Colton Schilling finished second in the nation at 119 pounds Monday at the 2011 USAW Cadet Greco-Roman National Championships at Fargo, N.D.
Tyler Cowger was fourth at 140, the highest finishes Coach Steve Thorpe’s wrestlers have ever had at the cadet nationals.
In the junior nationals, Trever Olson won his first match before losing his next two to be eliminated.
“You go there, you win matches at the national tournament, that says something,” Thorpe said.
“I was proud of Sweet Homes wrestling today,” Thorpe said. “We had two All-Americans and a junior who’s went 1-2. He has worked and dedicated himself. He has driven up to Portland on a couple of different weekends to do mini training camps. He has done everything he can to make himself better. I’m proud of these guys.”
Schilling lost one match in round robin and had to pin that wrestler later in the tounament to make the final, going in with the highest number of pins in the tournament – seven.
Facing Aaron Pico of Whittier, Calif., in the final, he fell behind as he wrestled aggressively against a passive Pico, who showed very little offense throughout the match. Schilling actively tried to take Pico down twice in the first period, but Pico was able to twist out of the head-and-arm attempts each time and get the takedowns, leading 5-1 at the end of the period. He scored one more point in the second period to win 5-1, 1-0.
“I thought it was a great match,” Thorpe said. “It wasn’t anything Colton did wrong. What you had was two of the best kids in the country wrestling each other. None of those end in ties. Someobody wins, somebody loses.
“They don’t get called for passivity. That kid just shut the match down. Like I said to Colton, we’re proud of him. He’s the national runner-up.
Cowger finished 6-2, losing the third-place match to Aaron Hartman of Florida 4-1,0-3,1-0.
It was a good day for Oregon wrestlers in the cadet finals. Cody Jackson of Scappoose pinned Jabari Moody of Illinois in the 84-pound final, Ronnie Bresser of Henley decisioned Tommy Walton of North Dakota 6-2, 3-0 at 98 pounds, Tiger Paasch of McMinnville pinned Tony Clinesmith of Missouri to take seventh at 152 pounds, David Henry of Oakland lost by a decision at 215 pounds to Nathan Butler of Kansas to finish fourth at 215 pounds, and Chet Spears of Sheldon won by a technical fall over Josh Tausaga of California to place third at 285.
Oregon, with 31 wrestlers, was in fourth place following the Cadet finals with 41 points, behind Pennsylvania (79 points, 39 wrestlers), California (55 points, 43 wrestlers) and Illinois (47 points, 57 wrestlers).