We’re back! Another year of comprehensive wrestling coverage, from La Grande to Grants Pass, Mountain View to Tillamook and all places in between.
Every school, every classification, boys and girls.
If there’s something worth writing about, we stand ready to write about it!
Go! Fourth!
Since David Baker of Parkrose collected his fourth consecutive state wrestling title in 71 years ago, 44 boys and three girls have followed him to become four-time Oregon state champions.
Four of those completed the “quad-trick” last year, when Ayden Garver of Newberg, Mauro Michel of Stayton, and Gabe Whisenhunt and James Rowley of Crescent Valley finished their careers with hands raised at State. All won with pins!
This year, four seniors have a chance to add their names to Oregon history by winning a fourth consecutive title. Three are from Crescent Valley: DJ Gillett, who won 132 pounds at 5A last February; Daschle Lamer (170) and Hayden Walters (195). The fourth is Destiny Rodriguez of West Linn. She is ranked first nationally at 152 pounds.
Triple plays!
There are nine wrestlers in the state with two championship belts and in search of a third this season:
6A
Gage Singleton, Jr., Roseburg
Zachary Keinonen, Jr., Newberg
Riley Davis, Sr., Sprague
Hudson Davis, Sr., Newberg
5A
Everest Sutton, Jr., Crescent Valley
4A
Jake Sieminski, Sr., Sweet Home
2A/1A
Michael Miller, Jr., Illinois Valley
Girls
Kaylee Annis, Thurston
Haley Vann, Cleveland
Looking back
Let’s take another look at the teams and wrestlers who had shining moments at the 2022 state championships.
TEAMS
6A
1. Newberg 418
2. Sprague 220.5
3. Roseburg 163
3. West Linn 163
5. Mountain View 135.5
5A
1. Crescent Valley 241
2. Crook County 210.5
3. Thurston 208.5
4. Redmond 152
5. Dallas 119
4A
1. La Grande 275.5
2. Sweet Home 250.5
3. Tillamook 187
4. Philomath 118
5. Baker / Powder Valley 100
3A
1. La Pine 199.5
2. Burns 166.5
3. Harrisburg 110.5
4. Nyssa 87
5. Willamina / Falls City 80.5
2A/1A
1. Culver 182
2. Illinois Valley 101.5
3. Vernonia 80
4. Toledo 72
5. Lakeview 65
Girls
1. Forest Grove 99
2. Thurston 75
3. Hillsboro 69
4. Tillamook 65
5. St. Helens 57
INDIVIDUALS
Here are the wrestlers who, last year as underclassmen, either won or finished second at the state championships (with current class year):
6A
106 – Gage Singleton, Jr., Roseburg (champion); Jeremiah Wachsmuth, Jr., Clackamas (RU)
113 – Isaac Hampton, Jr., Newberg (champion); Scout Santos, Jr., Mountain View (RU)
126 – Zach Keinonen, Jr., Newberg (champion)
138 – Drew Jones, Sr., Mountain View (champion); Charlie Spinning, Jr, West Linn (RU)
145 – Trae Frederick, Jr., Newberg (RU)
160 – Liam Byrne, Jr., Mountain View (RU)
170 – Riley Davis, Sr., Sprague (champion); Justin Rademacher, Sr., West Linn (RU)
195 – Hudson Davis, Sr., Newberg (champion)
285 – Cole Steketee, Sr., Sprague (champion); Grady Hamilton, Sr., Roseburg (RU)
5A
106 – Everest Sutton, Jr., Crescent Valley (champion); Billy Jackson, Soph., Redmond (RU)
113 – Elijah Bayne, Soph., Crater (champion); Landon Lavey, Soph. Crook County (RU)
