Elgin states its 1A case…again!

Last February, Elgin placed fourth as a team at the OSAA 2A/1A state boys wrestling championships. The Huskies were the only true 1A team to finish among the top 10, as the state tournament has traditionally been dominated by larger, 2A schools.

On Saturday, Elgin affirmed its status as the top state contender among 1A schools by capturing first place at the Oregon 1A State Championships, the unofficial meet exclusively for 1A schools, for the third straight year.  

Twelve teams and 68 wrestlers in all participated in the meet. Elgin, with 11 wrestlers, outpointed Crane’s 13, 154-139, for the team title. Camas Valley finished third with 116 points despite entering just six wrestlers. Pine Eagle was fourth. The Spartans got 95 points out of just five wrestlers.

Elgin had three individual champions, freshman Landyn Fincher at 106, senior Gen Wintersteen at 157 and senior Ty McLaughlin at 175. All won their championship matches by fall in the first period. McLaughlin won this event for a third straight year. Elgin’s three champions have a combined six losses between them.

Another Elgin freshman, Kadin Allen, placed second at 126 pounds.

“We had a good showing from our newer wrestlers,” said Elgin coach Lee Fincher. “That helped build enough points to hold off Crane.”

Crane only had one champion, junior Brady Otley at 144, but two others finished as runners up, sophomore Luke Mendenhall at 113 and freshman Bear Doman at 150.  

Camas Valley had the most individual champions with four: senior Noah Duncan at 120, senior Lane Hill at 126, senior Seth Lamell at 150 and senior Owen Koegler at 165. Koegler is now 27-1 on the year. All six CV wrestlers placed.

Pine Eagle had three champions, junior Hunter Buck at 113, sophomore Conner DelCurto at 132 and senior James Denson at 138.

Adrian, North Lake and Baker each had an individual champion in the three upper weight classes. Adrian freshman Braysen Jordan won by fall to claim the 190-pound bracket. North Lake senior Wyatt Huffer pinned a teammate at the end of the second period to clinch the 215 title.

Andrew Sandberg, a Baker senior, won two matches by fall and defeated the top seed by majority decision at 285.

“He has shown tremendous improvement the second half of this season,” said Baker coach Jeris Stephens. “I can’t speak highly enough on his attitude and character. He is a great kid and been a pleasure to have on the team. Not only did he win the 1A state title but he also came up big for us on Tuesday and clinched a dual meet win against Grant Union.” 

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The 1A girls state championships had nine teams and 24 total wrestlers. No team had more than Union’s six entrants. Six brackets were contested, with Four Rivers, the team champion, claiming two of them: junior Lacatia Mason at 100-105 and sophomore Georgie Edmunson at 140.

Other champions included sophomore Talluah April of Enterprise at 120, freshman Averi Fisher of Echo at 130, junior Marli Lind of Baker at 155 and Crane junior Gracie Baker at 170-190.

News and notes

Redmond’s girls won the 30-team Lady Dragon Invitational hosted by Dallas HS on Saturday. Redmond entered 15 wrestlers, had seven place in the top six and two individual champions, Mia Pederson at 120 and Mackenzie Shearon at 155. Pederson and Shearon are a combined 80-4 on the year.

Dallas finished second at the Lady Dragon Invite, 19 points behind, followed by Forest Grove, McNary, North Salem. McKay and North Medford. All seven are ranked among the top 11 in the OSAAtoday Mid-Season 6A/5A Coaches Poll.

In addition to Redmond’s two champions, other bracket winners included junior Sarahi Chavez of McKay at 100, Ah Pymm McDaniel (105) and undefeated Polly Olliff (110) of Dallas, freshman Emmalee Brissette of Oakridge at 115, Renae Cook (125) and Kailea Takahashi (130) of Forest Grove, Sariah Zepeda of Gervais at 135, junior Kennedy Blanton  (26-1) of Forest Grove at 140, Ksenia Zepeda of Gervais at 145, freshman Jadyn Pense of St. Helens at 170, Ali Martinez of McNary at 190 and Canby senior Madison Kidwell at 235. Martinez won all of her bout via first-round pin.

