Sweet Home’s varsity wrestlers opened their season Saturday with a third-place finish at the 16-team dual-meet-format Lane County Tournament in Cottage Grove.
“These were our first varsity matchup of the year,” said coach Steve Thorpe. “Overall, I was very please with how everybody competed.”
Roseburg won the tournament, with Canby second.
The Huskies finished 3-1, betaing North Eugene 66-12, South Albany 51-18 and Cottage Grove 72-12. They lost 24-42 to Roseburg, the third-ranked team in the state 4A division.
Shane Vandehei won all four of his matches by falls, “a good start,” Thorpe said.
“We had some great senior leadership but at the same time we had some freshmen step forward and do some very good things,” he said, citing Jack Perry (119) and Chris Farris (???) in particular, as freshmen who wrestled in the varsity lineup and “did a good job for us and competed hard.”
Thorpe also said John Sutten wrestled “very well” coming off a “good off-season of traning — his wrestling has really improved.” Trevor Tagle (140) and Colton Cooley (171) also had good days. Cooley, Sutten and Vandehei, along with Rob Helfrich (160) were the only Huskies to sweep all four of their matches.
Tagle lost to the number two-ranked wrestler in the 4A division, Rob Spears of Roseburg. He beat Bobby Chitwood of South Albany, though, who is “a very good” wrestler, Thorpe said.
“More so than wins and losses, the team competed very well,” he said. “Overall, I’m very pleased with how we competed, but we are not where we need to be yet. We’re not where we’re going to be, yet.
The Huskies are back in action today, Wednesday, at the Banks Tournament. They will host their own Sweet Home Tournament this Friday, Dec. 9, which includes Lebanon, Silverton and Central Linn.
Sweet Home 68, North Eugene 12
103 Chris Farris (SH) won by forfeit. 112 Aris Somatis (SH) won by forfeith. 119 Jack Perry (SH) pinned Barnes (NE) :54.
125 John Sutten (SH) dec. Kyle Dube (NE) 12-1. 130 Chris Green (NE) pinned Travis Walker (SH) 5:44. 135 Shane Vandehei (SH) pinned Ty Rone (NE) 3:55.
140 Trevor Tagle (SH) pinned Mike Williams (NE) 3:55. 145 Shorty Weikel (SH) pinned Chris Thorton (NE) :43. 152 Tom Helfrich (SH) pinne Heidecker (NE) :42.
160 Robert Helfrich (SH) pinned Nick Holland (NE) :42. 171 Colton Cooley (SH) dec. Brian Oates (NE) 13-2. 189 Parker (NE) pinned Ben Brewer (SH) 5:55. 215 Shaw Valentine (SH) pinned Chaffee (NE) 5:43. 275 Matt Parker (SH) pinned Hoover (NE) :33.
Sweet Home 51, South Albany 21
103 Colton Stephens (SA) pinned Chris Farris (SH) 3:35. 112 Aris Somatis (SH) pinned Felipe Medina (SA) 1:35. 119 Jack Perry (SH) pinned Jacob Quitugua (SA) :33. 125 John Sutten (SH) pinned Wiseman (SA) 2:32. 130 Erik Delay (SA) dec. Kyle Albert (SH) 10-3. 135 Shane Vandehei (SH) pinned Trenton Simon (SA) 1:05. 140 Trevor Tagle (SH) dec. Bobby Chitwood (SA) 8-5. 145 Shorty Weikel (SH) pinned T.J. Fox (SA) :41. 152 Tom Helfrich (SH) dec. Kyler York (SA) 8-7. 160 David Smith (SA) pined Brandon Lawsons (SH) 1:41. 171 Robert Helfrich (SH) dec. Jesse Howell (SA) 9-2. 189 Colton Cooley (SH) pinned Rodewood (SA) :58. 215 Shaw Valentine (SH) pinned Provence (SA) 1:15. 275 LeFollette (SA) pinned Matt Parker (SH) 2:50.
Roseburg 43, Sweet Home 24
103 M. Lofstedt (R) pinned Chris Farris (SH) 1:13. 112 Crinklaw (R) pinned Aris Somatis 2:39. 119 Atterburg (R) pinned Jack Perry (SH) 3:53. 125 John Sutten (SH) dec. Suggs (R) 4-0. 130 Richarson (R) dec. Travis Walker (SH) 11-3. 135 Shane Vandehei (SH) pinned Mathews (R) 1:08. 140 Spears (R) dec. Trevor Tagle (SH) 5-0. 145 Durchanek (R) dec. Shorty Weikel (SH) 6-3. 152 Bryson (R) dec. Tom Helfrich (SH) 8-3. 160 Robert Helfrich pinned Moug (R) 1:09. 171 Colton Cooley (SH) dec. Brink (R) 5-2. 189 Forrester (R) won by forfeit. 215 Troxel (R) pinned Shaw Valentine (SH) 1:00. 275 Matt Parker (SH) pinned Galvez (R).
Sweet Home 72, Cottage Grove 12
103 Chris Farris (SH) pinned Tom Eckstine (CG) :27. 112 Aris Somatis (SH) pinned Nate Munoz (CG) 1:02. 119 Jack Perry (SH) pinned Stanley (CG) 2:50. 125 John Sutten (SH) pinned John Wiseman (CG) 2:23. 130 Kyle Albert (SH) pinned Deathrage (CG) :41. 135 Shane Vandehei (SH) pinned Kyle Brown (CG) :25. 140 Trevor Tagle (SH) pinned Sholden Walker (CG) 1:25. 145 Justin Benson (CG) won by injury forfeit over Shorty Weikel (SH). 152 Tom Helfrich (SH) pinned Sanders (CG) 1:38. 160 Robert Helfrich (SH) pinned Peters (CG) 1:38. 171 Colton Cooley (SH) pinned Muth (CG) :51. 189 Thompson (CG) won by forfeit. 215 Shaw Valentine (SH) pinned Sinarith (CG) 1:22. 275 Matt Parker (SH) pinned Seavey (CG) :54.