Reigning 5A wrestling champion Crescent Valley flexed its muscles by opening its season with a strong showing in the Perry Burlison Tournament on Saturday at Cascade High School.
The Raiders, coming off their first state championship, had seven champions and piled up 298 points to outscore Crook County (191), Sweet Home (155) and Scappoose (100).
It was the first competition since Crescent Valley edged Crook County by 1.5 points to win the 5A tournament last season. The Raiders and Cowboys were ranked first and second, respectively, in the OSAAtoday 5A preseason coaches poll. Sweet Home, last year’s 4A runner-up, is ranked No. 1 in the 4A coaches poll.
Crescent Valley coach Chad Lamer, who will take 24 wrestlers to the prestigious Reno Tournament of Champions this weekend, didn’t put too much stock in finishing first.
“It’s just an early-season tournament,” he said. “We hadn’t won that tournament before, so it feels good that way, but we have Reno coming up, so it doesn’t feel like a huge accomplishment to what we’ve got coming forward. It’s just a warm-up tournament.”
The Raiders got titles from their reigning state champions in sophomore Gabe Whisenhunt (120) and James Rowley (160) and junior Chance Lamer (132).
Whisenhunt pinned his way through his bracket. Rowley recorded a 13-1 decision over Sweet Home senior Travis Thorpe, a 4A champion last season, in the 160 final. Chance Lamer knocked off Silverton senior Kaden Kuenzi, a 5A champion last season, 3-2 in the 132 final.
“That was a good win for Chance,” Chad Lamer said.
Crescent Valley’s other titles came from freshman David Gillett (106), junior Hunter Eveland (138), senior Tyson Resko (152) and junior Jackson Rosado (170).
Resko and Rosado are part of a group of transfers joining the Raiders this year. Resko came over from Wilsonville, where he was a 5A semifinalist last season. Rosado is from Aloha, where he made the 6A semifinals as a freshman in 2018.
Promising freshman Hayden Walters, who grew up in the Crater program, also bolsters the lineup. On Saturday, Walters dropped a 5-4 quarterfinal decision to Crook County senior Kyle Knudtson, a reigning 5A champion.
Crescent Valley’s most high-profile transfer is senior Santos Cantu, a three-time 6A champion from Sprague who has signed with Indiana University. Cantu, the champion at 195 last season, did not wrestle Saturday because he was “dinged up,” according to Chad Lamer.
“I feel pretty good about our chances in state,” Chad Lamer said. “We’ve got a really solid lineup right now, with a lot of big guys. Our three upper weights are our only seniors.
“We’ll have most of our guys back next year. We’ve got a couple younger guys that are going to be able to grow and hopefully fill in for those upper weights next year. We should be doing pretty well for the next couple years.”
The Raiders had two runners-up Saturday in freshman Daschle Lamer (126) and junior Konrad Hoyer (195). Daschle Lamer fell to Crook County senior Zachary Mauras, a 5A champion last season, 10-9 in the final. Hoyer lost to Elmira sophomore Nat Brown 11-2 for the title.
jerryu@osaa.org
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