The 110-pound bracket may have been the most exciting. McNary freshman Marina Martinez knocked off returning state champion Skyler Hall of North Medford in a semifinal before falling to Olliff, 3-2, in the championship bout.

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Marshfield swept the Bay City Duals meet this past weekend.

The girls’ tournament was bracketed, with Marshfield, Siuslaw and Hidden Valley  finishing 1-2-3.

Marshfield had three individual champions: Dollie Austin (110), Annabelle VanHoof (125) and Rowan Hampton (145).

Marshfield’s boys avenged a league dual loss to Mazama by taking the championship dual, 42-33. The Pirates defeated Glide, 54-24, in quarters and Coquille, 53-30, in the semis.

Aryan Wright was the outstanding upper weight wrestler.

The tournament was without Elmira, Cottage Grove and La Pine due to weather.

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Philomath won the 15-team Santiam Christian Screamin’ Eagle. The Warriors had five individual champions, two who finished second and two who placed third. Three champions, Porter Compton, Riley Barrett and Luke Mulberry, are sophomores.

Kennedy placed 11th overall, but had two boys finish second: Evan Wyatt (285) and Isaac Berning (190).

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McNary’s boys had two big milestones at the Southridge Tournament. Derek Jones won his first-ever championship, at 113 pounds, while Rafa Mosqueda recorded a second-place place finish at 144, his first tournament final.

Hillsboro won the tournament over Forest Grove.

 

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Hannah Henderson (155) won her seventh tournament title of the season at the inaugural Harrisburg All Girls Tournament. Three of Harrisburg’s other four girls also won, Gracie Williams (105), Paxton Steele (110) and Lily Ridgely (120).

Sweet Home finished first overall in the 10-team event.

***

Harrisburg’s boys team wrestled Cascade in a home dual last Friday night. The outcome was determined by the heavyweight match. With Harrisburg holding a slim 33-30 lead, Hunter Langham won his match by fall to clinch victory for the Eagles.

Undefeateds

In this recurring category, we list wrestlers with 10 or more wins who are currently undefeated on the season.

30-0 – Macali Lade, Jr., Siuslaw, 4A/3A/2A/1A (115)

27-0 – Polly Olliff, Jr., Dallas, 6A/5A (110)

18-0 – Sarah Gonzales, Jr., North Valley, 4A/3A/2A/1A (105)

15-0 -- Madison Kidwell, Sr., Canby, 6A/5A (235)  

 

Legends of the fall

In this section, we list wrestlers recording pins this season in under 15 seconds.

11 seconds

Abby Daugherty, Jr., North Douglas, 105, Jan. 14

13 seconds

Grant Brunner, Soph., Kennedy, 165, Jan.23

Mason Core, Sr., North Valley, 150, Jan. 13

Chaya Palomo, Soph., Sprague, 100, Dec. 2

15 seconds

Karly Wilson, Soph., Thurston, 122, Jan. 13

Pin to the end

In this section, we list wrestlers who pinned their way through an event with four or more wins.

Thomas Bischoff, Sr., Regis, 215, Culver Tournament Dec 8-9

Kira Boitano, Sr., Kennedy, 110, Dayton, Jan. 6

Melani Correa Artiaga, Sr., Century, 130, Tyrone Woods, Dec. 3

Zorina Johnson, Soph., Ida B. Wells, Braided 64, Jan. 5-6

Macali Lade, Jr., Siuslaw, 115, Perry Burlison, Dec. 2

Macali Lade, Jr., Siuslaw, 115, North Bend Coast Classic Dec. 8-9

Macali Lade, Jr., Siuslaw, 115, Grants Pass Winter Kick-off, Dec. 15-16

Ali Martinez, Sr., McNary, 190, Lady Dragon Invitational, Jan. 20

Landyn Philpott, Sr., La Pine, 138, Sierra Nevada Classic, Dec. 28-29

100 % COMMITTED!

In this section, we identify those wrestlers who have made commitments to wrestle in college.

Kai Carson, Sr., La Grande, 138 – Eastern Oregon University

Isaac Hampton, Sr., Newberg, 125/133 -- Navy

If you are a high school varsity wrestling head coach and want to know how you can contribute to future Notebooks, contact John Tawa at [email protected]