Jun. 28—The Warrenton Warriors continue to climb the 3A wrestling ladder, as the team compiled 65 points Saturday to finish seventh in the final meet of the season, held Saturday at Redmond High School.
That’s up 37 points and six spots from the 2020 state meet — which was expected, since the Warriors were competing with twice as many wrestlers than they did last season.
The only team with more wrestlers than the Warriors was La Pine, which won the team championship with 149.5 points.
Five of the top seven teams in Saturday’s state meet were from District 2, as Willamina placed second with 107 points, followed by Rainier (third, 92), Dayton (fourth, 88), Yamhill-Carlton (sixth, 66) and Warrenton (seventh).
The trend for the Warriors on Saturday was wrestlers falling short in the semifinals and finishing fourth in the final consolation round.
“Joy, anguish and pride all wrapped up in one tournament,” was the way Warrenton coach Corey Conant described one-day event, in which the Warriors had five state placers, all fourth.
The seventh-place team finish matches Warrenton’s best since the 2000-01 season.
Austin Atwood won his first two matches, advancing to the semifinals at 126 pounds. He lost by fall to Yamhill-Carlton’s Reily Liesegang, bounced back with a 4-2 decision over Yamhill’s Asher Tindall in consolation, but then lost an 8-1 decision to Santiam Christian’s Caleb Perez in the third-place match.
Senior Nic Pior took the same route at 145 — a narrow 2-1 loss in the semifinals to Kevin Peasley of Burns, following by a consolation victory and a loss in the third-place match to Santiam Christian’s Logan Beem.
Alex Tapia pinned his first two opponents at 170, lost a semifinal match, won by fall over teammate James Mickelson in a consolation, then was pinned by Willamina’s Parker Cavan in the third-place match.
It was the same for junior Josh Niehuser at 182 — a loss in the semifinals, followed by a consolation win and a loss in the third-place match.
Sam Irwin, the No. 2 seed and defending state champ at 195, opened with a bye and a 7-4 decision over Pleasant Hill’s Brazen Ellis.
Cajun Simmons of South Umpqua pinned Irwin in 2:39 in the semifinals; Irwin rebounded with a 14-4 major decision over Yamhill’s Hunter Stephenson in consolation, but his tournament closed with a 10-3 loss to La Pine’s Landen Roggenkamp in the third-place match.