Philomath High School’s wrestling team will host the Benton County Championships Thursday with Corvallis, Crescent Valley, Monroe and Santiam Christian joining the Warriors.
Coach Troy Woosley said the meet is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. in the high school gym. There will be brackets for both male and female wrestlers.
For Philomath, two-time defending state champion Riley Barrett does not expect to wrestle, Woosley confirmed. Barrett, who has seen limited action this season due to injury, hopes to be back for the Oregon Wrestling Classic on Jan. 16-17 at Redmond. He currently has a 9-0 record.
Senior Derick Kohn will be hoping to continue the level of success he’s seen so far this season. Kohn, who most often competes at 215 pounds, has an 18-4 record. Senior Porter Compton, a state runner-up last year who has competed at both 157 and 165 this season, has a 17-5 record. Another senior and state champion a year ago, Lake Mulberry, has a 16-6 record mostly at 190. Senior Lukas Hernandez at 144 brings in a 12-8 record.
For the girls, freshman Makinsey Harrington has a 13-6 record with matches at 135 and 140. Sophomore Sarah Robertson has competed at 125 and 130 and compiled a 9-5 record.
The Benton County Championships date back to the 1999-2000 season. Corvallis dominated in the early years by winning the tournament’s first-place trophy over the first eight years. Philomath broke that streak and then won three straight titles. In all, Corvallis leads with 10 titles, followed by Philomath’s eight. Crescent Valley has won four times, Monroe twice and Santiam Christian once, which occurred last season.
The tournament’s venue used to rotate among the county’s high schools but this year’s competition will be the fifth straight at Philomath.
Warriors in a very tough stretch
The Philomath High girls basketball team has certainly been battle tested so far this season. Outside of our area, those who only glance at win-loss records might be shocked that the Warriors are sitting at 6-6. However, you soon realize that the competition needs to be considered.
Philomath has played six games against 5A opponents (twice vs. the same school) and has a 3-3 record in those games. The losses came to No. 1 South Albany and twice to No. 3 Crater. The Warriors beat 5A’s No. 5 team, West Albany.
The team’s participation in a tournament in Huntington Beach, California, proved to be a challenge. Philomath lost three of its four games down there, but the competition looked pretty tough. The four California opponents combined have a 51-21 record (as of Wednesday). It’s difficult to offer any type of analysis on the quality of those teams but let’s just say the average enrollment of the schools that Philomath played comes in at around 1,400 — the largest being over 2,500.
By the way, Philomath is unbeaten in games against 4A opponents with wins over No. 7 Marist Catholic and a few weeks ago at Junction City.
In the latest OSAAtoday coaches poll, Stayton was ranked No. 1 and Baker edged ahead of Philomath for No. 2 with the Warriors now sitting at No. 3. As you may know, polls mean very little in the overall scheme of things but provide a degree of insight into what teams coaches believe are the strongest. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Warriors were sitting at No. 4 in the OSAA power rankings.
The schedule lightens up a little over the next few games but not much. On Jan. 13, the team will host Sutherlin, which is currently ranked No. 7 in Class 3A. The Warriors will also play at home on Jan. 17 against Silverton, yet another 5A opponent that appears to have a capable squad (and was ranked earlier in the coaches poll).
League games begin Jan. 20 at home vs. Sweet Home.
Conference play 2 weeks away
Philomath High’s boys have also played a difficult schedule with losses to a pair of ranked Class 5A teams. The Warriors are 3-3 against Class 4A foes so far this season but two of those victories came over quality opponents and the team has shown signs of improvement in recent games.
In a preseason interview, veteran coach Blake Ecker projected his team as a contender for first place in the Oregon West Conference. Those games don’t get started until Jan. 20 at home against Sweet Home. In the meantime, the Warriors will play two more nonleague games with a Jan. 10 trip to Astoria and a Jan. 13 game at home vs. Gladstone.
Newport appears to be the top team in the league right now with an 8-1 record. The Cubs are ranked No. 2 in the latest OSAAtoday coaches poll. It makes you wonder if the league title could come down to the final regular-season game on Feb. 24 when the Warriors travel to the coast. But, there’s a lot of basketball to be played before that date arrives.
The Warriors have defeated two schools that are ranked in the top 10 of the coaches poll — No. 9 Junction City (52-49 on Dec. 23) and No. 10 Marist Catholic (49-38 on Dec. 9). Philomath’s last two losses have come away from home against top five teams — No. 5 Marshfield (81-69 on Dec. 27) and No. 1 Scappoose (65-60 on Dec. 28).
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).