PORTLAND -- Burns senior Kale Cornell has been in this position before.
He's two wins away from another individual state championship.
If he pulls it off, this title will be his fourth.
Cornell is one of five seniors with an opportunity to join an exclusive group — the Four-Time Champions Club — during Friday’s finals of the OSAA wrestling championships at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The others on the verge of four-peats are Burns’ Easton Kemper and La Pine’s Devon Kerr and Landyn Philpott in the Class 3A boys ranks and Grant Union’s Mallory Lusco in the 4A/3A/2A/1A girls.
They rolled through Thursday’s opening rounds to reach the doorstep of Oregon prep wrestling history.
Cornell’s previous titles came at 113 pounds as a freshman, followed by two at 126. This year, he’s once again the top seed at 126.
“Last year, I was really, really nervous before my finals,” Cornell said. “It’s probably going to happen again, but nerves are good for you. If I’m not nervous, then I’m probably doing something wrong.”
Cornell drew a bye in Thursday’s opening and then he pinned Scio sophomore Jack Forson with 19 seconds remaining in the first round of their quarterfinal match.
Next, Cornell will face Glide freshman Connor Devoogd in one semifinal, while Banks sophomore Toijah Mauck and Creswell senior Lyosha Mitchell meet in the other semi.
“I think I’ve wrestled all the kids in my bracket at least once, so I feel pretty confident,” Cornell said. “But I don’t want to be too confident to where I get cocky and lose. I just want to be humble.”
Kemper, the other Burns senior on the verge of making history, won his first two state titles at 170 and then added another at 175 last year.
This year, he’s the No. 1 seed at 190.
Kemper drew a bye into Thursday’s quarterfinals and then made quick work of Scio’s Bodhi Baller in the quarterfinals, pinning the Loggers’ junior in 40 seconds. The win put Kemper into Friday’s semifinal against Warrenton junior Sean Irwin.
Kerr’s previous titles for La Pine came at 132 at a freshman, 138 as a sophomore, and 144 as a junior. He took two steps toward another 138 title Thursday with a pair of first-round pins, stopping Jefferson junior Evan Wise in 54 seconds and Rainier junior Jonny Rice in 50 seconds in the quarterfinals.
Kerr is set to face Banks senior Benjamin Dinan in the semifinals and has his sights set on what would be the 13th individual state title in the Kerr household. Older brothers David Kerr and Derrik Kerr won three titles each (David from 2015-17 and Derrik from 2017-2019), sister Kira Kerr won back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022, and their father, Dave Kerr, won a 140-pound title for La Pine in 1989.
Philpott, the other La Pine senior, won his previous titles at 120 as a freshman, 132 as a sophomore, and 138 as a junior.
Now, he’s the top seed at 144.
“The position I’m in is just crazy right now,” Phillpott said. “Every match I have, they’re coming at me, because they know that I have everything to lose and they want to take down a three-time state champ. I’m just trying to keep my head up, one match at a time.”
Philpott won his first two matches Thursday with first-round pins, putting Rainier senior Keaton Mattinen on his back at 1:16 before stopping Lakeview junior Steven Anderson at 1:40 in the quarterfinals.
Next up, Philpott takes on South Umpqua senior Sylis Williams in Friday’s semifinals.
How ready is Philpott for what’s next?
“Oh, I’m ready,” he said. “I’ve been preparing all season.”
Wait, all season? It’s been longer than that, hasn't it?
“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy,” Philpott said. “Practice every day since I was 3. I mean, I’ve put in a lot of time. And then tournaments on the weekends and going out of state to wrestle in Iowa, Reno, Tulsa … just all over the country for most of my life, just wrestling.
He also is grateful that he’s had Kerr there to help push him these past four years, because without Kerr, he might not be in this position.
“He and I go hard every day in the room, especially this year,” Philpott said. “Yeah, the first three years we slacked off here and there, but I think the switch flipped for us, because every day we go into that practice room, we’re just going back and forth, and we know what we have on the line. We’re pushing each other to greatness.
“I’ve got a chance to make history here. Everybody knows that and they want to go out there and take it away from you. So, I’ve got to be smart and not take anything for granted. Just go out there and wrestle you. Don’t relax. Don’t coast. Just be ready to go a hard six minutes”
There have been 50 wrestlers across all classifications of Oregon boys wrestling that have been four-time champions dating back to Benson’s Albert Gibson, who won four consecutive titles (one at 106 and three at 124) between 1931 and 1934.
