Ending the season with a robust 54 wrestlers on the high school boys and girls teams, Coach Steve Thorpe handed out awards to top achievers, workhorses and extra-mile parents at a banquet on Sunday, March 10.
About 300 attended the banquet, which Thorpe likes to say is a special casual-formal annual event.
“We honor our seniors as our guest of honor,” he said. “There’s a lot of emotion involved. We preach about having a wrestling family, and one of the things families do is they eat together.”
Indeed, he’s been coaching some of the kids since Mat Club, but Thorpe’s roots can go as far back to some of his athletes’ parents, as well.
Looking back on the wrestling season, Thorpe can be proud of his team for continuing to capture state titles. Amidst capturing the 4A state championship title, Thorpe highlighted senior Kyle Sieminksi, who became Sweet Home’s first-ever four-time state champion, and the 50th in the history of wrestling in the state of Oregon.
“That’s just quite an accomplishment,” he said. “He worked very, very hard to get what he got.”
Both Sieminski and Ashton Swanson, who won his first state title, pinned their way through the state tournament.
“Nobody went the distance with them,” Thorpe said. “That’s a pretty dominating force. In the boys we placed 13, which is a ton of kids to place at a state tournament.”
Thorpe also noted freshman Jesse Landtroop, who had the opportunity to “avenge a loss” he took at the Oregon Classic when he beat the same grappler in the finals on his way to winning a state title. Then there was sophomore Bailey Chafin who, despite a torn labrum, wrestled her way through the tournament to win her second state title.
“We put five kids in the finals of the boys tournament, and we came away with three champions and two runner-ups. In the women’s tournament, we didn’t get what we wanted, but we put two women in the finals; Bailey Chafin won her second state title and Riley Watkins got second.”
At the banquet, Landtroop and Alizeah Weikel were named Rookie of the Year, while Colton Bennett and Amelia Sullens earned Most Improved. The Iron Award, so named for those who “kind of fight through injury or adversity and still achieve success,” was awarded to Chafin and David Steagall.
For those who “show up every day and are the most consistent and hardest working,” Luke Rosa and Lydia Wright were awarded the Workhorse Award. Watkins, for succeeding despite adversity in life, was honored with the Spirit of a Champion award.
Sieminski and Alyssa Peterson earned the Norm Davis Scholar Athlete award this year for their net team points multiplied by their grade point average. Sieminski tied with Landtroop for Most Takedowns, while Kaylene Zajic took home the award on the girls team. As for Most Falls, Swanson (41) and Watkins (37) walked away as top recipients.
Chafin, Landtroop, Sieminski and Swanson earned the Pat and Ernie Baxter Outstanding Wrestler Award for being the highest placers at state. Thorpe also presented the honor of the Extra Mile Award to parents Andrew and Connie Swanson, who went the extra mile this season helping the kids and the coaches, and helping the program as a whole.
“They’re program-first people,” Thorpe said of those who win the award.
Thorpe also handed out “silly” awards, giving the coaches an opportunity to “razz” the kids.
“We roast each other a little bit at the banquet, and the seniors kind of roast us sometimes as coaches,” he said with a laugh.