Newberg freshman Gavin Rangel makes coach look prescient in winning Reser’s title without being seeded (126 pounds)
By René Ferrán | Photos by Leon Neuschwander
Newberg coach Neil Russo fought for his 126-pound freshman, Gavin Rangel, at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions seeding meeting prior to this weekend’s edition of Oregon’s most prestigious in-season event.
His admonition that “you might want to watch this kid” was of no avail, and Rangel entered the bracket unseeded.
All Rangel did was prove his coach correct, defeating the Nos. 7, 2 and 6 seeds on Friday before taking down top seed Kai Carson of La Grande 6-4 in Saturday evening’s final at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.
“It’s amazing. I don’t even really know how to describe the feeling,” Rangel said after becoming the first unseeded Reser’s TOC champion since Santos Cantu III of Sprague won the 195 bracket in 2017.
“I thought it was a little messed up that I wasn’t seeded, but whatever. I still came out and won it.”
Rangel said his experience wrestling against teammates such as two-time Reser’s champion Isaac Hampton and two-time state champion Zachary Keinonen at practice every day helped prepare him for this moment.
“They’re really great partners and pushed me all the way past my limits,” Rangel said.
Rangel took control of the final in the second period, starting in the bottom position and scoring a reversal and two near-fall points to build a 5-2 lead.
Carson started the third period in the bottom position and got a reversal with 43 seconds left, but a technical violation gave Rangel an insurance point for the final margin.
“He’s a tough out, that’s for sure,” Russo said. “There isn’t a position that you can put him in that he hasn’t been in before and has an answer for. He wrestled very well this weekend.”
And it’s safe to say that should Rangel advance to the OSAA 6A state championships in three weeks at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, he won’t enter that bracket unseeded.
During COVID, he turned his garage into a wrestling room and named it “Future Four-Timer.”
“That’s been my goal since I was 5,” Rangel said. “I feel like I have a pretty good shot.”
More stories, photos from Reser's Tournament of Champions 2023
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