In the brief history of Oregon girls wrestling, there have been only four four-time champions — Central Linn’s Sarah Conner, North Medford’s Kaleigh Lopez, Phoenix’s Emma Truex, and West Linn’s Destiny Rodriguez.
Lusco, the Grant Union senior, took the first step toward joining that group Thursday when she pinned Rainier senior Kayden Twichell in the second round of the quarterfinals.
Next, Lusco will face Warrenton’s Katie Rehnert in Friday’ semifinals. If she gets through that, she could end up facing North Valley senior Breanna Meek in a rematch of last year’s final.
“Winning a fourth state title would mean a lot,” Lusco said. “In sports that have been dominated by males, it means a lot when the female side has success. I mean, if I do that, that’s something nobody can belittle or take away from me.
“I think I’m mentally prepared. My body feels good. I’ve just got to wrestle my best and keep praying. It’s going to take all that I’ve got, all I can give. I have nothing to lose. This is my last chance to show my local people.”
4A Boys
The Crook Country Cowboys answered the bell in a big way Thursday.
Two-time champion Gavin Sandoval and defending 138-pound champion Landon Lavey led a group of 11 Crook County wrestlers that advanced through Thursday’s opening round into Friday’s semifinals.
Crook County’s Tanner Brumble and Casen Villastrigo at 106, Alejando Vargas and Evan Provost at 113, Justin England at 120, Chase Hemphill at 126, Chance Yancey at 132, Chase Brumble at 144, and Jayden Lopez at 165 also remained undefeated, helping the Cowboys to a first-day team total of 170.5.
Defending champion Sweet Home stood second with 159 points, followed by Pendleton (100), La Grande (85.5), Tillamook (85), and Cascade (71).
“We’ve just got to do our jobs — that’s a big theme,” Crook County coach Jake Gonzales said. “This whole year has just been about taking care of each other, taking care of our team, doing our job, and everything else will take care of itself.
“We’re just trying to get better every day.”
The Cowboys have their sights set on an eighth team title and their first since 2018.
They took a significant step at the District 4 championships when they qualified 20 wrestlers for the state tournament. Then on Thursday, those 20 went a combined 38-15 with 27 pins, five technical falls, and two major decisions.
If the Cowboys can carry some of that momentum into Friday, they’re going to be tough to beat.
“I don’t think people understand what it takes to win a team title,” said Gonzales, who was an assistant on coach Jake Huffman’s staff when the Cowboys won team titles in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018. “It’s a lot of work and a lot of things got to go right, too.
“I try not to focus on that. I just try to focus on my guys and giving them the best opportunity to get better at wrestling and being good people so they have it better than I did when I was in high school.”
But what about putting 11 into the semifinals? How good is that?
“You know, tournaments are up and down, right?” Gonzales said. “You’re not going to have a perfect tournament, so we’ve got to get those guys on the backside to win some more matches for our team and tomorrow is a big day.
“Eleven in the semis is pretty good, I think. But my kids are trying extremely hard, so … I mean, the expectation is to do just that.
“There are two important dates on our calendar and that’s our district tournament and this tournament. This is what matters. All the other stuff is pretty much practice, so if we can be peaking at the right time and performing here … that’s what you get graded on. That’s what matters.”
In other 4A action, Philomath’s Riley Barrett at 150, La Grande’s Tommy Belding at 157, and Scappoose’s Maverick Heimbuck at 165 all moved into position to challenge for a second consecutive individual state championship.
2A/1A Boys
The Culver Bulldogs showed up at Portland’s venerable Glass Palace on Thursday ready to blow the doors off the place.
Culver took a significant step toward a 14th state team title when nine of 15 qualifiers advanced to Friday’s semifinals, giving the Bulldogs a first-day lead of 70-51 over Oakridge. Lowell stood third with 42 points.
Those nine are Braden Nielsen at 113, Cole Rahi at 132, Bridger Fosmark at 132, Carlos Fernandez at 138, Tyler Rahi at 150, Max Dickson at 165, Leland Minson at 165, Coby Holmes at 215, and Daltin Taylor at 285.
The Bulldogs also have Easton Scherner at 113, John Fosmark at 126, and Noah Cory at 144 still kicking in consolation action, making it that much tougher for anybody to catch them.
