Now a senior, Derick Kohn plans to take the next step in his final go-round with Philomath High’s wrestling program — qualifying for state.
Last season, Kohn had a frustrating fifth-place finish at districts to just miss out on a trip to Portland. But that seems to be ancient history now with the 215-pounder winning a lot of matches.
Gallery: PHS wrestling at Benton County Championships (Jan. 8, 2026)
A collection of photos from the Philomath High wrestling team’s appearance in the Benton County Championships on Thursday.
“It feels pretty good,” Kohn said after winning both of his matches Thursday at the Benton County Championships. “I pushed a bit with my teammates and coaches to help me get here.”
Kohn has one of the top records on the team with 20 wins in 24 matches. The success hasn’t come easy, however, with a lot of hard work.
“One of the coaches throughout the summer worked with me,” Kohn said, “and I come in and stay late with some of the coaches (in practice) and work on the moves I need to work on.”
In particular, Kohn said he’s been working hard on his cross face and leg riding techniques. In a cross face, the wrestler uses his forearm or hand across an opponent’s face to control their head and create pressure. Leg riding is when the top wrestler hooks one or both of their legs around an opponent’s leg or legs to control them and prevent them from escaping.
“He’s deceivingly better than what you think,” PHS coach Troy Woosley said. “His length is really to his advantage and he has a good offense for that. I won’t disclose what that is but anyone that’s seen it knows he’s good with a certain style of wrestling. Where maybe he was lacking in some other parts of wrestling, he’s mastered that enough to overcome it.”
Kohn defeated both of his opponents in Thursday’s meet with pins in 35 and 27 seconds.
Philomath had five champions in all with senior Braydon Williams (126 pounds), freshman Max Grapoli (132), senior Porter Compton (157) and senior Liam Bennett (165) all finishing first at the meet.
“We’re coming together even after all of the little bit of thumping we just went through,” Woosley said. “Kids are dropping into new weights for them, which stretches our lineup. If everything goes right, we should only have a couple of forfeits at the (Oregon) Classic, which is the big dual tournament, so that will help a lot.”
Williams beat three opponents en route to his first-place showing — two on pins and one on a technical fall. Grapoli stuck both of his opponents, Compton had wins on a major decision and technical fall and Bennett posted a pair of pins.
Bennett’s first pin came in 53 seconds and his second with just 8 seconds remaining in the second period.
A successful move for Bennett has been an arm bar with a wrist drive into a double arm bar. The sequence begins with a basic arm bar and adding control of his opponent’s wrist to drive it in a specific direction to create more leverage and control. Then it progresses into a double arm bar with control of both of the opponent’s arms — a move that often leads to a pin.
Bennett said the team had to work through a bit of a funk over the past few weeks but has regrouped.
“We’re humble, we’re focused and I think we’re ready,” Bennett said.
Senior Dillon Osborns (157) and senior Lake Mulberry (190) had to settle for runner-up performances. In Osborns’ case, he had to go up against a teammate, Compton, in a championship match.
In the team standings, Philomath won with 158.5 points to Crescent Valley’s 135.5. Santiam Christian was third just one-half of a point behind the Raiders, Corvallis ended up fourth and Monroe fifth.
Philomath has won the Benton County Championships four of the last five seasons. Corvallis is the all-time leader for team titles with 10 but the Warriors are closing in with nine to their credit.
Philomath will not see action again until the Oregon Wrestling Classic on Jan. 16-17 at Redmond.
“I think we’re going to get a couple of our injured guys and gals back next week and that’ll help,” Woosley said.
For the boys, two-time defending state champion Riley Barrett has seen limited action this season so far because of an injury. For the second time this season, he was forced to miss a home meet.
Benton County Championships
Thursday, Jan. 8, at Philomath HS
Team scoring — 1, Philomath 158.5; 2, Crescent Valley 135.5; 3, Santiam Christian 135; 4, Corvallis 123.5; 5, Monroe 32.5.
PHS Results
106 — Kellen Carlson (0-2): Pinned by Ben Postlewait, Crescent Valley, 2:27; pinned by Ben Postlewait, Crescent Valley, 0:17.
126 — Braydon Williams (3-0, 1st): Pinned Thatcher Grose, Crescent Valley, 0:53; tech. fall over Hunter Glazier, Santiam Christian, 3:04 (17-0); pinned Eric Perez, Corvallis, 1:13.
132 — Max Grapoli (2-0, 1st): Pinned Isaac James, Corvallis, 4:56; pinned Thomas Coiner, Santiam Christian, 5:26.
138 — Odin Compton (2-2, 4th): Pinned David Hamlin, Crescent Valley, 0:42; lost maj. dec. to Conway Montgomery, Santiam Christian, 10-1; maj. dec. over Cash Nelson, Santiam Christian, 10-0; pinned by Logan Brisby, Corvallis, 4:26.
144 — Lukas Hernandez (3-1, 3rd): Pinned Muralo Barladi, Crescent Valley, 0:52; lost maj. dec. to Isiah Goodenough, Corvallis, 20-12; pinned Samuel Holdt, Corvallis, 0:32; tech. fall over Angel Hernandez, Corvallis, 1:14 (16-0).
150 — Rowan Jessen (1-3): Pinned Kindan Brotherton, Santiam Christian, 1:36; lost tech. fall to Muzamil Zaman, Corvallis, 2:24 (19-3); lost tech. fall to Owen Roberts, Monroe, 2:10 (17-0); pinned by Charlie Soltero, Corvallis, 3:47.
157 — Porter Compton (2-0, 1st): Maj. dec. over Rylan Brisby, Corvallis, 9-0; tech. fall over Dillon Osborns, Philomath, 4:00 (18-0).
157 — Dillon Osborns (1-1, 2nd): Pinned Ranon Welch, Corvallis, 2:54; lost tech. fall to Porter Compton, Philomath, 4:00 (18-0).
165 — Liam Bennett (2-0, 1st): Pinned Aaron Gelbaum, Corvallis, 0:53; pinned Rafael Orzech, Corvallis, 3:52.
165 — Tayte Mahr (0-2): Pinned by Rafael Orzech, Corvallis, 1:44; pinned by Miles Johnson, Corvallis, 1:32.
175 — Logan Toombs (0-3): Pinned by Jonathan Shore, Santiam Christian, 1:16; pinned by Sean Ryan, Crescent Valley, 1:00; pinned by Fian Walsh, Corvallis, 0:47.
190 — Lake Mulberry (1-1, 2nd): Pinned Owen Stevenson, Crescent Valley, 1:31; pinned by Jordan Ness, Santiam Christian, 4:40.
215 — Derick Kohn (2-0, 1st): Pinned Julian Jones, Crescent Valley, 0:35; pinned Levi Reeves, Santiam Christian, 0:27.
JUNIOR VARSITY
144 — Elijah Henevoy (0-2): Pinned by Urijah Sutherlin, Santiam Christian, 1:55; pinned by Yusaf Peyralans, Corvallis, 2:26.
150 — Rustan Woosley (2-0, 1st): Pinned James West, Santiam Christian, 0:56; tech. fall over Benjamin Demarest, Corvallis, 2:13 (15-0).