.
152 pounds – Oscar Hernandez lost by fall to No. 4 seed Nathan Reed (La Grande) 1:35; lost 11-2 maj. dec. to Colton Burkhardt (Crook County); did not place.
160 pounds – Nich James lost by maj. dec. to Braydon Wright (Mazama) 11-2; dec. Grady Hampel (North Bend) 3-0; lost 13-9 to Kyle Knudson (Crook County); did not place.
182 pounds – Bryce Coulter dec. Jaxson Rhoden (Crook County) 5-3; dec. Kadin Baker (Douglas/Camas Valley) 6-2; lost 12-1 maj. dec. to Josh Hammers (Mazama); finished second.
Team Scores – (1) Sweet Home 181; (2) Crook County 180.5; (3) North Marion 165; (4) Marshfield 157; (5) Baker/Powder Valley 132.5; (6) Tillamook 92.5; (7) Cascade 89; (8) Henley 85; (9) Banks 65; (10) La Grande 63.5; (11) McLoughlin/Weston McEwen 62.5; (12) Siuslaw 49; (13) Douglas/Camas Valley 45; (14) Mazama 42; (15) Junction City 40; (16) Molalla 36; (17-tie) Elmira, Ontario 33; (19) Estacada 24; (20-tie) Scappoose, Sutherlin 23; (22) Yamhill-Carlton 21; (23-tie) South Umpqua, Stayton 18; (25-tie) Gladstone, Madras 14; (27) Brookings-Harbor 12.5; (28) Newport 8; (29) Phoenix 6; (30) Astoria 5; (31-tie) North Bend, North Valley 4; (33-tie) Corbett, Cottage Grove, Klamath Union 3; (36) Philomath 2; (37-tie) Hidden Valley, Sisters 0.