Six Husky wrestlers posted 4-0 records and the squad won 27 of 53 matches by fall, placing second at the Lane Invitational Tournament held Friday and Saturday at Cottage Grove.
Going undefeated were Andrew Swanson, 103; K.C. Stokes, 130; Israel Helfrich, 145; David Helfrich, 171; Daniel Brewer, 215; Andy Ellis, 275.
Sweet Home defeated South Eugene 63-8, defeated Cottage Grove 69-6, defeated Thurston 43-21 and lost to Canby 38-30.
Coach Steve Thorpe said his Huskies wrestled very well for the first tournament of the season.
Following Canby and Sweet Home were Thurston and Junction City.
“It was a very good way to start our year,” Coach Thorpe said. “In our match with Canby, we each won seven, but they had pins and took us on points. Canby is one of the top 4A schools in the state.”
Coach Thorpe was pleased with nearly every one of his grapplers including Andrew Swanson who posted another win over Matt Gardner of Thurston, a Greco national champion.
“Andrew beat Matt last summer in freestyle and got us started off right in this tournament,” Coach Thorpe said.
Transfer student K.C. Stokes earned praise from Thorpe for his hustle.
“K.C. has the ability to click it up a notch at mat time,” Coach Thorpe said. “He wrestles every match like it as the state finals round.”
Brothers Israel and David Helfrich showed excellent improvement from last year’s good seasons.
“Israel and David both spent the off season working hard and it showed,” Coach Thorpe said. Israel won in overtime and went 4-0, David knew he needed to kick up some of his offensive moves. He has worked since February doing that and looked good against some very tough opponents.”
Daniel Brewer at 215 and Andy Ellis at heavyweight also looked very tough, Coach Thorpe said.
“Daniel is looking very good and part of that is because he has some excellent workout partners in Logan Cooley and Andy Ellis,” Coach Thorpe said.
Returning state heavyweight champion Andy Ellis looked impressive, adding new offensive moves to his mat arsenal.
Sweet Home will host its own tournament Friday at 4 p.m. Teams will include Redmond, McKay and Silverton.
Saturday, the Sweet Home Mat Club will host an all-day tournament that gets underway at 10 a.m.
Individual results
Andrew Swanson, 103: pinned Boswell of S. Eugene in :48, decisioned Gardner of Thurston 9-4, pinned Kuznetson of Canby in 5:49.
Kris Harnden, 112: pinned McGee of S. Eugene in :56, pinned Koford of Cottage Grove in 2:36, was pinned by Walker of Thurston in 1:55 and was pinned by Schantin of Canby in 1:07.
Chad Emmert, 119: pinned Meyer of S. Eugene in 1:51, decisioned Smith of Cottage Grove 8-7, pinned Doorman of Thurston in 5:37; was pinned by Gadberry of Canby in 1:54.
Jordan Johnson, 125: won by forefeit, was decisioned by Raines of Cottage Grove 12-8.
Keith Horn, 125: decisioned Sehafe of Thurston 7-6, was pinned by Bailes of Canby in 1:52.
K.C. Stokes, 130: won by forfeit, pinned Hicks of Cottage Grove in :53; pinned Peterson of Thurston in :22, pinned Kyllo of Canby in :28.
Adam Zurcher, 135: pinned Glaser of S. Eugene in 1:35, pinned Adams of Cottage Grove in 2:37, pinned Baird of Thurston in 1:15, lost by 25-9 tech fall to Miyake of Canby.
Jason Tuchardt, 140: was decisioned 14-13 by Markstrom of S. Eugene, was decisoned 11-8 by Tully of Cottage Grove, was decisioned 6-2 by Arrand of Thurston, was pinned by Ellis of Canby in 2:32.
Israel Helfrich, 145: pinned Shortland of S. Eugene in 2:11, pinned Woltman of Cottage Grove in :22, decisioned Smith of Thurston 16-9, won 9-7 overtime decision over Savory of Canby.
Adam Knight, 152: was decisioned 13-7 by Reed of S. Eugene, pinned Kruse of Cottage Grove in 2:58, was decisioned 10-4 by Weinhord of Thurston and pinned Dowman of Canby in 5:04.
Eric Lambert, 160: was decisioned 7-1 by Duerr of S. Eugene, pinned Kupsick of Cottage Grove in 4:36, was pinned by Hogle of Thurston in :25, was pinned by Wilson of Canby in 1:10.
David Helfrich, 171: decisioned Rippee of S. Eugene 4-0, pinned McCall of Cottage Grove in :26, scored 10-1 major decision over Everall of Thurston, decisioned Kock of Canby 11-6.
Matt Vassar, 189: pinned Clark of S. Eugene in 1:22, pinned Everden of Cottage Grove in 1:19, lost 9-7 overtime decision to Bowden of Thurston, was decisioned 11-4 by Wilson of Canby.
Daniel Brewer, 215: pinned Syrios of S. Eugene in 1:59; pinned Flanders of Cottage Grove in 1:53, pinned Fitzgerald of Thurston in 2:31, decisioned Bargas of Canby 9-2.
Andy Ellis, 275: won by forfeit, pinned Roman of Cottage Grove in :35, pinned Blatchley of Thurston in 3:06, decisioned Doman of Canby 10-3.