Leilarose Calva became the first girls wrestling state placer for South Medford with her fifth-place showing in Portland.

PORTLAND — Even without a title repeat, the North Medford girls wrestling team still got to add to its growing Hall of Fame, so to speak, at the Class 6A/5A state championships.

That’s Hall, as in sisters Skyler and Sadie Hall, and fame for the reputation the duo is gathering for continued success on the wrestling mat.

The Black Tornado sisters each secured individual state titles Saturday night at Memorial Coliseum to help soothe any bad feelings after North Medford was unable to defend its 6A/5A team title and wound up just outside of trophy position.

The two championship matches had striking similarities for the sisters that seemed like a written script, with both beating opponents that had bested them earlier in the year by matching 4-3 decisions.

First up, Skyler Hall — the returning 100-pound champion — squared off with Newberg’s Paisley Conway at 105 pounds. The two met in the finals of the Oregon Classic in January, where Conway prevailed with a pin.

But with Saturday’s match tied 2-all going into the final period, the sophomore Hall showed her finesse and IQ by getting two points with a near fall on Conway before strategically triggering a stalling violation to pull out the win.

“With wrestling, it’s not just about strength, it’s also a lot about strategy,” said Skyler Hall. “If I hadn’t stalled, I probably would have gotten reversed or she could have escaped and then it would have been even harder to win.”

The calculated gamble paid off to allow the younger Hall to join four-time winner Kyleigh Lopez (2016-19) as the only multiple state champions in program history.

And with Skyler Hall’s goal of joining Lopez in the four-time champion distinction, North Medford coach Tony Champion believes that she can do it, especially after recording three first-round pins leading up to the finals.

“I’m really super proud of her big performance all the way through the tournament,” said Champion. “She’s gonna be one of the greatest ever. The tournament is much stronger than it used to be, she overcame a lot today.”

Not much later in the tournament, Sadie Hall (130) came through with another clutch win to join her sister, Lopez and Estella Gutches (2023) on the short list of Black Tornado champions.

The elder Hall faced off against Kailea Takahashi of Forest Grove, who won by a 4-1 decision earlier this season at the Lady Dragon Invitational. But, when it mattered most, the junior pulled a reversal with 45 seconds left in the bout to secure a 4-3 decision and beat the reigning 125-pound champion.

That victory also remedied a problem that has lingered since last year, after she was the runner-up in a 4-1 decision to North Salem’s Mariko Sonis at 120 pounds.

“I had a lot of pressure,” said Sadie Hall. “I came up short of my goal last year, because my sister and I wanted it really badly.”

“I was down at the end of the match and I just found a way to push through,” she added. “I saw my coaches and they’ve known how hard I’ve worked for it, so I had to put in my part of the deal and I just found a way to gut it out and I was able to pull it off.”

Once the whistle was blown, it was obvious to see how special the moment was, as the Hall sisters could be seen taking photos with family, friends and teammates long after their matches.

That moment of ending the season together as champions validated the work that they have put in for the past year to make it happen.

“Her and I have been putting in more work than anyone,” said Skyler Hall. “I think we got what we deserved.”

Despite state titles from the Hall sisters, the Black Tornado finished just one spot shy of the podium in fifth place with 79 points.

Thurston had one individual champion and two second-place finishers to score 140.5 team points and secure the 6A/5A girls wrestling championship.

North Medford also had Isabella Jaime (145) finish in third place after she pinned Beaverton’s Gracie Boer in 2 minutes, 34 seconds.

The senior had a strong start on Friday, but fell in the semifinals to Ridgeview’s Kira Gregory in an 8-4 decision before she pinned Thurston’s Emily Zerr at 4:10 in the consolation semifinals.

Eagle Point junior Alixia Hernandez (190) suffered her first loss of the season in the championship finals to McNary’s Ali Martinez with a pin at 5:07. Hernandez had previously won 5-2 over David Douglas’ McKenzie Mills in the semifinals.

Crater junior Katelyn Klinger (235) placed second after she was pinned by Bianca Miranda of Liberty in the final match of the night.

South Medford’s Leilarose Calva (155) finished fifth to become the first-ever girls wrestler to place at state in school history.