126 – Anthony Comer, Sr., Scappoose (RU)
132 – DJ Gillett, Sr. Crescent Valley (champion)
138 – Kolton Malone, Sr., Thurston (champion); Derek Sossie, Sr., West Albany (RU)
145 – Ethan Dunigan, Sr., Central (RU)
160 – Dylan Lee, Sr., Redmond (champion)
170 – Daschle Lamer, Sr., Crescent Valley (champion)
195 – Hayden Walters, Sr., Crescent Valley (champion)
220 – Vaun Halstead, Sr., Thurston (champion); Sebastian Echevarria, Sr., Hillsboro (RU)
285 – Neal Walter, Sr., North Bend (RU)
4A
106 – Kyle Sieminski, Jr., Sweet Home (champion); Mason Wolcott, Jr., La Grande (RU)
113 – Jacob Landtroop, Soph., Sweet Home (champion)
120 – Kai Carson, Jr., La Grande (champion)
126 – Jake Sieminski, Sr., Sweet Home (champion)
138 – Joshua Collins, Sr., La Grande (champion)
152 – Landen Wing, Jr., North Marion (RU)
160 – Carson Henderson, Sr., Junction City (champion); Mason Buss, Sr., Siuslaw (RU)
182 – Daevon Vereen, Sr., Banks (RU)
3A
106 – Luke Cheek, Soph. Harrisburg (champion); Canon Winn, Soph., Burns (RU)
113 – Kale Cornell, Soph., Burns (champion); Joseph Hutchins, Soph., Cascade Christian (RU)
120 – Landyn Philpott, Soph., La Pine (champion)
126 – Curtis Talmadge, Sr., Harrisburg (RU)
132 – Devon Kerr, Soph., La Pine (champion); Nephi Heakin, Jr., Harrisburg (RU)
138 – Austin Johnson, Sr., Willamina / Falls City (RU)
152 – Hunter Kemper, Sr., Burns (champion)
160 – Garrett Forbes, Sr., La Pine (RU)
170 – Easton Kemper, Soph., Burns (champion)
220 – Jesse Aragon, Sr., Nyssa (champion)
285 – Maddox Griggs, Sr., Sutherlin (champion)
2A/1A
106 – Michael Miller, Sr., Illinois Valley (champion); Harley Hardison, Soph., Lowell (RU)
113 – Micah Martinho, Soph., Illinois Valley (champion); Debren Senabria, Sr. Culver (RU)
138 – Reeden Arsenault, Sr., Culver (RU)
145 – Kelin Abbas, Sr., Culver (champion); Ryan Griffin, Jr., Illinois Valley (RU)
160 – Joseph Lathrop, Sr., Elgin (RU)
170 – Jake Doman, Sr., Crane (RU)
182 – Jacob Beauchamp, Sr., Central Linn (RU)
195 – Ash Blomstrom, Jr., Toledo (champion); Logan Clayburn, Jr., Myrtle Point (RU)
220 – Tommy Vigue, Jr., Coquille (champion);
285 – Wylie Johnson, Sr., Culver (champion); Rylan Cox, Sr., Grant Union / Prairie City (RU)
Girls
100 -- Chelo Garcia, Sr., Siletz Valley / Eddyville Charter (champion); Sahari Chavez, Soph., McKay (RU)
105 – Kaylee Annis, Sr., Thurston (champion)
110 – Ariana Martinez, Sr., West Albany (champion);
115 – Courtney Hall, Sr., Scappoose (RU)
120 – Haley Vann, Sr., Cleveland (champion); Estella Gutches, Sr. North Medford (RU)
130 – Alice Rickett, Sr., Hillsboro (champion); Kennedy Blanton, Soph., Forest Grove (RU)
135 -- Kira Kerr, Sr., La Pine (champion)
145 – Jasmine Hopkins, Sr. Forest Grove (RU)
155 – Destiny Rodriguez, Sr., West Linn (champion); Madi Randels, Jr., Tualatin (RU)
235 – Mallory Lusco, Soph., Grant Union (champion); Stephanie Romero, Jr., Irrigon (RU)
Impact of re-classification
After last year, several schools moved up or down a classification. Those impacts will be felt in wrestling.
