Scott Swanson
Seniors Jake Sieminski and Ethan Spencer, junior Kyle Sieminski and freshman Bailey Chafin were named the Pat and Ernie Baxter Outstanding Wrestlers as the Sweet Home wrestling team celebrated Sunday evening, March 5, as Sweet Home’s wrestling team celebrated the end of a season that saw the Huskies finish second in the state on both the boys and girls side.
The four honorees were easy choices, because they all won state championships – the third for both Sieminskis and the first for Spencer and Chafin.
Thorpe, who also coached the Sieminskis’ father, Clint, to three state titles, noted that he’s experiencing the “generational” aspect of the sport after 32 years at Sweet Home.
Jacob Sieminski, he said, is being “recruited pretty heavy, but a guy that is a three-time state champion, that has a work ethic like his, is going to get that.”
He said a defining feature of Sieminski is “his lack of being content with what he has.”
“That’s something that Jacob has – he has a desire to do the next thing.”
Spencer, Thorpe said, “holds a very special place for me,” noting that after “underachieving” in his junior senior, “I’ve never seen somebody turn it around as quick as he did, and dominate his weight class and his division this year, and the way he did and pin his way through a state tournament. I’m very proud of him.”
He told Spencer: “I’m glad you won the state title, but that state title didn’t define you in the young man you’ve become. Thank you or letting me have a front-row seat.”
Thorpe told Kyle Sieminski, who will be shooting for a record fourth state title next year – no Husky has ever done it – and his fellow juniors: “It’s on you” to lead the team next year.
He noted that Jayce Miller, Sieminski’s workout partner, finished the state tournament by beating the wrestler who beat him in the quarterfinals.
“He just made the kid quit” in the third-place match, turning the tables on third-seeded Carson Jackon of St. Helens in a 13-9 decision.
He also credited David Steagall, who was fifth at 195 after beating the wrestler who beat him in their blood round opener, setting himself up, Thorpe said, “to do some great things next year.”
Riker Hartsook, who was able to get back on the mat – carefully – with two weeks left in the season after rehabilitating a badly broken arm, is another he said, adding that Kaylene Zajic also got experience as a state qualifier as a junior.
“I’m excited for these to be our seniors next year,” Thorpe said. “I hope they recognize that it’s goin to take a lot of leadership to pass up the leadership that we’re graduating out this year.”
As is customary at wrestling awards potlucks, the focus is on the seniors, who, Thorpe said, had an “earned position and earned spot.”
He introduced each of the nine seniors, Zoey Erevia, Daniel Goodwin, Kendra Jamison, Devan Jensen, Kelsie Rush, Jacob Sieminski, Trenton Smith, Spencer, and Kaden Zajic, and each was given a chance to speak.
Freshman Tytus Hardee, who finished fifth in state at 106 pounds, was named Rookie of the Year for the boys, while junior Lydia Wright was named the girls honoree as their top newcomer.
Thorpe said Hardee was a “standout” during the season.
Assistant Coach Tomas Rosa credited Hardee with bouncing back after a disappointing 6-1 loss in the semifinals and then a 9-6 loss in the consolation semis to the eventual third-place winner.
“I think you thought, coming into that thing, ‘Man, this is your tournament to win,'” Rosa said. “And when you get disappointed, a lot of times that’s pretty hard to come back and respond like you did. I think that speaks the world.”
Thorpe said Wright “is an absolute delight to have in the program,” calling her a “raw, tough and incredible” in her first season of wrestling.
Most Improved for the girls was sophomore Alyssa Peterson, who battled to second place this year after not placing a freshman, coaches said, noting that she also wrestled much heavier girls at 170 pounds.
Rosa said that Peterson “worked well against the 170-pounders, but she was nowhere near that actual weight class.” But she trusted the coaches, he noted.
“Basically, every time we said, ‘Hey, let’s do this,’ she said, ‘OK, I’ll give it a try.’ And that try hard led to a second place in state. That’s fantastic.”
For the boys, senior Daniel Goodwin was named “Most Improved.”
Goodwin, who was fifth at 145 pounds, “found his sic ’em, found his tough” over the past two years, Thorpe said, putting together the physical and mental parts of the sport.
