Cole Steketee secures Sprague’s dominance of heavier weights with first state wrestling title

By René Ferrán | Photos by Taylor Balkom  

A couple of years ago, then-Sprague coach Nolan Harris said in an interview that he thought Cole Steketee’s wrestling style would fit very well in the heavyweight division. 

This winter, under new coach Mike Ritchey, Harris’ opinion was put to the test — and proven correct.

Steketee, a junior who lost to teammate David Sherman in the 220-pound 6A state final as a sophomore, moved up to 285 this season and romped to a 30-2 record, finishing it off Sunday at Sandy High School with a second-round pin of Roseburg junior Grady Hamilton for his first state title.

“Me and David, we’ve been training for this all year,” Steketee said. “He’s an amazing partner to work with. We whip each other’s (butt) in practice. It’s just a lot of fun.” 

Steketee was one of the lighter heavyweights in the field, weighing in Sunday at 228 pounds, but he enjoys the freedom “of getting to eat whatever I want and not having to worry about cutting weight. I think I’m by far the most athletic heavyweight in terms of speed, and it helps a lot.” 

Steketee’s victory marked the first time since 2006 that wrestlers from the same school (Crater’s Cody Clark and Charlie Alexander) won titles at the highest classification (then 4A) state meet in the two heaviest weight classes. 

“I’d have loved to go at it with David one more time,” Steketee said. “But at the end of the day, we’re teammates. We work as a team, and the goal is to make this team as good as we can. The plan was to get as many state titles as possible, and hey, we got an extra state championship.” 

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