In 6A, Mountain View, Canby and Bend, all top 10 finishers last year, will be in 5A starting this year.
In 5A, Crook County, second in the state, is now in 4A.
In 4A, Banks, which placed eighth last year, is now in 3A.
In 3A, Willamina / Falls City, which finished fifth, will now wrestle in 2A/1A as Willamina.
In 2A/1A, Lakeview and Coquille, top 10 finishers a year ago, are now in 3A. Coquille is in a co-op with Bandon.
What does this mean?
It’s hard to say because of movement between weight classes and sustained health, but Drew Jones of Mountain View could find himself taking on another state champion in Kolton Malone of Thurston at 138 in 5A.
At 113, Crook County’s Landon Lavey could be a formidable challenger to champion Jacob Landtroop of Sweet Home in 4A. Also at 113, but in 5A, Scout Santos of Mountain View might be a new rival for champion Elijah Bayne of Crater.
At 160 in 5A, 6A runner up Liam Byrne of Mountain View could clash with 5A champion Dylan Lee, who has transferred from Redmond to Ridgeview.
At 220 pounds in 3A, reigning 2A/1A champion Tommy Vigue of Coquille could meet reigning 3A champion Jesse Aragon of Nyssa.
Odds and ends
Redmond dominated the season-opening Tyrone S. Woods Memorial Invitational at Oregon City HS this weekend. The Panthers scored more than 100 more points than second-place Camas of Washington. Redmond had three champions, Billy Jackson (120), Ansen Widing (132) and Joey Downing (145), and three runners up.
Sprague, second in 6A a year ago, finished fifth overall, which is noteable. Defending state champion Cole Steketee did win his 285-pound division, pinning his way through the meet.
***
Crook County edged Sweet Home and Thurston for the team title at the Perry Burlison Invitational on Saturday hosted by Cascade HS.
Landon Lavey and Cash Wells won titles for the Cowboys, while six other wrestlers finished second.
Kyle and Jake Sieminski of Sweet Home won their divisions. Jake Sieminski pinned 5A runner up Anthony Comer of Scappoose in the 138-pound division.
Thurston had four individual champions: Vaun Halstead, Kolton Malone, Holton Halstead and Braylin Ruchti.
Mason Buss of Sisulaw, 4A runner-up at 160 last year, won the 195-pound division. Look for him to wrestle at 182 this year at state.
***
Ridgeview placed fourth at the Adrian Irwin Tournament at Caldera HS. Logan Hobbs was the Raven’s lone individual champion at 195 pounds. The team had three runners up: Braden Overbay at 106, Daniel Ornellas at 220 and Dylan Lee at 160. Lee, a reigning state champion while at Redmond, fell to Jackson Potts of Mountain View by decision. Potts reached the 6A semifinals at 145 last February.
Mountain View ran away with the title in the loaded 17-team tournament. It had three other individual champions in Liam Byrne, Scout Santos and Drew Jones.
La Pine, which placed second, saw Tyson Flack, Devon Kerr and Riley Flack capture their divisions.
Third-place Burns had a champion in Easton Kemper and three runners up.
Wylie Johnson and Derek Torres won divisions for sixth-place Culver, last year’s 2A/1A state champions.
Dylan Clark and Matthew McCoy won divisions for Henley.
Ben Cooper of Sisters won the 152-pound division.
***
Newberg will top the field at this weekend’s Rose City Invitational, hosted by Westview HS. The 6A defending champion Tigers ran away with the Rose City title last year, with Thurston, Dallas, Sprague and West Linn rounding out the top five.
Westview head coach Michael Delaney is very excited about this year’s tournament. All the usual suspects from Oregon will put up two wrestlers in each weight class and the tournament added back all of its Seattle-area teams that couldn’t attend last year PLUS an Idaho team and California team with nationally-ranked kids. For more info, please visit https://rosecitychampionship.com/.
If you are a high school varsity head coach and want to know how you can contribute to future Notebooks, contact John Tawa at [email protected]
johnt@osaa.org
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