Sweet Home’s girls placed sixth out of 61 teams at the OSAA South Regional Wrestling Championships held Feb. 6-7 at Thurston High School.
The boys won the district dual championships behind some big efforts from wrestlers across the lineup.
Senior Lexi Schilling repeated as South Regional champion for the girls and junior Jessy Hart and sophomore Paige Chafin finished second, which guarantees all three a berth in the state tournament on Feb. 28-29. Sophomore Kami Hart, a rookie to wrestling this year, placed seventh.
With just four wrestlers, Sweet Home’s sixth-place team finish, with 86 points, came behind regional champion Thurston (21 wrestlers) with 265 points, followed by Bend (13 wrestlers/ 131 points), North Medford (six/123), Elmira (10/109) and North Salem (seven/100).
“I can’t be more proud of our girls,” Coach Steve Thorpe said.
Schilling’s victory came at 110 pounds, as she pinned Tess Barnett of McKay in the final, in 3:12, an effort Thorpe described as “as gutsy a match as I’ve seen.”
He said Schilling was “pretty tangled up” and on her back early in the match, but “instead of trying not to get pinned, she continued to wrestle.” Schilling turned Barnett and pinned her in the second period.
“She earned her regional title for sure,” Thorpe said.
Chafin’s only loss at 116 pounds came in the final, in a quick fall 42 seconds into the first period, to Emily Alvis of West Albany, who’s 28-2 on the season.
“Paige has put in a lot of extra time, extra things to improve her wrestling,” Thorpe said. “I truly believe she can place at the state tournament.”
Jessy Hart pinned her way to the final at 125 but fell in 0:48 to Emma Truex of Phoenix in the championship match.
“She lost to a really good wrestler in the finals,” Thorpe said. “She has nothing to be ashamed of.
“Jessy has just continued to get tougher. She is so incredibly strong, she gets herself into situations where it’s just her strength that takes her to the next step she needs to be at.”
Kami Hart wrestled at 170, winning three and losing twice to Thurston wrestlers, including eventual third-place winner Raylee Culp in a packed bracket.
“Although Kami didn’t place, what a year she has had in her first year,” Thorpe said. “She’s continued to get better and better. I’m very proud of her at so many different levels.”
He said the tournament was helpful as the Huskies get ready for state.
“We got to see some girls we haven’t seen this year. In the next few weeks we’ll just focus in, get ready for the state tournament. We’ll make sure they’re healthy and get back to work this week.”
The boys cruised to an easy win at the Oregon West Conference Duals Thursday, Feb. 6.
Their toughest competition came from Cascade, which the Huskies beat 54-23. Their other four wins in the tournament were over Siuslaw, 69-6; Philomath/Alsea, 69-9; Stayton 75-6; and Newport, 75-6.
Thorpe said the Huskies got some big performances from Ethan Spencer, who pinned Siuslaw’s Ryan Jennings, a returning state place-winner, at 152; and Treyson Smith and Kyle Watkins, who both bumped up a weight class.
“Nich James looked really good,” Thorpe said. “It was a big match-up between him and Issiah Blackburn from Philomath (which James won with a first-round fall). That’s a good win.
“We’ve been getting consistent efforts from guys. I like where we’re at right now. We know what we’ve got to work on before we go to our regional tournament.”
The Special District 2 championships will be held Feb. 21-22 at Stayton.
Sweet Home will wind up its regular season with a 6 p.m. home match Thursday, Feb. 13, against North Marion, during which the seniors will be honored. The varsity will wrestle after the junior varsity faces off against Dallas.