Philomath High senior River Sandstrom and juniors Porter Compton, Riley Barrett and Lake Mulberry all advanced to the semifinals in their respective weight divisions Thursday at the Class 4A Wrestling State Championships.
Competing at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Sandstrom (120 pounds), Compton (144), Barrett (150) and Mulberry (190) each defeated two opponents to remain in the championship bracket.
“We wrestled with a lot of confidence and are excited about all four of our semifinal matches tomorrow,” PHS coach Troy Woosley said.
Sandstrom entered the tournament unseeded but advanced with victories over sixth-seeded Aldo Duran of Baker-Powder Valley (11-7 decision) and third-seeded Leroy Mixon of Estacada (pin in 3:39). He’ll face second-seeded Bragen Anderson of La Grande in the semifinals. Sweet Home’s Jesse Landtroop, who beat Sandstrom at districts last weekend, is the top seed.
Compton, seeded fifth at 144, opened with a technical fall victory but was challenged in his quarterfinal match against Klamath Union’s Levi Hicks. The match was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation but Compton dominated in overtime and secured a 6-1 win with three-point and two-point nearfalls. In the semis, he’ll face second-seeded Jackson Walls, a sophomore out of Scappoose. Cascade’s Hans Kamm is the top seed.
Barrett, who is seeded No. 1 and trying to win back-to-back state titles, easily won his first two matches with pins in 19 seconds over Scappoose’s Daniel Wolfe and in 54 seconds over Crook County’s Daxon Pennington. In the 150 semifinals, Barrett will go up against Cascade senior Brody Copple. The two wrestlers did not face each other in last week’s district meet.
Mulberry, who was seeded No. 1 at 190, opened with a pin in 1:16 over Rodney Epperson of Marshfield but was pushed to the limit in the quarterfinals. Facing Crook County’s Ethan Lamphere, Mulberry trailed 1-0 late in the third period before getting an escape to tie it up. Then in the extra time, he won with a three-point takedown. In the semifinals, Mulberry will wrestle Estacada senior Noah Hughes.
Junior Liam Bennett defeated eighth-seeded Caden Juhl of Mazama in the first round but lost in the quarterfinals to top-seeded Maverick Heimbuck of Scappoose. In the consolation bracket, Bennett exited with a loss to La Grande’s Noah Collins.
Two other PHS wrestlers that qualified were sophomore Odin Compton (126) and junior Lukas Hernandez (138). They both lost two matches and were eliminated.
Saturday’s action is scheduled to begin at 2:45 p.m. and run well into the evening. The Parade of Champions for wrestlers that reach the finals is set for a 7 p.m. start.
