Sweet Home wrestlers were busy over the first weekend of December, competing in three tournaments – the Perry Burlison Invitational at Cascade and the Central Linn Invite on Saturday, Dec. 7, and the Ladies Battle for the Capital on at McKay Friday, Dec. 6.
Battle for the Capital
Bailey Chafin was the lone champion for Sweet Home at the 19-team Ladies Battle for the Capital Friday.
Soldotna, Alaska, was the winning team with 241 points, followed by host McKay (213), West Albany (190) and Sweet Home (185). Lebanon was 10th (87) and the only other 4A-Division team, Junction City, was 18th.
“Our girls really made a showing there, placing fourth in that tournament, with those teams,” Coach Steve Thorpe said. “We’re kind of a young team, but we had a lot of great efforts and work done by the girls. I’m very proud of them.”
Chafin, wrestling at 125 pounds, pinned her first three opponents and then decisioned Canby’s Emilia Ensrud 11-8 in the final.
Finishing second for Sweet Home were Alizeah Weikel at 115, and Emmaline Durrett at 235.
Madi Looney was third at 145.
Finishing fourth were Natasha Marin at 105, Amelia Sullens at 110, Bella Rico at 130, and Emma Pangle at 190.
Sullens lost her opener but pinned her next four opponents to make the consolation final, where she lost a 9-7 decision to Chevelle Lamb of the Student Wrestler Development Program of Fairbanks, Alaska.
Also competing for the Huskies were Avery Temple at 100, Lyla Ventura at 110, Tabitha Brzezinski at 134, Hailey Borromeo at 145, Eturnyti Allison at 155, Rylie Hollingsworth at 155, Samantha Villa at 155, and Mahala Gourley-Webster at 170.
Perry Burlison Invitational
Sweet Home had four varsity finalists among nine place-winners at the 20-team Perry Burlison Invitational on Saturday at Cascade.
The Huskies were third against some of the strongest teams in the state, Thorpe noted.
“We were third with a depleted lineup,” he said, noting that the same was true in the junior varsity tournament, in which the Huskies also finished third.
“We put several kids in the finals of that tournament. That tournament is a good judge of where we were at. We were very competitive, both the varsity and JV.”
Sweet Home finished with 181 points behind Crook County (238.5 points), Soldotna, Alaska (217), and ahead of Cascade, which was fourth with 136.5 points. Philomath was seventh with 95.5 and Stayton was 14th (39.5).
Varsity finalists for the Huskies were Keegan Jefferson at 113, Kyle Zajic at 165, Luke Rosa at 175, and Ashton Swanson at 190.
Colton Bennett placed third at 285.
Finishing fourth were Jesse Landtroop at 126 and Lynkin Royer at 215.
Riley Vaughn was fifth at 132 and Dillan Davis was sixth at 138.
Also competing in the varsity tournament were Jasper Victor at 144, Russell Dickerman at 150, and James Hearick at 157.
In the junior varsity tournament, Jackson Barringer took the 190-pound championship by pinning his way through four opponents.
Soldotna took the team JV title as well with 256 points, followed by Mountainside (167) and Sweet Home (150). Cascade was fifth (120) and Phiomath finished in a tie for 14th (42), followed by Stayton (28).
Finishing second for Sweet Home in the JV tournament were Damian Ryan (113), Cael Stevenson (132), Gavin Baker (150) and Zeek Gosnell (175).
Liam Martin was fourth for the Huskies at 285 and Jackson Knight was fifth at 165.
Also competing for Sweet Home were Brodee Gay (138), Jake Mengore (144) and Wesley Raynor (157).
Central Linn Invitational
At the 10-team Central Linn Invite Saturday, Nov. 7, Michael Eggers, Elijah Cruz and Jeremiah Steagall won individual championships, at 157, 190 and 220 pounds, respectively.
The Huskies finished first with 148 points, followed by Elgin (144) and Amity (129).
“We have good numbers this year, so getting kids places to get matches is important,” Thorpe said, expressing appreciation that Central Linn let Sweet Home join the lineup late in the process.
“With Jeremiah and Michael and Eli, we have three champions and we win the tournament. It’s kind of fun to have that.”
He said the weekend action also “showed us we have a lot of work to do.”
Conner Spencer (138), Martin Chelstad (165), Dylan Hartsook (175) and Bode Hart (190) placed second for the Huskies.
Ryder Carr placed third at 132, and Mason Pickle and Ean Tackett were fourth at 138 and 165, respectively.
Also wrestling in the tournament for Sweet Home were Thomas Bandy (132), Domynic Daniel (144), Zach Davis (150), Austin Weinman (150) and Braden Eggers (190).
The Huskies compete this weekend at the Rose City Championships at Liberty High School on the boys side, and the girls at War of the Roses.
They will compete at home for the first time this season Wednesday, Dec. 18, when they host Cascade, Elmira, Newport and Stayton starting at 3 p.m.