A sea of green and yellow is what wrestling fans saw when they looked onto the mat Saturday evening at the district wrestling finals held at Cascade High School.
Sweet Home dominated the finals face off, with 13 of the 14 weight slots filled by a Husky. The loner was from Stayton at 130 pounds.
Sweet Home crowned four champions out of that lot, Shane Vandehei, 103, Andrew Swanson, 125, Robert Carr, 145 and Rob Martin, 215.
“People have to remember that many of these kids this year were JV or third men for a long time,” Coach Steve Thorpe said of his squad that scored 420.5 pounds to second place Stayton’s 247 points. Molalla was third with 232.5; Cascade fourth, 227.5; North Marion, 91; Sisters, 69.
“We placed 24 of 27 kids and I’m proud of all 27 of them,” Coach Thorpe added. “There were a few heartbreaker matches but overall, we kept our heads and worked hard.”
Freshman Shane Vandehei pinned his way to a title. He pinned Steve Kaster of Molalla in :55, D. Schnelle of Stayton in 4:34 and in the championship pinned Josh Beach of Molalla in 3:22.
Andrew Swanson, 125, earned his third district championship by wrestling a fast, aggressive pace.
Swanson pinned Reilly Burdick of Sisters in :16, scored an 8-7 decision over Kody Merris of Molalla and decisioned Newkirk of North Marion in the finals 12-7.
Carr pinned Jonathan Stocking of North Marion in :40, pinned Crawford of Molalla in 5:58 and scored an 18-5 major decision over Porter of Stayton.
Rob Martin, 215, pinned Daniel Carter of Sisters in 1:07, pinned Gaboury of North Marion in :42 and in the championship pinned J. Weight of Cascade in 3:11.
“Two weeks ago, Rob lost to Weight in 36 seconds,” Coach Thorpe said. “He wrestled a very smart match.”
In the district finals matchups:
103: Shane Vandehei pinned Beach of Molalla in 3:22; 112: TrevorTagle was pinned by Michel of Stayton in 3:14; 119: Jon Farris was decisioned 9-2 by Grunseth of Stayton; 125: Swanson decision Newkirk of North Marion 12-7; 135: Tomas Rosa was decisioned 14-3 by Dailey of Molalla; 140: Kyle Temple was decisioned 8-4 by Demaris of Cascade; 145: Robert Carr scored an 18-5 major decision over Porter of Stayton; 152: Joe Rosa was decisioned 10-9 by Burlison (was voted outstanding wrestler); 160: Mike Lummus was decisioned 10-8 by Puhlman of Molalla; 171: Hance Woody was pinned in 1:48 by Franke of Cascade; 189: Jesse Aitkin was decisioned 10-6 by Frey of Cascade; 215: Rob Martin pinned Weight of Cascade in 3:11; Heavyweight: Brad Seiber was decisioned 4-0 by Strinz of Cascade.
Other placings for the Huskies were: 112: Travis Walker, sixth; 119: Tom Helfrich, fourth; 130: Bryan Corliss, fifth; 135: Charles Murray, fourth; 145: Chris Phillips, third; 152: Brian Lindsay, fifth; 160: Tory Petersen, fifth; 171: 189: Matt Harkey, third; 215: Joe Ellis, fourth; Heavyweight: Mike Allyn, fourth.
“We’re an overlooked, underrated team,” Coach Thorpe said of the state tournament. “We’re concentrating this week on preparing for the big meet. Basic coaching is over.
State tournament wrestling times will be:
Thursday, Session 1, 9:30 a.m.-4:50 p.m.; Session 2: 7 p.m.-9:42 p.m.
Friday, Session 3, 9:30 a.m.-4:10 p.m.; Session 4, 7 p.m.-9:10 p.m.
Saturday, Session 5, 9:30 a.m.-2:50 p.m.; Session 6, 6:30 p.m.-10 p.m.