“Here we are in one of Oregon’s grandest venues with an opportunity to bring home something special,” Culver coach JD Alley said. “I think we’re just grateful for that at this point in time, for sure.”
Culver has been a perennial small-school powerhouse, yet Thursday’s results were in sharp contrast to what happened a year ago when the Bulldogs finished 12th in the team race — the first time since 2005 that Culver had finished worse than first or second at the state tournament.
“We try not to think a whole lot about last year. That was kind of ugly,” Alley said. “We just lost our mojo and lost our way. I don’t know. I really don’t know. They were good kids. Maybe we grew up a little this year.”
And maybe the sting from last year’s poor showing helped light a fire under this year’s team.
“These kids that are seniors, they want to right this ship and leave the program in good standing,” Alley said. “It’s important to them. And it’s important to me. I want to see these seniors go out on a good note and feel really positive about their impact on Culver wrestling.”
Culver’s 2017 state championship team finished with four individual state champions, five second-place finishers, and two third-place finishers and set a school record for team points with 202.5.
Alley said that record is probably safe.
“I don’t think we’ll be there this year, but I don’t think it will take 200 points to win,” he said. “I think 120 would win it, but we’ll see.
“We qualified quite a few more kids than anybody else, but … you still gotta wrestle and you gotta win. There’s not a lot of places to hide in a 10-person bracket. Just take care of the winning and everything else will take care of itself.”
4A/3A/2A/1A Girls
The defending champion La Grande Tigers still have some work to do if they hope to return home with another blue trophy.
Of the 11 La Grande wrestlers who qualified for the state tournament, two advanced to Friday’s semifinals — top-seeded Paige Allen at 145 and second-seeded Maddie Armstrong at 190 — helping the Tigers carve out a first-day lead in the team race with 52 points.
Harrisburg stood second with 39.5 points, followed by Oakridge (39), St. Helens (35.5), and Crook County (35).
La Grande also has Lyndee Isaacson at 120 and Sydnee Azure at 125 still alive in consolation action, but it remains to be seen if the Tigers have enough to hold off the other contenders.
“It’s getting tougher every year,” La Grande coach Rusty Gulzow said. “There are several teams in the mix that are looking to send multiple girls into the finals. We’re in a situation with a lot of girls in the cons already and they’re to score as many points as possible on the backside.
“A lot of our losses, not that they were expected, but they were understandable. And I think the girls think, ‘Hey, if I lose that first one, now it’s time to go to work and I’ve got to get two or three to make it up.’”
Despite the hard knocks La Grande sustained Thursday, the Tigers have enjoyed an incredible season.
“We were able to go to California and Reno and some other really tough tournaments, meeting up with girls from all over the state,” Gulzow said. “I’m just excited with the growth and the competition with where we’re at right now.
“I think this 1A to 4A level has just gotten insane with the competition when we have two previous state champions (La Grande’s Isaacson and Cottage Grove’s Allison Palluck) in a quarterfinal match to start the day. I mean, that’s really gone far.”
Harrisburg and Oakridge are still in the trophy chase. Harrisburg advanced three wrestling into the semifinals with Eden Ridgely at 100, Gracie Williams at 105, and defending champion Paxton Steele at 110. Oakridge pushed four into the semifinals with Vanessa Keller at 110, Emmalee Brissette at 115, Victoria Keller at 120, and defneding champion Kali Williams at 130.
“We’re just enjoying this tournament so much,” Oakridge coach Dan Niblett said. “It’s a coach’s dream. These girls are the hardest working girls in the state and that’s why they’re where they’re at.
“Realistically, we could pull ourselves up from fourth last year to third this year. With 4A schools and teams like La Grande that are just so deep and talented, and certain weights are going to be divided between us and Harrisburg … by the time you divide up the pie, if we can get in that top three position, I’d be thrilled.
“And if we do better, these girls are getting a limo ride.”
Is there any chance La Grande is vulnerable?
“I don’t know that anyone up at this level is vulnerable,” Niblett said. “They’re still kids no matter how much we make savages and warriors out of them. They’re still kids and kids can have an off day. And it can be us, it can be La Grande, it can by anybody.
“But La Grande is so deep, they’ll get their points through consolation. We’re not. We have to do it on the championship side. But either way, what we wanted to do on Day One, we’ve accomplished. Now we just have to come back for Day Two and work harder.”
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