Lebanon freshman Mary Jane Duty is 24-4 to start her career

Celtic twist at Braided 64

Kelso HS, across the border in Southwest Washington, hosted the Braided 64 this past weekend. The Braided 64 is regarded as the toughest girls event in the Pacific Northwest.

One hundred and three teams (103) were represented, including 16 from Oregon.

McNary had the strongest showing among local schools, finishing sixth overall. Three Celtics placed, led by senior Ali Martinez, who finished second at 190 pounds. Freshman Malina Martinez placed fourth at 110 pounds and dominated a returning state champion from Cottage Grove in the quarterfinals. Sophomore McKenna Unger returned to the podium with a seventh-place showing at 135 pounds.

St. Helens was the next highest Oregon team finisher, placing 12th overall. The Lions had a fourth-place finisher in Jadyn Pense at 170 pounds. Katelynn Leonard took sixth at 110 pounds.

Nationally-ranked sophomore Zorina Johnson of Ida B. Wells pinned her way through the 125-pound class. Wells placed 28th overall, with Sprague 33rd and McKay 37th. Aileen Paniagua of McKay was seventh at 105.

Top Frosh!

This week, we asked coaches to tell us about the top freshmen in the state. Here is what we’ve received to date…

Mary Jane Duty, Lebanon, 115 (6A/5A) – Duty has been outstanding as a freshman, compiling a 23-7 record to date with 18 pins. She even placed second in the boys bracket at a California Tournament Lebanon attended in December. She is smart, strong and agile.

Marlina Martinez, McNary, 110 (6A/5A) – Martinez is 24-4 to start her career. “Marlina arrived at the high school level ready to compete,” said coach Samuel Martin. “She has an unbelievable work ethic matched with lofty goals. She has already had a huge impact on our team, finishing highly in very competitive tournaments and taking first  in three tournaments to date.” 

Aaden Sigloh, Ridgeview, 120 (5A) – Sigloh took second at Adrian Irwin to start the year and recently won his first tournament at Canby. He is 14-5 on the year, showing toughness and experience far beyond his age.

Creo Walker, Kennedy, 175 (2A/1A) – Walker is 10-5 on the year with two top-five finishes at meets this year, including fifth at Dayton this past weekend. A very hard worker dedicated to the sport, Walker also started on the Trojan football team in the fall.

Kaden Williams, Camas Valley, 106 (2A/1A) – Williams has fashioned a 15-5 record so far this season. He has shown terrific ability to adapt and learn on the move.

News and notes

Two Oregon schoolgirls are ranked nationally by USA Wresting.

Sophomore Zorina Johnson of Ida B. Wells is No. 25 at 120 pounds.

Johnson, wrestling at 130 pounds, pinned her way through the Mountainside tournament in mid-December and last week won the Braided 64 wrestling at 125.

Sophomore Bailey Chafin of Sweet Home is No. 24 at 130 pounds.

Chafin, wrestling at 130, placed second at the War of the Roses in early December, but has since won three consecutive tournaments. She has only lost the one time all season.

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Ontario senior Hannah Hernandez won the 145-pound bracket at the Rollie Lane Girls Invitational in Nampa, Idaho. She is undefeated on the year at 21-0.

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Redmond sent both its girls and boys teams to Nampa for Rollie Lane. The girls placed sixth out of 73 teams. Mia Pedersen was third at 120 pounds and Mackenzie Shearon was third at 145. 

Redmond’s boys finished 12th out of 88 teams and were the top-scoring Oregon team in the tournament. Joey Downing made the finals at 145 pounds and ended up second. Jared Ake  made the podium at 152 pounds.

 ***

Last year, Oregon wrestling made history when it had two champions, Daschle Lamer of Crescent Valley and Justin Rademacher of West Linn, at the prestigious Doc Buchanan Tournament in Clovis, California. Both Lamer and Rademacher went on to win state titles, have since graduated and are contributing wrestlers at Cal Poly and Oregon State, respectively.

The 49th Doc B took place last weekend and Oregon wasn’t as well represented this year. West Linn placed 29th overall, with Henry Dillingham distinguishing himself with a sixth-place finish at 153.

“He was in a stacked weight class and competed with some of the best in the nation,” said coach Kevin Keeney.

Roseburg, the other Oregon entrant, tied for 89th in the 124-team event. Each sent just five wrestlers.

***

Newport’s boys took home a dual win against Crescent Valley, 45-32, this week, and followed that with a top 5 finish at the Dayton Invitational.

Nathan Roberts picked up a gritty win at 190 against CV to lock in the win, while Dominic Guenther wrestled one of his best matches of the year at heavyweight to secure the pin and stretch the lead.

Ivan Wagner went undefeated on the week, including winning the Dayton Tournament.

Newport also went 1-2-3 at 126 in Dayton with Josue Estrada showing some of his best wrestling of the year in finishing first, freshman Evan Hernandez picking up some big time wins for second and Victor Perez earning third.

Newport’s girls swept Crescent Valley with three first-round pins from Camille Keck, Julia Kessi, and Zoie Garcia. Keck also won her bracket at Dayton to take Newport's only first.  Kessi was second in her bracket.

***

Estacada girls wrestling took five to the Paul/Larson tournament at Sandy High School and finished third as a team, with three champions, senior Kirsten Delazerda, and sophomores McKenzie Reilly and Abbigail Taylor.

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Harrisburg girls wrestling competed Thursday at the Linn County Championships and Saturday at the Sutherlin Invitational.

At Linn County, Gracie Williams (105), Paxton Steele (110) and Hannah Henderson (170) all won their brackets.

Henderson also won the Sutherlin Invitational and was voted the Outstanding Wrestler in both tournaments.

The boys team placed second to Sweet Home in the Linn County Championship, losing by 6.5 points.

John Henderson (106), Nephi Heakin (157) and Brody Buzzard (190) all won their brackets.

***

Thurston’s girls overwhelmed the other 19 teams at Sutherlin, winning in a landslide. Six Colts won brackets, including five by fall, Rubie Winterburn (105), Kaddidy Hadden (130), Kristal Zamora (145), Izabella Castleberry (150) and Katelyn Dow (190)..

***

Isaac Berning (190) won his bracket for Kennedy at Dayton.

Kira Boitano won her first tournament of the year at Dayton, pinning all of her opponents at 110.

***

Snow canceled the scheduled meet at Santiam…

Undefeateds

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

22-0 – Macali Lade, Jr., Siuslaw, 4A/3A/2A/1A (100)

21-0 – Hannah Hernandez, Sr., Ontario, 4A/3A/2A/1A (145)

11-0 – EunMi Kippley, Sr., Summit, 6A/5A (110)

Legends of the fall

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

13 seconds

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

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

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

Macali Lade, Jr., Siuslaw, 100, Perry Burlison, Dec. 2

Macali Lade, Jr., Siuslaw, 100, North Bend Coast Classic Dec. 8-9

Macali Lade, Jr., Siuslaw, 100, Grants Pass Winter Kick-off, Dec. 15-16

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]