1 e ra - January 18, 2012 Page 9
SPORTS
Wrestlers take s00.00cond at Oregon Classic
Sweet Home went into the Or-
egon Classic, the king of the mid-
season wrestling tournaments in
the state of Oregon, ranked No. 5
Friday morning and hoping for a
top-four finish.
The Huskies left Saturday
night with the second-place trophy
after upsetting Ontario (45-19) and
Cascade (45-32), and rolling over
Tillamook 54-21 before falling to
No. 1-ranked Henley 45-24 in the
final.
"We got a little momentum,"
said Coach Steve Thorpe, his voice
hoarse from three days of coach-
ing the high-schoolers, and then
the Mat Club wrestlers in the youth
tournament, which extended into
Sunday.
Thorpe said he was surprised
by the extent of the Huskies' wins
over Ontario and Tillamook, in
particular, and he noted that Sweet
Home had lost twice to Cascade in
tournaments this year and once in a
dual meet.
He termed the Cascade vic-
tory "a very good win" and noted
that, although the Huskies weren't
expected to beat Henley, "it was
a different dual than the first time
we wrestled them" in the season
opener.
He credited the Huskies' per-
formance to an "unselfish" team
and the fact that the line-up now
includes three veterans who were
out earlier.
"What a difference it makes to
have (Colton) Schilling, (Trever)
Olson and (Nate) Melcher," he
said. "And in our line-up every-
body is down to weight.
"That's testimony to how we
work in our program. I've had bet-
ter wrestlers, more depth on teams,
but each team has its own dynamic
and this team is unselfish. That is
why we experienced success at the
Oregon Classic."
Tyler Cowger, who posted six
falls, including a pin of Ontario's
Cade Hartley, the No. 2-ranked 4A
division wrestler in the state at 138
pounds, has provided significant
leadership, Thorpe said.
"Cowger has continued on and
Ty Harvey has really stepped up,
which has been very welcome."
Schilling lost to national
champion Ronnie Bresser of Hen-
Photos courtesy of Patricia Schilling
Sweet Home wrestling team members show off their second-place trophy at the Oregon Classic wrestling tournament in Redmond.
ley at 120 pounds in a4-1 decision,
but Thorpe noted that his two-time
state champion junior is still get-
ting in shape after sitting out for a
month to allow some football inju-
ries to heal.
He also credited Tyler Schil-
ling, Justin Nicholson and Wade
Paulus for outstanding perfor-
mances.
"Wade Paulus moved up a
weight class and came away with
two falls. Those two falls were
momentum-getters, particularly his
win at 220 against Cascade. That
sparked momentum for us. It was
just a great tournament.
On Wednesday, Jan. 11, the
Huskies defeated Elmira 54-25 in
a league dual match at home, then
followed that up with a 51-27 win
over 5A Churchill, a match that
featured the Lancers' Zac Brunson,
a 2011 freestyle national champion
and the No. 1-ranked high school
170-pounder in the nation.
Alex Armstrong hung in
Brunson for a period before getting
pinned.
Thorpe noted that, with
Cowger and Colton Schilling,
three All-Americans were on the
rhat that evening.
"What a neat night," he said.
"It's amazing that we get to high-
light some of the standout wres-
tlers in state of Oregon. How often
do you get that level of athlete in
same gym?"
He said he was particularly
proud of the junior varsity wres-
tlers, all of whom won at least one
match against Elmira or Churchill,
and some of whom won all their
bouts.
"I was proud of them," Thorpe
said.
Despite the week's successes,
he said, he warned his team that
"we haven't accomplished any-
thing yet.
"This year's goal wasn't the
Oregon Classic. This year's goal is
two weekends in February. That's
where our focus is at. That's No. 1
right now."
The wrestlers next will travel
to Central Thursday for matches
against the Panthers and Cascade,
beginning at 5 p.m.
Oregon Classic Results
Sweet Home 53, Estacada 19
106 - Tyler Schilling (SH) TF Seb
Sanchez (E) 16-0, 113- Justin
Nicholson (SH) pinned Harlt (E)
0:48, 120 - Colton Schilling (SH)
pinned Donny Westlund (E) 1:04,
126 - Scottie Stockman (SH)
pinned Z.ach Jones (E) 0:34, 132
- Rathbuin (E) pinned JT Weld
(SH) 3:03, 138 - Tyler Cowger
(SH) pinned Spencer Bradford (E)
0:42, 145 - Jacob Davidson (E)
dec. Trever Olson (SH) 7-5, 152 -
Travis Cole (E) dec. Nick Hall (SH)
5-3, 160 - Luke Youngberg (E)
dec. Nate Melcher (SH) 8-7, 170
• See Classic, page 13
Tyler Cowger looks for the call as he pins a Tillamook opponent during
the Oregon Classic Saturday.
Photo by Scott Swanson
Zac Brunson of Churchill scores a takedown on Sweet Home's Alex Arm-
strong during their match Wednesday.
Photos courtesy of Heather Thorpe
Cheer winners
Sweet Home cheerleaders show off the first-place trophy they won at the
Springfield competition Saturday. The competition cheer squad, coached
by Amber Rosa, right, also won its opening competition at Lake Oswego
on Jan. 14. They are shown in action at right at Lake Oswego.
