Sweet Home’s wrestlers opened their season with a pair of tournaments very familiar to the team’s veterans.
“It went well,” Coach Steve Thorpe said of Sweet Home’s first week. “We went to Lebanon and everybody got four matches out of way – we won four duals. We beat a tough Dallas team.”
The Husky boys swept four other teams, West Albany 46-28, Tigard 72-6, Dallas 40-37, and Corvallis 75-3, at the Weisbrodt Invitational Wednesday, Nov. 30, at Lebanon.
Then on Saturday they traveled to the 20-team Perry Burlison Invitational at Cascade, where they finished second, eight points behind Crook County, which has dropped down from the 5A Division along with Scappoose and St. Helens. The Cowboys scored 219.5 points to Sweet Home’s 211. Thurston was third (203.5), with Cascade fourth (113), Scappoose sixth (94) and Philomath seventh (92).
Thorpe said his wrestlers committed “100 percent,” noting that the Huskies were missing several normal varsity starters at Cascade due to illness, and had other wrestling at less than 100%.
“I saw so much growth and great leadership from the older kids, and so much growth by the younger guys.
“Early in year, there are mistakes we make. We’re working right now on getting better. We’re not focused right now on winning everything right now. We’re focused on getting better. I think that’s what we are doing in lot of aspects.”
The Huskies had two individual champions at Cascade, junior Kyle Sieminski at 120 pounds and Jake Sieminski, who pinned his way through the bracket at 138.
“Jake Sieminski completely dominated his weight class,” Thorpe said, noting that Sieminski was named Outstanding Wrestler for the lighter weights.
Senior Kaden Zajic was second at 170 in a close 8-6 finals decision to Anton Chacon of South Salem. Senior Ethan Spencer was second at 182 after being pinned by Joseph Lathrop of Elgin in the final.
Freshman Lynkin Royer was third at 285, his only loss coming from Crook County’s Mauricio Ambriz in the semifinals.
“All that wrestling Lynkin’s done is paying off,” Thorpe said.
Placing fourth were freshman Dillan Davis (106), freshman Tytus Hardee (113), and senior Trenton Smith (whom Thorpe pulled from the 160-pound third-place match to avoid aggravating an injury).
“We have three freshmen in our varsity lineup who placed,” Thorpe said. “You have to like that.”
Junior Jayce Miller placed sixth at 126, sophomore Ashton Swanson was sixth at 182, and junior David Steagall was sixth at 195.
Miller, Thorpe said, “competed very hard.”
“He’s another who was sick, but being an older kid, he stepped up and did what he knew he could do, just competed.”
On the girls side, McKay finished first with 302 points, followed by Thurston (271) and Sweet Home (213). Scappoose (123) was the only other small-school division team in the top five.
For Sweet Home, freshman Bailey Chafin was the individual champion at 130 pounds, beating teammate Lydia Wright, a junior, in the final. It was the first week of high school wrestling for both, though Chafin is extremely experienced at the club level. Wright is new to the sport.
Senior Kendra Jamison was second at 105, losing a 4-1 decision to McKay’s Sharnel Gonzalez in the final and junior Kaylene Zajic was second at 145, losing in the final by a fall to Katarina Jentzsch of Elmira.
Sophomore Alyssa Peterson was third at 155, and freshman Emma Pangle was third at 190. Junior Miah Miller was fourth at 145.
Fifth-place finishers were senior Kelsie Rush at 110, and junior Trinity Landtroop at 115.
Finishing sixth were junior Riley Watkins at 125, junior Stephanie Saultz at 130, and junior Cadence Makinson at 140.
“Our girls surprised so many on how they competed,” Thorpe said, noting that McKay, the winner, had twice the wrestlers Sweet Home entered. “They’re definitely going to be a force.”
In the junior varsity tournament, in which team scores were not posted, the Huskies had five individual champions: Jackson Barringer at 183-188, Jeremiah Gill at 125, Kai Valdez 190-193, Eddie Luttrel 209-211, and Brad Marks 211-215.
Finishing second were Killan Boggs at 124, Brody Olsen at 132-133, Jackson Knight at 140-142, Anaken Garinger at 166, and Patrick Brouillette at 179-181.
In third were Bridger Royer at 118-122, and Ricky Erickson at 168-170.
Roman Shreves was fourth at 115-117, as was Keagan Vogel at 139-140.
Up next for the Huskies is the Rose City Classic this weekend at Westview High School. Their first home appearance will be Dec. 15 at 4 p.m. when they host South Albany, Stayton, Cascade, Elmira and Newport in the Sweet Home Duals Tournament, which will include both boys and girls competitions.
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