Oregon (OSAA) 4A wrestling state championships preview: ‘All the teams, we’re all on the same playing field’
By René Ferrán
The 4A Oregon high school wrestling state championships take place at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Here's a look at what to expect.
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Top seeds (returning champions in italics)
106 Bryce Haffner, Tillamook, jr.
113 Kyle Sieminski, Sweet Home, jr.
120 Mason Wolcott, La Grande, jr.
126 Kai Carson, La Grande, jr.
132 Jacob Sieminski, Sweet Home, sr.
138 Joshua Collins, La Grande, sr.
145 Maverick Heimbuck, Scappoose, soph.
152 Gavin Sandoval, Crook County, soph.
160 Carson Henderson, Junction City, sr.
170 Kaden Zajic, Sweet Home, sr.
182 Wyatt Livingston, La Grande, sr.
195 Wyatt Anicker, Scappoose, sr.
220 Neal Walter, North Bend, sr.
285 Armando Galindo, Mazama, jr.
Other returning champion
132 Jacob Landtroop, Sweet Home, soph.
Most state qualifiers
1, Crook County 19. 2, (tie) Sweet Home and Tillamook 18. 4, (tie) La Grande and Mazama 17. 6, Cascade 14. 7, (tie) Marshfield and Scappoose 11. 9, (tie) Philomath and St. Helens 10.
What to watch
Crook County’s return deepens pool of potential title contenders
They’re back …
That might be the consensus among the 4A coaches as Crook County returns after a four-year stint in 5A that saw the Cowboys finish second to Crescent Valley three times.
Before moving up, Crook County won five of the six state tournaments from 2013-18, and with a meet-high 19 qualifiers this year, the Cowboys are poised to dethrone two-time defending OSAA champion La Grande and deny 2021 OWA champion Sweet Home its first OSAA title since 2017.
“I feel like all the teams, we’re all on the same playing field,” said Tigers coach Klel Carson, who got Livingston and 145-pounder Jaxson Leonard back from injuries at the district meet. “Last weekend was the first time I’ve had my full team entered in a tournament. We started late because of football and had some injuries, but we got those kids back, and they’re on the bus with us.”
Crook County edged La Grande by 17.5 points at last weekend’s Special District 4 meet thanks to its superior depth, but the Tigers have a meet-high four top seeds among the 14 weight classes that could prove decisive in the battle for state supremacy.
Carson recalled the 2020 tournament, in which his team won three of the final five matches on Championship Saturday to edge Sweet Home by 6.5 points for its first title since 1996.
“We’ve had some good battles with Sweet Home,” Carson said. “The rankings have us third, but I know it’s going to be close. We’re all close in numbers, and I have a lot of respect for these teams. It should be a lot of fun.”
Tillamook, the 2019 champion, also will contend for top honors after qualifying 18 wrestlers, matching Sweet Home for second-most in the field. Mazama has never won a team trophy at the state meet, but the Vikings bring 17 to Memorial Coliseum and should be in the trophy hunt along with Cascade and Scappoose, which boasts five top-two seeds.
Loaded 126 field includes returning champion, two 5A runners-up
A couple of 5A runners-up from a year ago join Carson to make the 126-pound division the one to watch entering the meet.
Crook County sophomore Landon Lavey lost in the 113 final to Crater’s Elijah Bayne last February, and Comer fell to four-time champion Gabe Whisenhunt in the 126 final.
Carson moves up from 120, where he defeated Kyle Watkins of Sweet Home 7-1, and looks to join older brother Braden (the school’s first three-time champion who’s now at Eastern Oregon, where he placed fourth at the Cascade Conference championships to qualify for the NAIA tournament) as a multiple-time state champion.
Two other 2022 second-place finishers also hope to take the last step up the podium this weekend. Wolcott lost in the 106 final to Kyle Sieminski at the 4A meet — one of his main competitors will be Henley junior Dylan Clark, who enters the meet 43-0 — and Walter fell in the 5A heavyweight final.
Returning champions for Sweet Home hope to meet in final
How often do you see teammates and returning state champions in the same weight class?
Sweet Home turns that rare feat this weekend with Jacob Sieminski, who won the Reser’s Tournament of Champions this month, and Landtroop in the 132 bracket.
The duo reached the Special District 2 final last weekend, with Landtroop forfeiting the match to his two-time state champion teammate. The state bracket sets with Sieminski, the top seed, and the fifth-seeded Landtroop on opposite sides of the draw.
Landtroop likely will have to defeat No. 3 John Hayes of Molalla and No. 2 Cash Wells of Crook County (fourth at 5A 132 in 2022) to earn a shot at Sieminski.
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