South Medford sophomore Bridger Foss, right, tangles with West Linn's Henry Dillingham during the Class 6A state championship match at 152 pounds.

Bridger Foss needed a little convincing from his South Medford wrestling coach to even use part of his summer to test his skills against his peers on the mat.

A state runner-up at the Class 6A tournament in February for the Panthers, Foss was always going to tinker around with his training while also making sure to hit his football team workouts in the offseason — but trying his luck in first-ever freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions wasn’t high on his priority list.

Fortunately, South Medford head coach James Schumack was able to talk the junior-to-be into testing the waters on a larger scale, and Foss proved naturally talented enough to pass that test with flying colors.

The 16-year-old standout capped off an eye-opening summer this past weekend by becoming only the third Fargo All-American for South Medford after placing seventh at 170 pounds in the 16U division of the Greco-Roman National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota.

Foss, who won regional and state freestyle titles earlier this summer, wound up going 1-2 with a pair of narrow defeats in the 16U national championships also in Fargo.

“It took a little talking to him just to get him to continue to wrestle through the summer,” said Schumack. “My thought was that he belonged there, but you never really know that until you go out there.”

“That (Fargo) tournament, it’s the next level,” he added. “You might have a feeling that a kid might be on that next level and you send them out there and you find out they’re a ways away from it, but I’m glad that he kind of proved that’s where he belonged.”

Foss competed as part of Team Oregon with the Oregon Wrestling Association in North Dakota, and was one of only four wrestlers from Oregon — male or female at any age — to earn a podium spot in the freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments combined.

He was Oregon’s lone 16U placer at either style, which was not too shabby for someone competing for only the second tournament in those wrestling specialties.

“It was pretty fun,” Foss said of his experience. “I learned a heckuva lot there. I mainly just learned how to wrestle freestyle and Greco while I was there. I learned all of the scoring and all of the rules, and I got to meet a lot of the better wrestlers around Oregon and from other states.”

After finishing just shy of his goal to become South Medford’s first state champion in 23 years in February — Foss was ahead in the state final until the final seconds to wrap up his sophomore high school campaign at 41-2 — the up-and-coming Panther had already sealed his fate as one to watch in the state.

Taking things up a notch to the national level, he didn’t flinch.

“I think part of the reason why he’s done so well in these big tournaments is because he doesn’t really get shook,” said Schumack, who watched Foss compete here in Medford through FloWrestling. “This is only the second Greco tournament the kid has ever wrestled, and he’s barely even started wrestling freestyle. So he’s going out there and he’s not overthinking anything, he’s kind of just going out and wrestling. The ability is there, I think we’re just touching the surface of what he’s really capable of doing.”

Foss beat the Missouri state champion in freestyle before dropping close matches, 8-7 and 4-4 on criteria, to opponents from Pennsylvania and Michigan.

“It was a pretty good group of wrestlers all in the bracket,” said Foss. “I felt like I was right up there with them, but just a lack of the experience in that type of style, I couldn’t quite put the pieces together. But I knew enough to keep up with them.”

“I just kind of went out there and almost just did what the coaches were telling me to do as I was wrestling,” he added. “I think I had the background of wrestling for it to work well enough. I kind of just got out there and got after it.”

When the shift was made to Greco-Roman wrestling, it was more of the same for Foss — albeit with more victories to enjoy in a unique format that forbids holds below the waist and puts an emphasis on throws. Wrestlers cannot use trips to bring an opponent to the ground or hook/grab the opponent’s leg to avoid being thrown.

“It was definitely something to learn Greco, especially on the fly and in the short amount of time I had practicing and stuff,” said Foss.

The style basics, however, also allowed for Foss to feel a little more comfortable than when competing in freestyle.

“It took away a lot that I had to think about,” he said. “Especially with me being so new with Greco, it was just simplified a little bit so I think I wasn’t so overwhelmed.”

Foss opened his Greco tourney with 15-4 wins over Wisconsin’s Ryder Zdanczewicz and Gavin Craner of Michigan, who placed fifth in the freestyle tourney.

“After winning that second match, that was the point I realized I could potentially do good in the tournament,” said Foss. “My confidence definitely built up as I was winning matches and kind of learning how to wrestle at the same time.”

