Thurston's Michael Salas-Sanchez punctuated a brilliant 2025 season with an All-American performance in the freestyle bracket of the U.S. Marine Corps Junior National wrestling tournament this month in Fargo, N.D.
Salas-Sanchez, an incoming junior, reached the freestyle semifinals at 106 pounds before settling for fifth place. It comes after he went undefeated in winning the 5A title at 113 pounds and captured the triple crown with titles in the Oregon Wrestling Association freestyle and Greco-Roman state tournaments.
It was Salas-Sanchez's first time competing at Junior Nationals.
“It was pretty scary at the start,” he said. “But over time, I realized that I belong there. Everybody has the same goal. I just tried to do the best I can do.”
Thurston assistant coach Destin Greenstreet, who coached at Junior Nationals, said Salas-Sanchez is a “phenomenal talent.”
“Super fast, super strong,” Greenstreet said. “Really small guy, so he's down there with those lightweights and he's just way stronger than most of them.”
Salas-Sanchez defeated Landon Thoennes of Minnesota 19-8 by technical fall in the quarterfinals. About an hour later, he lost to Cason Craft of Oklahoma 10-0 by technical fall in the semifinals. He pinned Daniel Romero of Colorado in the third round of the fifth-place match, earning All-American honors.
It was only the second freestyle tournament for Salas-Sanchez. The OWA tournament was the first.
“He was a little hesitant, to be honest,” Greenstreet said. “He's kind of new to freestyle. He kind of left a lot on the table. I thought he could definitely place higher than fifth. He's super pumped to go next year. Quiet guy, but he was pretty fired up after Fargo.”
Salas-Sanchez took an elbow to the face in his quarterfinal win and had little time to recover before his next match. He took another blow to the head in the semifinals.
“I was pretty confident it was a concussion,” said Salas-Sanchez, who opted out of the ensuring Greco-Roman tournament. “I think the semifinal match would've been a lot different. I think I would've went in there and I would've done the job. But things happen for a reason.”
Greenstreet said Salas-Sanchez was “shook up” by the injury.
“He didn't wrestle great in the semifinals,” Greenstreet said. “He's used to winning. He hadn't lost all year. So it's pretty heartbreaking.”
Salas-Sanchez was a boxer and weightlifter before taking up wrestling as a seventh-grader. He was the 5A runner-up at 106 as a freshman and dominated the state at 113 as a sophomore, going 46-0.
“He's just a quick study, loves the sport,” Greenstreet said. “He's one of the hardest workers in the room. He's got a great physique.”
The losses that Salas-Sanchez took as a freshman fueled him as a sophomore.
“He's leveled up,” Greenstreet said. “When you get to this level, that's why tournaments like Fargo as so important, to get him out of the state and find him some losses. Find some people that are going to push him.”
Salas-Sanchez will wrestle at 120 or 126 as a junior.
“I'm not sure there's going to be anybody in the state in any classification that's going to be able to touch him,” Greenstreet said.
Salas-Sanchez said the triple crown was “a steppingstone to what I want to achieve in the future.” He is eager for redemption at Fargo next year.
“I'll be getting bigger and improving on what I lacked this year, getting my get-back on some of these kids,” he said.
Salas-Sanchez's brother, Lukas, who was a freshman last season, also won a triple crown this year. He took the 5A title at 106, going 38-3, and added state freestyle and Greco-Roman crowns. He did not compete at Fargo.
“He just wanted to focus on getting better for the high school season because he didn't perform as well as he wanted to,” Michael said of Lukas. “He wanted to go undefeated.”
Fargo All-Americans
Three other Oregon boys and three Oregon girls also became All-Americans at Fargo.
Clackamas' Caleb Enoch, an incoming junior, placed fifth in the Greco-Roman junior bracket. He lost in the 120 quarterfinals and came back to grab fifth place by pinning Nicolas Erzminger of North Dakota in the first round.
Enoch, who tuned up by competing with an Oregon Cultural Exchange Team in Greece in June, defeated the tournament's No. 2 seed in the second round.
“Last year at the tournament he kind of had his eyes opened a little bit,” Clackamas coach Jayson Wullbrandt said of Enoch, who went 2-2 in the Greco-Roman bracket in 2024. “He was in a much better frame of mind this year. He kind of knew what to expect.”
Mountainside's Isaac Conner, who won the 6A title 138 as a freshman last season, finished sixth at 144 in the 16U Greco-Roman bracket. He lost the fifth-place match to Alexander Penzkover of Wisconsin by first-round technical fall.
Lusiano Lopez, who graduated from Lake Oswego this year, took seventh at 215 in the Greco-Roman junior bracket. He made it to the quarterfinals, losing by third-round pin, but came back to defeat Daniel Moylan of California 7-4 in the seventh-place match.
The girls freestyle tournament produced three All-Americans from Oregon.
Wells' Zorina Johnson, a two-time 6A/5A champion, finished as runner-up at 130 in the junior bracket. In the final, the incoming senior lost by third-round technical fall to Taina McGowan of New Jersey, the reigning 130 champion.
Crater's Audrey Robinson and Coquille's Paisley Morrison, both incoming sophomores, placed in the 16U bracket. Robinson took fourth at 140 and Morrison finished sixth at 135.
jerryu@osaa.org
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