PORTLAND — Over the past two seasons to cap his freshman and sophomore campaigns, Philomath High’s Porter Compton ended each of his appearances at the state wrestling tournament on a high note by winning third-place matches on 5-4 and 9-6 decisions.
Qualifying again this season, Compton was among those in contention for the 4A title at 144 pounds and he defeated three straight opponents to reach the finals. But a familiar foe, Cascade sophomore Hans Kamm, who has been a difficult opponent for Compton, was waiting.
Gallery: PHS wrestling at state championships (Feb. 28, 2025)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s appearance in the Class 4A Wrestling State Championships on Friday.
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PORTLAND — As the clock expired in Lake Mulberry’s 190-pound championship match Friday night at the Class 4A championships, the Philomath High junior couldn’t help but let out a couple of loud “yeahs” during his moment of triumph. Mulberry’s rise to the top of the sport in his weight classification this season comes just three…
The two had just wrestled the previous week in the regional finale at PHS with Kamm scoring a 3-0 decision. In this rematch on the state championship stage, Kamm won by an 8-0 margin.
Sure, not a win in his final match but Compton will take it.
“I’m proud of not taking third three years in a row, so it’s a step up,” Compton said. “I would have liked to have finished first but next year we’ll get it.”
PHS coach Troy Woosley said Compton had a great tournament.
“Porter took another step,” Woosley said. “He’s never been in the finals so that was good to see what he did there and I wasn’t disappointed in his finals match.”
Compton, who was seeded fifth for state, and the top-seeded Kamm are familiar with one another — meeting three times just this season. In addition to their battles at state and regionals, the two squared off in a dual back on Jan. 11. Kamm won that one by a 6-3 count.
“I came into it knowing that he shoots doubles,” Compton said. “So, there was defending those doubles and I did that in the first round but then got in that arm bar in the second round and gave up four nearfall points. Those were big points to give up and so I had to go for something in the third round and just couldn’t do it.”
Kamm’s 4-0 lead on the second-period nearfall remained well into the third. He added an escape point just past the midway point and then tacked on three more points on a takedown in the final seconds.
“He just wrestled him tough in the first round and got caught with arm bars and that was the difference in the match,” Woosley said. “Then he had to scramble to get more points and that’s when you usually make mistakes and get scored on.”
In the semifinals, Compton advanced with a 7-4 decision over Scappoose sophomore Jackson Walls, the No. 2 seed. Compton took an early lead with a takedown 39 seconds in before Walls tied it 3-3 in the second with his own takedown. With 44 seconds left in the period, Compton scored on a reversal for a 5-3 lead.
“Got the takedown early in the match and then going into the second round, he got a takedown off one of my shots and I almost went to my back,” Compton said. “And then I was able to get a reversal off that.”
Compton started the third period in the down position and scored on another reversal with 51 seconds left for a 7-3 lead. Walls picked up a penalty point late to account for the final score.
Sandstrom places 4th
PHS senior River Sandstrom placed fourth in his final appearance with the Warriors. Unseeded going into state, he ended up defeating three opponents who were seeded.
“I just knew that since what happened last year, I’d come in as an underdog,” Sandstrom said, referring to his junior season when he ran into some tough luck at districts. “So I knew I’d have a first tough match.”
Sandstrom defeated sixth-seeded Aldo Duran of Baker-Powder Valley and followed up with a pin over third-seeded Leroy Mixon of Estacada to reach the semifinals.
“I just went out there and wanted it more than he did,” Sandstrom said about the win over Mixon. “I just outwrestled him … it was a pretty good feeling.”
Sandstrom stumbled in the 120 semifinals against La Grande junior Bragen Anderson, who entered seeded No. 2 and advanced to the championship match with a pin in 5:35.
But Sandstrom regrouped and pulled out an 8-3 decision over Tillamook freshman and No. 8 seed Brody Mooney in the consolation semifinals.
The match was scoreless until early in the third period when Mooney went up 1-0 on an escape. Just 10 seconds later, however, Sandstrom got a three-point takedown and a two-pint nearfall to take a 5-1 lead. Mooney picked up a couple of points on a penalty and an escape with 40 seconds left to set up a tense finish with Sandstrom clinging to a 5-3 lead. Sandstrom never relented and finished with a three-point takedown in the final seconds.
“I knew I had to pick up the pace and come back if I wanted to go for third and fourth,” Sandstrom said. “I dug deep and went as hard as I could.”
In the third-place match, Sandstrom faced Crook County senior Duke Wentzel, who had lost to eventual champion Jesse Landtroop of Sweet Home in the semifinals before taking a 9-0 major decision over senior teammate Justin England in the consolation semis.
Wentzel scored midway through the period with a takedown and the score remained 3-0 into the third period. Wentzel got an escape 25 seconds into the final period for a 4-0 lead and in the time that remained, Sandstrom had a couple of opportunities to possibly maneuver for a takedown but the opponent’s defensive moves held up. Sandstrom’s two points came on penalties and Wentzel ended up getting credit for a pin with 1 second remaining.
“It was a good match, it was a tough match,” Sandstrom said. “I just waited too long. I was on my heels in the first round, realized what I needed to do and it was just too late and I ran out of time.”
Sandstrom was understandably frustrated and felt like he could’ve done much better in the semifinal and third-place matches.
“I’m not happy with how it ended because I know that I should be in the finals,” he said. “I know I could have beaten (the opponent) in my last match but it is what it is and it’s all over now. I can’t be too hung up on it.”
Junior Liam Bennett, junior Lukas Hernandez and sophomore Odin Compton also qualified for state with the Warriors but weren’t able to make it through to the second day.
“With our three that didn’t place, when you take third or fourth in the region, it’s hard to get any type of a draw for state,” Woosley said. “All three of them had chances to win matches here.”
Bennett, wrestling at 165, 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.
Hernandez (138) and Compton (126) both lost two matches.
“It was good that Liam got a win,” Woosley said. “Lukas is close — he’s always close because it’s Lukas. Odin wrestled really good and got a lot of confidence … he’s been here now and that’s awesome (for the future).”
In the final team standings, Philomath finished in a tie for seventh with Marshfield, not a bad showing considering the number of wrestlers that competed. Crook County held on for the state title with Sweet Home finishing runner-up.
“I think the fact that we wrestled such a tough schedule this year, this was just another tournament,” Woosley said. “I think it is evident that because of that, they performed well. I mean, it was just another tournament. … I thought we could get four in the finals and by getting four in the semis yesterday, that dream was almost there.”