“To finish on an odd number, you win your last match and that’s what Daniel did and I’m very proud of him. He’s going to end his high school career as a state placer on a team that brought home some hardware.”
The Iron Award, which goes to wrestlers who “bend but don’t break,” usually in very averse circumstances, went to senior Kaden Zajic and junior Ryker Hartsook.
Both placed at state after nursing significant injuries that had coaches wondering whether they would be able to compete, Thorpe said.
Zajic was second despite a serious shoulder injury that forced him to wear a brace and engate in special training during the final weeks of the season.
Thorpe and Zajic credited a training plan and workouts with assistants Rosa and Clint Sieminski and Kobe Olson for helping Zajic make the 170-pound finals, where he lost a 9-2 decision.
“You can be disappointed all you want about not winning the state title,” Thorpe told Zajic. “But how many of these guys can say they were finalists?” he asked, gesturing at the crowd of alumni and parents in the cafeteria.
Hartsook has been recovering from a badly broken arm he sustained at the nationals in Fargo, N.D. Thorpe recounted the episode and described the process of getting Hartsook back on the mat after a prolonged period of recuperation.
The junior missed most of this season as his arm continued to heal, and Thorpe told the crowd “we were talking about Riker being a comeback kid for next year.”
Instead, with help from the same coaches that Zajek ready to compete, Hartsook was able to qualify for state after making the 152-pound finals at the regional tournament and getting pulled by Thorpe to avoid the possibility of injury in a face-off with teammate Ashton Swanson.
Hartsook finished fifth at state, losing only to the No. 1-seeded wrestler in his bracket and then by injury default in the consolation semis to the wrestler who finished third.
Thorpe introduced Jacob Sieminski and Zoey Erevia as recipients of the Work Horse Award, which goes to the individuals “who work hard, no matter what we’re doing.”
The Spirit of a Champion Award, which, Thorpe noted, is not always presented, but when it is it goes to someone, it’s to a person “that unselfishly gives, no matter what you ask them to to do because they’re unselfish, they’re making their team better,” in this case, Kelsie Rush and Evan Jensen.
Jensen, Thorpe noted, was “one match away from placing at state” and scored multiple points to help the Huskies win their state trophy. “I am very proud of this young man.”
He described Rush as “a doer and an incredible, incredible leader.”
“She stepped into her role that she played this year and helped take charge of our women’s team,” he said, noting that she is a “tough kid” characterized by “unselfishness.”
Rush, he said, “had a tough bracket at regionals and didn’t qualify for state, but she was there at that next practice to get her teammate ready for a state tournament” and worked out with Erevia during the tournament “to get her ready.”
The Norm Davis Student Athlete Award, which is “strictly based on statistics,” Thorpe said, goes to the wrestlers who score the most net team points and have the highest GPAs. The honorees were Erevia and Spencer.
“I think it’s a great award that speaks to both areas of emphasis,” Thorpe said. “You can’t be great on the mat and be lazy in the classroom. It doesn’t work that way.”
The Extra Mile Award, which is given to a supporter of the program, went to Tiffany Starha.
The Most Takedowns Award, which is exactly that, went to Erevia and Chafin, who tied, for the girls and to Kaden Zajic for the boys.
The Most Falls went to Jacob Sieminski, with 42, and to Chafin, with 36.
All nine of the seniors received letters, Sieminski, Smith, Spencer and Zajic finishing with four.
Juniors receiving their third letters were Ryker Hartsook, Jayce Miller, Kyle Sieminski, and David Steagall. Also receiving letters were Trinity Landtroop, Malia Lane, Riley Watkins, Lydia Wright and Kaylene Zajic.
Sophomores receiving their second letters were Kayo Ebbs, Jacob Landtroop and Ashton Swanson. Those receiving their first letter were Jackson Barringer, Colton Bennett, Killan Boggs, Ricky Erickson, Brody Olsen, Alyssa Peterson and Dylan Sharp.
Freshmen receiving their first letters were: Chafin, Dillan Davis, Jeremiah Gill, Hardee, James Hearick, Emma Pangle, Luke Rosa and Lynkin Royer.