From humble beginnings on the wrestling mat

Let’s do a brief Wrestling Notebook this week. There was a ton of wrestling last week worthy of reporting even as most of us are distracted by the coming holidays. Hence, the brief…

RENO 9-1-1

The Reno Tournament of Champions brought 87 boys high school programs from around the country together. California’s St. John Bosco was awfully impressive in winning the event, as the Braves had six champions and six other placers while scoring 306 points.

Among Oregon schools, Crook County amassed 84.5 points to finish 21st. The Cowboys had one placer, as Landon Lavey took sixth at 144 pounds. Chase Hemphill won three matches at 126 pounds.

West Linn scored 77 points, good for 26th place. Darion Johnson won four matches for the Lions at 113. Michael Smith won four at 165. Maclain Culp won three at 157.

Roseburg finished with 52.5 points, which placed it 39th. Drew Dawson won three matches at 113 and lost a fourth by a single point.

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Sweet Home finished 15th in the girls tournament, scoring 59 points. The Huskies entered seven wrestlers and placed three: Emmaline Durrett took second at 235, Bailey Chaffin finished fourth at 125 and Bella Rico earned seventh at 130.

Crook County girls scored 39 points, good for 25th place in the 47-team field. Tatiana Lopez Vargas won two matches by fall for the Cowgirls.

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Note: on the collegiate side, Oregon State finished second. Ayden Garver, a four-time state champion for Newberg, placed second at 149 pounds.

Tigers “Best of the West”

Defending 6A champion Newberg edged two Idaho schools to win the Best of the West Tournament in Pasco, Washington. The Tigers had 12 wrestlers place among the top eight, led by champions Jacob Jump (113) and Kingston Meadors (126). Kiah Worthington took second at 106 and Austin Wilhelm was runner up at 138.

Nyssa finished 10th in the 15-team event. Jose Jiminez (113) and Joaquin Cuevas (190) each placed fifth.

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Newberg’s girls took 11th in the 18-team event. Freshman Caitlyn Kendall won at 105 pounds. Sophomore Paisley Conway also won, wrestling at 110.

Cougars can be champions at Owings

Canby’s boys hosted and won the 19-team Larry Owings Invitational on Saturday. The Cougars had six champions in edging Sherwood for the team title. Matthew Young was named Outstanding Wrestler by Owings himself after prevailing at 150 pounds. Larry Owings is a former NCAA champion who has the distinction of being the only man to ever defeat the legendary Dan Gable (181-1) in high school or collegiate wrestling.

Trey Smith, Forrest Baumbaugh, Brady Froyd, Nico Yazzolino, and Jackson Doman also placed first for Canby.

Grayson Fabrycki was a champion at 157 pounds for Sherwood.

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Canby’s girls hosted the annual Canby Girls Invitational on Friday and finished 11th in the 23-team event. Emilia Ensrud won the 120-pound bracket for the host school.

St. Helens edited South Salem by 10 points for the team title. Freshman Nora Dame (105) and sophomores Annaliese Steele (130) and Jadyn Pense (170) took home titles for the Lions.

South Salem had six wrestlers finish fourth or better.

Y-C, Taft top Hagerty

The Bill Hagerty Invitational in Nestucca saw Yamhill-Carlton win on the boys’ side and Taft take the girls event.

Yamhill-Carlton won the team competition decisively despite having just one champion, August Brunner at 190 pounds.

Two girls, Kiya Roe of Knappa and Julia Towers of Taft, won 106 and 113, respectively. Both won all of their matches by pin.

Zack Chatelain of Nestucca won at 144.

Knappa’s Caidence Crawford won four matches by fall to take the 130-135 bracket in the girls tournament.

Crater wins again

One week after taking the Coast Classic, Crater dominated the Grants Pass Winter Kickoff, winning the team event over second-place Burns by almost 114 points. The Comets had six champions: Philip Alger (126), Jeremiah Oliva at 132, Joey Hutchins at 138, Jaret Hickey at 144, Jaxon Godley at 157 and Ryland Walters at 175.

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North Medford won on the girls’ side, in a close contest with California’s Corning Union and local schools Sutherlin and Crater.  Skyler Hall and Sadie Hall captured brackets for the victors.

McKay takes Battle in the Boro

Sarahi Chavez led McKay’s win at the Battle in the Boro tournament in Hillsboro. She was one of three individual champions for the Royal Scots in the 14-team girls event. Aileen Paniagua and Aryanna Garcia-Vasques also won.

Harrisburg wins Hadden

Harrisburg had champions in Luke Cheek, Jackson Peterman, Brody Buzzard and Hunter Langham in taking the Hadden Boy’s Invitational at Sprague. Buzzard’s win at 190 came versus fellow football stars Kenya Johnson of Sprague (second place) and Isaac Reynoso of Glencoe (third).

Harrisburg also won the girls tournament, edging Scappoose by 1.5 points. Eden Ridgley and Lily Ridgely won titles for the victors. Scarlett McHugh and Alivia Abouchani prevailed for Scappoose.

Lastly, maybe some inspiration?

A few days ago, the Associated Press named my youngest son, Jordy, one of five First Team All-America defensive backs in Div. III. Jordy, a junior at the University of Rochester, was previously named First Team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association. A boundary corner, Jordy finished second in the nation (240 D-III programs) in interceptions with seven and has been among the nation’s leaders in passes defended in each of his three seasons with the Yellowjackets.

I share this news because Jordy got his start wrestling for West Linn.

While his older brothers were making news playing football and baseball for the Lions, Jordy was slow to grow and entered high school at 5-foot-2 and 85 pounds. He was VERY aware of his brothers’ accomplishments, so I suggested he try wrestling in middle school to have a sport that was his own, one where being small would be no disadvantage.

Jordy embraced the sport and soaked up coaching and became decent entering high school. He wasn’t a standout – he won two matches at State at 106 as a freshman and went 0-2 at 113 as a sophomore -- but wrestling supplied the foundation for his athletic evolution. It taught him work ethic and humility, effort and perseverance.  

On this Christmas Eve, I am grateful that Jordy took up wrestling, I am grateful to his dedicated wrestling coaches and I am grateful to see him take what he learned and use it to be the best version of himself on the football field.

Wrestling is hard. It made Jordy tough, helped with his agility and showed him where bigger men might be vulnerable. No way is he an All-America player today without the start he got wearing the singlet.

Happy holidays to all!