The Philomath High School wrestling team won four of six duals and 65% of individual matches Friday and Saturday at the Oregon Classic in Redmond.
Junior Porter Compton, junior Riley Barrett, senior JJ Lewis and junior Lake Mulberry won all of their matches. Senior River Sandstrom and junior Derick Kohn won all but one of their matches at the massive tournament, which featured divisions in all classes at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center.
The Warriors dropped two duals in their pool on the first day with losses of 38-36 to Scappoose and 51-25 to Crook County. Philomath finished strong however and posted victories over Baker (55-18), Hidden Valley (35-28), Estacada (48-24) and Molalla (45-36).
Compton at 144 pounds dominated five of his six opponents. His most competitive match occurred against Hidden Valley’s Chase Brumble in what ended as a 7-6 decision. It was the second time this season that Compton had defeated Brumble — the first a 13-7 decision in the season-opening tournament. Compton’s other wins came on three technical falls and two pins.
Barrett won four of his five matches at 150 pounds on first-period pins. The other victory came in a dominating 15-0 technical fall. Molalla did not put anyone on the mat against him. Barrett remains unbeaten this season against 4A opponents.
At 175 pounds, Lewis had four first-period pins and an 18-2 technical fall. Against Estacada’s Turner Jackson, Lewis worked for a 16-11 decision. Against 4A opponents this season, Lewis hasn’t lost since Dec. 7.
Mulberry’s tournament also featured six victories — five at 215 pounds and one at 285. Two of his matches came down to the wire with a 4-2 decision over Hidden Valley’s Mitchell Quist at 215 and a 4-2 decision over Molalla’s Gabriel Nunn at 285. Mulberry’s other wins came on three pins and a major decision.
Sandstrom at 120 and Kohn at 285 and 215 also had exceptional performances for the Warriors. Sandstrom went 4-1 with the loss coming on a tough 3-1 decision to Crook County’s Duke Wentzel. His wins came on two pins, a major decision and a technical fall. Kohn’s loss was against Hidden Valley’s Ty Bradbury and his wins came on two pins (one of those at 215), a major decision and a technical fall.
Junior Liam Bennett had a strong finish and ended up winning four of his six matches at 165. Five other wrestlers posted victories at the tournament — junior Brayden Williams (132), senior Ryder Zitlau (157), sophomore Odin Compton (126), junior Lukas Hernandez (138) and sophomore Wyatt Barrett (138).
Overall, Philomath wrestlers went 42-23 on the mat.
Philomath’s next action is scheduled for Jan. 24-25 at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions at Sherwood High School.
PHS girls at Nick Lutz tourney
Sophomore Alexis Pettit placed fourth at 100 pounds in Philomath High’s Friday appearance in the Nick Lutz Memorial Tournament at Siuslaw High in Florence. Pettit lost on a pin in 4:22 in the third-place match against Junction City’s Abigail Hernandez-Rojas. She had advanced after posting a victory by pin in 5:55 over Newport’s Avery Sutton.
The Warriors also sent a handful of boys to the Nick Lutz junior varsity tournament.
