Philomath sophomores Riley Barrett and Porter Compton won first-place medals to help the Warriors to a sixth-place team finish in the Grants Pass Varsity Winter Kickoff on Saturday.
Barrett was unchallenged in the two-day, 39-school wrestling tournament with four decisive victories in the 150-pound weight division. Barrett rolled into the championship match with a technical fall and two pins in his first three bouts. In the finale, he controlled Klamath Union’s Levi Hicks to the tune of a 20-7 major decision.
Compton won three of his four matches at 138 pounds on decisions, including 4-2 in the championship bout over Isaac Lopez of Del Norte, California. Compton won his first match in the tournament on a 10-6 decision over Cottage Grove’s Carter Bengston and after advancing on a pin against a Glendale opponent, he took a 5-0 decision in the semifinals over Eagle Point’s Natan Mallari.
PHS junior River Sandstrom reached the 113-pound final against Illinois Valley’s Mike Miller and lost on a pin. Sandstrom reached the finale with three pins in earlier rounds against opponents from Cascade, South Medford and Henley.
Warriors sophomore Lake Mulberry earned a fourth-place medal in the 215 division. Mulberry won his first two bouts on a pin and injury default. In the semifinals, he lost to a Mazama wrestler before regrouping for a 2-1 tiebreaker win over North Valley’s Seth Gallego in the consolation semis. That advanced him into the third-place match where he lost on a 3-0 decision to Eagle Point’s Brian Cortez.
Philomath had two wrestlers at 132 and each finished with 2-2 records. Freshman Wyatt Barrett’s two wins came on pins in the early consolation rounds. Sophomore Lukas Hernandez also had pins in his two victories, which came in the first round and in a consolation match. Hernandez lost a tough quarterfinal match to a Phoenix wrestler, 16-14, by sudden victory.
Four other PHS wrestlers had at least one win in the tourney — sophomore Brayden Williams (126), junior Ryder Zitlau (157), senior Gradin Fairbanks (165) and junior JJ Lewis (175).
In the team standings, Illinois Valley won by eight points over runner-up South Medford, 157-149. Mazama was third (130.5) followed by Eagle Point (128.5), Cascade (128) and Philomath (127.5) to round out the top six.
Two of the three PHS wrestlers competing in the girls tournament came away with at least one victory. Senior Acacia Gonzalez won on a pin in 1:21 over a Knappa opponent and freshman Autumn Cluster defeated a Crater opponent on a 5-2 decision.
North Valley edged Sutherlin for the girls tournament team title.
Philomath will host its second tournament of the young season Wednesday at the Benton County Championships. A team of junior varsity wrestlers will head to the Crab Pools on the Coast tournament Thursday in Florence.
