Philomath High’s Riley Barrett and River Sandstrom both won their respective weight divisions and the wrestling team placed fourth among the 19 competing Friday at the Burton 5 Enterprises Invitational at Lebanon.
Two other PHS wrestlers reached championship matches but had to settle for runner-up — Porter Compton and Gradin Fairbanks.
Barrett, sophomore, improves to 25-0 on the season with his latest victories. He rolled in the championship match at 150 pounds with first-period pins over opponents from Pendleton, South Salem and Gresham. In the finals, Barrett worked a 7-2 win over Lebanon’s Seth Wynn.
Sandstrom defeated four opponents as well in his championship run at 113. After posting two wins on pins and another on a technical fall, the PHS junior met West Albany’s Owen Hoyt in the finals. The bout went the distance with Sandstrom taking it on a 6-1 decision.
Compton, sophomore, pinned four opponents to reach the 138-pound finale against Stayton’s Leonardo Michel. Compton lost on a pin in 1:25 and is now 25-2 on the season.
Fairbanks had a good run at 165 with victories over opponents from Lincoln, North Salem, West Albany and Tigard to reach the championship match. In the finale, Lebanon’s Zechariah Halsey was able to get a pin with 52 seconds left.
Junior JJ Lewis won four of five and placed third at 175. Lewis made the semifinals but lost to Lebanon’s Josiah Wynn on a 10-4 decision. Lewis regrouped to win the third-place match over Isaiah Cowles of Grants Pass on a pin in 3:40.
Junior Ryder Zitlau placed sixth at 157 with victories coming over Corvallis and Crescent Valley opponents. In the medal match, he lost on a pin to West Albany’s Luke Weinhold.
Sophomore Lake Mulberry placed sixth at 215 with wins over South Salem, Corvallis and Tigard opponents, the last one coming via ultimate tiebreaker. In the fifth-place match, he came up short against South Salem’s Maddox Santana on a 6-2 decision.
Several other PHS wrestlers performed well with freshman Odin Compton (120) winning four of five, sophomore Lukas Hernandez (126) winning three of four and sophomore Derick Kohn (215) winning three of four.
Sophomore Brayden Williams (126), freshman Wyatt Barrett (132) and junior Ari Hammond (144) each had three wins. Junior Cameron McConnell (144), sophomore Liam Bennett (150) and junior Brady Russell each had two wins.
Grants Pass won the invite with 228 points to beat out West Albany (213.5), Lebanon (207.5), Philomath (194.5) and South Salem (190).
The wrestling boys had been scheduled to compete Friday and Saturday at the Oregon Classic and the girls were supposed to head to the Nick Lutz Invitational in Florence but the trips were canceled because of the weather.
