Philomath High senior River Sandstrom won three straight decisions and senior Porter Compton dominated his opponent in finals to win first-place medals Saturday at the Cottage Grove Invitational.
The Warriors, which are still hampered by illness up-and-down the lineup, saw six wrestlers earn medals and finish sixth in the team standings among the 28 schools that sent athletes to the two-day event.
Sandstrom, wrestling at 120 pounds, opened the tournament with decisive victories on technical falls but had to work hard over his next three matches to come out on top. Sandstrom’s run includes wins of 4-0 over McMinnville sophomore Trent Rauch, 5-1 over Douglas junior Peyton Wafer and 4-1 over Harrisburg sophomore Andrei Donayri.
All three of those opponents were state qualifiers last season and in fact, Donayri won the 106-pound weight division in Class 3A as an unseeded freshman.
Compton at 144 pounds went unchallenged in the championship match with a 17-1 tech fall victory over Pleasant Hill’s Boone Marquess. Compton’s more challenging match occurred in the semifinals with a 7-0 decision over Harrisburg’s Levi Conley. He won his first three bouts all on pins.
PHS junior Lukas Hernandez won five of seven matches and placed fourth. Hernandez, wrestling at 138, reached the third-place match after winning three straight in the consolation bracket but in the medal round lost to Oakridge’s Rowdy Williams. Both of Hernandez’s losses came to Williams.
Others placing for the Warriors were junior Liam Bennett (fifth 157), junior Derick Kohn (fifth, 215) and junior Lake Mulberry (sixth, 215). Bennett defeated Riley Martin of McMinnville in the medal round. Kohn and Mulberry, both in the same weight division, were matched up in the fifth-place match but they didn’t wrestle with Kohn awarded the win by medical forfeit.
Sophomore Wyatt Barrett went 3-2 in the tournament but missed out on a medal at 144.
Wrestlers eliminated on the tournament’s first day were put into a “second-chance” bracket on Day 2. Among those results, sophomore Jude Wilson and senior Peter Reed posted victories.
Philomath is scheduled to host a double dual at 5 p.m. Wednesday against North Marion and Cottage Grove.