Foss won 8-4 over Ohio’s Jonathan Sims to reach the quarterfinals, then ran into some tough luck against Iowa champion Broedy Collins Hendricks down the stretch to fall 18-9. The quarterfinal was tied at 9-all around the midpoint of the match as the two wrestled on the elevated main mat before Collins Hendricks benefitted from a pair of close calls to separate in the end.

The match included a challenge and a review by the head table, which didn’t go Foss’ way, and that left him trying for a Hail Mary move in the waning seconds that didn’t pan out. Collins Hendricks went on to finish as national runner-up.

Foss said he took the loss in stride.

“I was kind of easy on myself after that because I know that I’m not super experienced in it,” he said, “so I just kind of looked to the next match.”

To lock up All-American status — joining only Les Gutches and Jason Gutches in South Medford lore — Foss hit a big late throw in the blood round against Xavier Smith from Indiana to win on criteria in a 12-12 match.

“I was pretty excited that I pulled it off,” Foss said of clinching a podium spot.

The next round involved a rematch with Craner, who avenged his earlier loss to Foss with an 8-0 decision. Craner placed fourth in Greco and fifth in freestyle.

Foss then went out on a high note with an 8-3 win over Missouri’s Carter Brown to earn seventh place overall.

Foss gave special credit to Team Oregon coaches like Mathew Sprague and Evan Pogue for ushering him along in North Dakota.

“A lot of the coaches that came and put the Oregon team together, I could not have done it without them,” he said. “They helped me out a lot with me not knowing anything.”

Still, it was Foss out on the mat pulling big move after move to create such success.

“Even with the limited amount of freestyle and Greco,” said Schumack, “the kid’s going out there and hitting stuff that people have been training their whole life and they don’t even go out and hit throws like that.”

“He wasn’t real confident in the moves and everything to do, so I think he wasn’t even wrestling as hard as he’s able to wrestle,” added the coach. “I think once he actually learns the technique and gets more comfortable wrestling freestyle and Greco and is able to go out there with that confidence and really get after it, I think it’s gonna be real scary for a lot of other kids to wrestle him.”

For his part, the experience just added fuel to the fire to continue honing his skills on the mat after he’s done with the upcoming football season at South Medford, where he showed good potential at running back one year ago.

“I’ve had a few opportunities come up now in wrestling and I’m pretty excited that I still have two years left to prove myself,” said Foss, who had to cut 10 pounds to compete in Fargo. “I think the next year will be pretty exciting given that I fell short last year (at the state tournament) so I’ve got some hunger going into this next season.”

Wrestlers from Crater, Eagle Point, South Medford and North Medford competed during the national championships in North Dakota. Here are other results, with EP’s Pogue and Crater’s Denny Walters serving on the Team Oregon coaching staff:

Boys Wrestling

CRATER: Joey Hutchins, Junior 132: 1-2 FS, Did not wrestle GR; Jaret Hickey, 16U 138: 1-2 FS, 1-2 GR; Ryland Walters, 16U 126: 0-2 FS, 0-2 GR; Jaxon Godley, 16U 145: 1-2 FS, Did not wrestle GR; Travis Ege, 16U 182: 0-2 FS, 0-2 GR; Reagan Gowen, 16U 220: 1-2 FS, 0-2 GR.

EAGLE POINT: Gannon McNulty, 16U 138: 0-2 FS, 0-2 GR; Thomas Whipple, 16U 132: 0-2 FS, 0-2 GR; Gavin Pogue, 16U 152: 3-2 FS, 1-2 GR.

SOUTH MEDFORD: Isa De La Torre, 16U 220: 2-2 FS, 2-2 GR; Carson Alvarez, Junior 152: 0-2 FS, 0-2 GR, second place Beach Nationals; Vaughn Graff, 16U 106: 0-2 FS, 0-2 GR, second place Beach Nationals; Caleb Dalke, Junior 182: 0-2 FS, 0-2 GR.

Girls Wrestling

(Freestyle only)

EAGLE POINT: Alexis Penny, 16U 117: 0-2.

NORTH MEDFORD: Skyler Hall, 16U 106: 0-2; Sadie Hall, 16U 127: 2-2; Isabella Jaime, Junior 152: 0-2; Lalaine Chan, Junior 180: 0-2.