Alexandra Geschwill makes Kennedy Trojans history: Oregon wrestling 145/130 small-school roundup
By René Ferrán | Photos by Leon Neuschwander
Since Kennedy resurrected its wrestling program five years ago after a decade-long hiatus, the best finish by a Trojan at the OSAA state championships was a third-place showing.
Senior Alexandra Geschwill was well aware that her school had never had a state champion — not in its previous iteration, and not since its return.
A year ago, she qualified for state for the first time, but she failed to win a match in Culver.
So, as Geschwill nursed a 3-2 lead over La Pine’s Julietta Leal in the final seconds of her 130-pound final at Friday’s inaugural 4A/3A/2A/1A girls tournament at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum, she felt the pressure of the moment weighing upon her.
“I was trying to take shots, but she was just really aggressive, so I had to keep going,” Geschwill said.
And when the final whistle blew and she’d made school history, the tears flowed.
“I knew I could do it, but it was just a matter of doing it,” she said. “I don’t think this will hit me for like another 10 days. I’m so thankful for everybody who believed in me. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
2A/1A: Colton had not had a finalist in the past 11 years or a state champion in the past 13 seasons before senior Roger Moore scored a dramatic 4-3 overtime victory over Culver’s Reeden Arsenault.
Arsenault had gotten a reversal in the first 30-second period, but Moore escaped with 23 seconds left in the second overtime, then took Arsenault down with eight seconds left to earn the win.
4A: Crook County senior Cutter Marsh pinned top seed Maverick Heimbuck of Scappoose in the first round of the 145 bracket, then made it all the way to the final before losing to No. 2 seed Brysen Penaloza of La Grande. The Tigers senior reversed Marsh and took him straight to his back to get the pin with 44 seconds left in the match.
3A: Harrisburg freshman Brody Buzzard opened his career with a state title, pinning top seed Brayson Granger of Lakeview with 51 seconds remaining.
—
