Husky wrestlers took a few days off, then got back into the training fever last week, preparing for the 25th annual Sierra-Nevada Classic Wrestling Tournament December 28-29 in Reno, Nevada.
The event will be held at the Reno Livestock Center. An Oregon team, Eagle Point, won the 1999 tournament. Oregon teams competing in addition to Sweet Home include Bonanza, Centennial, Eagle Point, La Pine, Mazama, Mountain View, North Medford, Redmond, Roseburg, Seaside and Tigard.
Coach Steve Thorpe said this will be the first trip to the highly-respected tournament for a Husky team.
“Coach Steve Lander (formerly of Dallas, now of Roseburg) has taken his teams to this tournament several times and encouraged us to participate. I think it is going to be an excellent opportunity for our wrestlers to see that they can compete with the nationally-ranked guys they read about,” Coach Thorpe said.
Making the trip will be Andrew Swanson, 103; Chris Harnden, 112; Jordan Johnson, 119; Neil Workman, 125; K.C. Stokes, 130; Adam Zurcher, 135; Chris Phillips, 140; Israel Helfrich, 145; Adam Knight, 152; Levi McCubbins, 160; David Helfrich, 171; Matt Vassar, 189; Daniel Brewer, 215; Andy Ellis, heavyweight.
Coach Thorpe and assistant coach Tim Boatwright are team leaders.
The tournament has more than 90 teams from Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Idaho.
“Our main focus is our district and state tournaments,” Coach Thorpe said. “This type of tournament is great training for those tournaments. It’s big, noisy, lots going on that can distract a wrestler. They have to experience this type of a tournament two or three times before state to get an idea of what will be going on around them.”
The Husky squad will fly to Reno on Wednesday, wrestle Thursday and Friday and return home late Saturday.
“We plan to continue training while we’re there,” Coach Thorpe said. “This a double-elimination tournament with open brackets. Our guys could find themselves in a bracket with 50 guys or more.”
Grapplers had to win challenge matches to earn a spot on the traveling team.
“There was some serious wrestling going on during those challenge matches,” Coach Thorpe said. “We didn’t hand pick this team. The guys who are going had to earn a spot.”
Although they took a few days away from the mats, the Huskies have since increased their practice time and are focusing on refining techniques.
“Right now, technique is our number one priority,” Coach Thorpe said. “After Christmas break, everyone starts settling into their district and state weight classes.”
Former Huskies, now Oregon State University Beavers, Chad Zurcher, Kevin Lummus, Clint Sieminski and Shannon Stover, worked out with the squad last week.
The Huskies head into the tournament with a 7-1 team record. Their only loss was to Canby, although both squads scored seven wins. Canby won on points.
“We’re not where we plan to be in coming weeks,” Coach Thorpe said. “We’ve had kids wrestling up a weight and some kids have been out with injuries. We took a week off to heal up. Things will start to look different very soon.”