Culver, nearly always the class of the 2A division in wrestling, was unable to stand up before an avalanche of ferocity Thursday in a dual meet with Sweet Home.
The Huskies won 63-10 over a team that had beaten them in duals in each of the last two years.
“Culver’s a tough team,” Coach Steve Thorpe said. “We did get on kind of a roll with them. They’re one of the noted teams in the state.”
Also on Thursday, Sweet Home completed a sweep of the Val-Co dual league competition, rolling over an overmatched Newport squad 72-6.
“Newport is a very young, young team that had a coaching change in October,” Thorpe said. “They only had two kids with experience. But wrestling is a sport where you have to go against whoever you have to go against. They wrestled whoever was in front of them.”
It was senior night for the Huskies, who said good-bye to Marshall Arndt, Brock Crocker, Matthew Grove, Mitch Grove, Tyler Holly, Brad Pitts, David Rinehart, Taylor Tagle and Christian Whifield.
All of the seniors were winners, and Thorpe said Tyler Holly overcame illness to pin Culver’s Josue Gonzalez and Colton Schilling wrestled “a tough match” to score a major decision over Jared Kasch of Culver, 13-0.
“Overall, I was proud of the boys,” he said. “It was a very good way to go out for them. It was a good way to end their home dual career.”
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Cottage Grove Tournament
Sweet Home kept five of its varsity wrestlers out of action at the 28-team Cottage Grove Invitational Saturday, Feb. 6, and Thorpe pulled Kyle Hummer and Brock Crocker after two rounds.
“We’re getting people healthy,” he said, with the district meet two weeks away on Feb. 20.
The Huskies placed ninth in the tournament, with 101 points. Cascade was the winner with 214.5 points.
Sweet Home had no champions, but Schilling and Arndt both placed second, at 103 and 135 pounds, with Mitch Grove third at 119 and Crocker fifth at 152, despite his early exit.
“Marshall wrestled his tail off in the finals and Schilling lost to a state finalist from last year,” Thorpe said. Schilling lost 6-0 to Kyle Johnson of Gold Beach, while Arndt was defeated 6-3 by Cottage Grove’s Josh Stanley, last year’s fourth-place finisher in the 4A division.
Thorpe noted that Grove’s only loss was a 6-2 decision to Jonny Campbell of Myrtle Point, last year’s 3A champion.
The Huskies will host Lebanon, Monroe and Marist Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 4 p.m. for a dual against Lebanon and individual matches against wrestlers from the other two schools.
Thorpe said who will wrestle for Sweet Home will be determined by who is healthy enough and will not exceed the 50-match limit for the season.
“Our focus, what we do everything for, is district and state,” he said. “Now we have people who need to heal up, who need to stay healthy.”
Sweet Home 63, Culver 10
103 €“ Colton Schilling (SH) major dec. Jared Kasch (C) 13-0; 112 €“ Brian Sorenson (SH) pinned Mark Merrill (C) :45; 119 €“ Tyler Holly (SH) pinned Josue Gonzalez (C) 3:41; 125 €“ Mitch Grove (SH) won by forfeit; 130 €“ Tyler Cowger (SH) pinned David Badillo (C) 3:42; 135 €“ Jesus Retano (C) won by inj. def. over Kris Newport (SH); 140 €“ Marshall Arndt (SH) dec. Miguel Gutierrez (C) 6-5; 145 €“ Kyle Hummer (SH) pinned Cody Clugston (C) :36; 152 €“ Brock Crocker (SH) pinned William Daniels (C) 3:30; 160 €“ Jacob Jewell (SH) pinned Ivan Galan (C) 3:11; 171 €“ Brad Pitts (SH) dec. Wesley Wilson (C) 6-4; 189 €“ Wade Paulus (SH) won by forfeit; 215 €“ Justin Hendrix (C) Zach Gill (SH); 285 €“ Christian Whitfield (SH) pinned Jake Jones (C) :55.
Sweet Home 72, Newport 6
103 €“ Colton Schilling (SH) won by forfeit; 112 €“ Scottie Stockman (SH) pinned Alex Martinez (N) 1:24; 119 €“ Mitch Grove (SH) pinned Nick Giles (N) :49; 125 €“ Tyler Holly (SH) won by forfeit; 130 €“ Tyler Cowger (SH) pinned Rigo Soifakis :24; 135 €“ Kris Newport (SH) pinned Kevin Brandt (N) :55; 140 €“ Marshall Arndt (SH) won by forfeit; Arndt then pinned 152-pounder Jake Hale (N) in an exhibition match in 1:43; 145 €“ Kyle Hummer (SH) won by forfeit; 152 €“ Brock Crocker (SH) pinned Jordan Hayner (N) 3:55; 160 €“ Jacob Jewell (SH) pinned Alex Grant (N) 1:40; 171 €“ Brad Pitts (SH) pinned Joey Jacques (N) 3:35; 189 €“ Wade Paulus (SH) pined Aaron Laverdure (N) 1:38; 215 €“ Jake Robison (N) pinned Zach Gill (SH) 3:42; 285 €“ Christian Whitfield (SH) won by forfeit.