Sweet Home Coach Steve Thorpe spent the week before his wrestlers went to Grants Pass’s Winter Kickoff Tournament last weekend preaching the need to go hard on the tournament’s second day.
After a less-than-satisfying finish at the Rose City Championships the week before, “I talked all week about Day 2 – not just getting there, but doing something.”
The Huskies did something. Sweet Home finished fifth in a field of 36 teams, behind Marshfield, which won the tournament, Henley (second) Grants Pass and Crater, both 6A teams.
Senior Tyrel Miller finished second at 145 pounds to lead the Huskies, followed by Kobe Olson, third at 126, Ricky Yunke, third at 132, Joe Rasmussen, fourth at 152 after moving up a weight class, and freshman Robbie Yunke, third at 113.
“The guys did something on Day 2,” Thorpe said.
“Tyrel is wrestling very well right now. He’s consistent. With a young team, he’s a leader and that’s a good thing.”
Yunke pinned Stayton’s Ryan Ninman, a returning state placewinner, in the 113-pound third-place match, and Olson lost 2-0 in the semifinals to eventual 126-pound champion A.J. Lira of Marshfield – whom he’d lost to in a 9-1 major decision three weeks ago at the Perry Burlison Classic.
“Kobe came back and got third,” Thorpe said. “Kobe trains right. He does things right.”
Ricky Yunke lost a close match to West Albany’s Sawyer Myers in the semis, then came back to pin his next two opponents to take third.
“Ricky is a very, very tough kid on top,” Thorpe said.
The Huskies were hobbled by injuries and illness, suffering from a flu bug that has swept the high school, he said. But there were valiant efforts from the top down.
“We had some people who didn’t place, but still competed hard,” Thorpe said. “They’re competing. They just have to trust the process. We’ll be just fine.”
Six Sweet Home wrestlers won their pool on Day 1 of the junior varsity tournament – Zak Rivera and Conner Duran at 132, Keegan Schuster and Boe Baxter at 138, Hayden McDonald at 145, Noah Moore at 152, and Rivera went on to win the 132-pound title on Day 2. Marissa Kurtz won her division at 113 pounds in the women’s competition, pinning her first two opponents and then beating the third 17-4.
“The JV’s did a great job of competing and both our female wrestlers did fantastic,” Thorpe said. “You can tell they got better. That’s what right now is about.”
Sweet Home will take a short break from competition, then will return to the mat on Dec. 29-30 for the Northwest Duals at the Linn County Expo Center, hosted by West Albany.
Grants Pass Winter Kickoff
Team Scores – (1) Marshfield 242; (2) Henley 202; (3) Grants Pass 184; (4) Crater 179; (5) Sweet Home 135; (6) Cottage Grove 110; (7) Eagle Point 99; (8) West Albany 92; (9) Eureka Senior (Calif.) 83.5; (10) North Valley (Nev.) 72; (11) Phoenix 71; (12) Del Norte-Crescent City, Calif.) 62; (13) Mazama 60; (14) Anderson (Calif.) 55.5; (15) North Valley (OR) 52.5; (16) Springfield 49; (17) Cascade Christian 47; (18) Dayton 44; (19) Hidden Valley 41; (20) North Medford 39.5; (21) Modoc (Calif.) 34; (22) Gold Beach 29; (23-tie) Etna Union (Calif.), Illinois Valley 28; (25) McKinleyville (Calif.) 26; (26) Corvallis 23; (27) Stayton 21; (28-tie) Douglas, Rogue River 18; (30) North Bend 17; (31-tie) Brookings-Harbor, South Medford 15; (33) Glendale 13; (34) Ashland 8; (35) Klamath Union 6; (36) Oakland 0.
Sweet Home Individual Results
106 – Robert Watkins pinned Ian Bowman (North Valley) (5:19); lost 13-0 to Anthony Kraan (Henley); lost by fall to Andrew Leiteritz (Eureka Senior) (3:00).
113 – Robbie Yunke pinned Jeremy Smith (Springfield) (3:50); lost by fall to Cole Smith (Marshfield) ( 3:31)
pinned Wyatt French (West Albany) (0:24); dec. Timothy Coblentz (Stayton) 10-3; pinned Dane Backes (Grants Pass) (0:30); pinned Ryan Ninman (Stayton) (3:20); placed third.
120 – John Elder pinned Makai Jacob (Rogue River) (1:26); lost by tech. fall to Trevin Bailey (Grants Pass) (15-0, 3:10); lost 6-0 to Mitchell Childress (Crater). Did not place.
126 – Dillon Stutzman lost by fall to Cole Brouhard (Grants Pass) (4:35); pinned Drake Foust (Stayton) (1:00); pinned Mariah Annis (North Medford) (0:12); pinned Bryce Cwiklinski (Crater) (0:40); lost by fall to Willie Gensaw (Del Norte-Crescent City) (3:18); did not place.
126 – Kobe Olson pinned Mariah Annis (North Medford) (0:56); pinned Willie Gensaw (Del Norte-Crescent City) (1:40); lost 2-0 to AJ Lira (Marshfield); dec. Cole Brouhard (Grants Pass) 10-5; dec. Bryce Allen (Cottage Grove) 9-2; placed third.
132 – Ricky Yunke pinned Carmeon Holmes (Rogue River) (0:58); pinned Boss Clark (Henley) (1:40);lost 12-9 to Sawyer Myres (West Albany); pinned William Jantzer (Marshfield) (2:39); pinned
Morgan Bahen (Etna Union) (3:09); placed third.
138 – Justin Kurtz dec. Vincent Washington (Grants Pass) 7-6; lost by tech. fall to Bradley Maples (Eureka Senior) (15-0 3:12); lost by fall to Bryce McCormick (Springfield) (2:00). Did not place.
145 – Tyrel Miller pinned Sam Lange (Grants Pass) (2:59); pinned Austin Kyle (Eureka Senior) (0:47); pinned Jess Fitzhugh (Brookings-Harbor) (3:59); lost 13-3 to Conner Noonan (Henley); placed second.
152 – Joe Rasmussen pinned Zachariah Norby (Modoc) (3:48); lost by fall to Bryan O’Neil (Eagle Point)(0:21); pinned TJ Roberts (South Medford) (1:25); pinned Braydon Wright (Mazama) (1:33); dec. Davin Nichols (Mazama) 4-1; lost by fall to Bryan O’Neil (Eagle Point) (3:37); placed fourth.
160 – Jake Porter dec. William Frazee (Phoenix) 10-7; lost 9-1 to Ross Gaynor (Illinois Valley); pinned Kamren Bates (McKinleyville) (2:02); lost 12-11 to Cody Stahl (Dayton).
182 – Devin Stafford lost by fall to Tommy Winningham (Crater) (1:10); lost by fall to Justin Self (Henley)(0:42).
220 – Hunter Olheiser lost by fall to Beau Crawford (Crater) (1:04); lost by fall to Taylor Lawler (Eagle Point) (0:47).
285 – Gavin Baskin lost by fall to Garret McAlexander (Del Norte – Cresent City) (3:30); Lost by fall to Cade Wolford (Springfield) (0:25). Did not place.