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By René Ferrán | Photos by Taylor Balkom  

Brook Byers inadvertently got Sprague teammate Riley Davis in trouble with tournament organizers. 

Davis had just finished off a hard-fought victory in the 170 final Sunday and was taking a few minutes to celebrate with friends and family while the 160 placers received their medals.

Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem. Davis would have plenty of time to make his way over to the podium area while the next match wrestled.

Except this time, Byers took just 27 seconds to pin Newberg’s Kyle Kelley in the 182-pound 6A final at Sandy High School to wrap up his career with a third state title and a 128-17 career record. The house lights came back up, and the announcer started calling for Davis to make his way to the podium so they could hand out the 170 awards.

Byers was unapologetic afterward. 

“I wanted a longer match, because this was my going-away match,” Byers said. “But in the state finals, when you see that opportunity, you don’t pass up an opportunity like that. It’s great to go out like this my senior year.” 

In the hour before taking the mat, Byers and Davis spent time in the warmup room, hitting shots and talking about positions that might come up in their respective finals. 

“It was about just staying calm and focusing on my match,” said Byers, who will now take some time off to focus on school before heading to Palo Alto, Calif., after graduation to prepare for his wrestling career at Stanford. “I knew what I needed to do.” 

Oregon 6A wrestling state tournament: Meet the champions, placewinners, top teams

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