By Ryker Burr
For The New Era
“This year’s team is the most solid top-to-bottom team I’ve coached.”
Those are the words of Steve Thorpe, who just won his eighth state title and Coach of the Year honors at the OSSA 4A Division state wrestling championships Friday night, Feb. 27.
This title may have capped off the most dominant year of the Thorpe era.
The Huskies scored 283 points to win by a massive margin of 81 points, well ahead of runner-ups Pendleton (202) and La Grande (197). Typically, state wrestling team winners are by much smaller margins, often less than 10 points. It was the largest victory margin since 1999.
Jesse Landtroop embodied that dominance as he has all season. The junior 126-pounder captured his third state title in tech-fall fashion (21-6) over La Grande’s Deegan Nelson.
“I knew I was going to do it,” he said. “I like how hard the sport is because it feels good when you win. My dad loves it too so it makes me happy when I win.”
“Jesse just dominates, he’s one of the most dominant wrestlers in the state of Oregon, Thorpe stated after throwing Landtroop onto the mat for celebratory fun in front of the crowd of more than 1,000, which erupted in laughter after the fun surprise. “He studies, trains, and doesn’t let the pressure get to him.”
Landtroop was the Huskies’ lone boys champion, though six of his teammates earned silver medals: freshman Cody Sieminski (106), junior Keegan Jefferson (113), junior Riley Vaughan (120), senior Tytus Hardee (132), senior Dillan Davis (144), and senior Luke Rosa (175).
Many of those finals losses were unexpected, some even controversial – especially Davis’s final: “There’s missed points in Dillan’s match. Officials went up to me the next day and told me they have training videos of our match now,” Thorpe said.
“A lot of those losses hurt and I was disappointed for them, but not in them.
“They’ll bounce back the same way they would’ve had they won. They’ll be in the wrestling room this week; we’re already planning…They’re gonna go to work.”
Thorpe praised Hardee: “Hardee was hurt – he’s been hurt; he wasn’t even 70%. He knocked off the No. 1 seed. He wasn’t able to move or practice well. He didn’t make excuses or blame anything. He did what a good man does: show up. He doesn’t have to win for me to think he’s a champion. He’s leaving here as a four-time state placer.”
Six other Huskies placed, and 19 of the 20 qualifiers won matches at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
Senior Jeremiah Steagall was third at 190; junior Cael Stevenson (132), junior Kyle Zajic (165), and sophomore Eli Cruz (215) placed fourth; senior James Hearick (150) placed fifth; and senior Lynkin Royer (285) placed sixth.
Thorpe highlighted more of his placers: “Keegan getting into the finals was great. It was good to see Jeremiah get a third. Lynkin placed in one of the toughest heavyweight brackets I’ve seen. Zajic carries the weight of the world on him. He’s not only a good wrestler, he’s a good person…Cael Stevenson wrestled as well as he could’ve wrestled, he kept getting stronger and stronger.”
Thorpe summarized what made this team so successful: “I’ve had this group for a long time…They were unselfish and wrestled for each other. They wrestled up, down, for each other.”
Sweet Home girls finish fifth
The girls missed a trophy by just four points, finishing fifth with a total of 84. Ahead of Sweet Home was La Grande (132), Harrisburg (122), Oakridge (120.5) and Banks (88).
Senior Bailey Chafin led the Huskies with her third state title, defeating Oakridge’s Victoria Keller by a 7-2 decision in the 125-pound final. .
Thorpe pointed out what made the victory “poetic redemption” was that Chafin was returning from a full reconstructed knee surgery and a shoulder surgery the year before that. She injured her knee in last year’s state final.
“One year ago, to the date, the exact same time, same exact mat – she completely destroyed her knee. Everything that could’ve happened to her knee did,” he said. “It’s such poetic redemption that at the same exact location she won her third state title. Had she not gotten hurt there’s not a doubt in my mind she would’ve been a four-time state champ.
“I thought it was so, so, so special and a testimony to how hard she worked to make it happen.”
“It just took me believing in myself,” Chafin said. “It took everything,”
In addition to Chafin, three other girls placed for Sweet Home: junior Alizeah Weikel (115) placed third, freshman Kass Zajic (100) placed fourth, and sophomore Lyla Ventura (110) placed fifth. Thorpe pointed out that Weikel lost to the returning two-time state champ, but other than that she pinned all of her opponents. Thorpe also predicted that next year two-time state qualifier Madison Looney will place.
