Crater freshman Elijah Bayne earns state title by avenging Reser's loss: Oregon (OSAA) wrestling 113-pounds roundup

By René Ferrán 

Crater freshman Elijah Bayne came to Saturday’s Class 5A state wrestling meet at Ridgeview High School in Redmond as a district champion but received just the No. 4 seed in the 113-pound bracket.

That didn’t bother him much, however. 

“To be fair, Landon (Lavey) earned the second seed way before I did,” Bayne said of his Crook County opponent in the final. “He pinned me (at Reser’s), so it’s only fair.” 

Bayne avoided the top seed when Wyatt Dingman of St. Helens lost in the quarterfinals. Bayne knocked out Dingman’s conqueror, Dallas freshman Joseph Johnson, in the semifinals, then avenged that Reser’s loss to Lavey with a 10-4 decision to win the state title.

The victory didn’t come without a scare. Bayne built a 10-0 lead after two rounds, but Lavey chose to start the third round on top. Bayne incurred three stalling penalties, the third coming with 20 seconds left, and one more would have led to disqualification.

“I was getting really nervous,” Bayne acknowledged. “Landon is really good on top, and I’d tried to get as big a lead as I could because I knew he’d pick top, and if I’d let him score, it’d be all over.”

With his coaches telling him to keep moving and a large Crook County contingent howling their support for Lavey, Bayne survived the final 20 seconds to win the first of what he now hopes will be four titles.

“It’s going to take a lot,” he said. “Keep working hard in practice and keep training hard with all my partners.” 

4A: Sweet Home freshman Jacob Landtroop took out No. 2 seed Aldo Duran of Baker/Powder Valley in the semifinals and top seed Maxam Salvetti of Molalla with an 8-4 decision in the final to win his first state title.

3A: Burns freshman Kale Cornell, the top seed in the bracket, recorded four falls en route to the championship, with only his final match against Joseph Hutchins of Cascade Christian lasting longer than a minute — he needed 2:43 to secure the title.

2A/1A: Illinois Valley freshman Micah Martinho capped a dominant run to his first title with a 9-5 decision over Culver junior Debren Sanabria in the final. The top-seeded Martinho won his first three matches by pin. 

6A: Newberg’s Isaac Hampton finishes unbeaten wrestling season with third win over opponent