Crater boys, North Medford girls earn GP Winter Kickoff crowns

Published 11:51 am Sunday, December 22, 2024

Crater crowned seven champions to win half of the weight classes Saturday and earn the boys wrestling team title at the Grants Pass Winter Kickoff.

On the girls side, North Medford saw the Hall sisters post championship efforts and two others finish as runner-up to boost the Black Tornado to the girls wrestling team title.

Coming off a similarly dominant showing at the North Bend Coast Classic, Crater didn’t take a step backwards in finishing more than 100 points ahead of second-place Burns and nearly doubling up the team score of third-place Grants Pass.

Mike Diaz (113) got the hardware rolling for the Comets with his 11-8 decision over Liam Shepherd of Burns, and Philip Alger fell just shy of a technical fall at 126 with a 14-0 major decision over Philomath’s River Sandstrom.

Jeremiah Oliva (132) was able to clinch a 17-2 technical fall over Cottage Grove’s Jeffery Conklin before the pins started dropping for Crater from Joey Hutchins (138), Jaret Hickey (144) and Jaxson Godley (157).

Ryland Walters picked up the final championship for the Comets at 175 with a hard-fought 1-0 decision over Colton Schaad of Del Norte.

For good measure, the Crater boys also had 13 finalists overall behind second-place outings from Brayden Martinez (106), Aidan Godley (150) and Travis Ege (215).

South Medford’s Bridger Foss (190) and Isa De La Torre (285) also kept up their winning ways by placing first for the Panthers. Foss won by an 11-1 major decision over Easton Kemper of Burns and De La Torre secured his own major decision at 12-3 over Peyton Stewart of Corning Union.

Heston Likens led North Medford by placing third at 165, while Jaxon DeVette of Eagle Point (106) led his team with a fourth-place showing and Conner Cunningham was the highest finisher for Phoenix after ending fourth at 113.

Skyler Hall made short work of Morgan Melton of Illinois Valley at 110 in the girls meet for North Medford with a championship fall in 51 seconds, while sister Sadie Hall pinned Arcata’s Lillian Afrida in 31 seconds.

Placing second for the Black Tornado girls were Lalaine Chan (170) and Alixia Hernandez (235), with Chan dropping a tough 9-6 decision to Amariz Meraz of Corning Union and Hernandez losing by fall to North Valley’s Breanna Meek in 3 minutes, 10 seconds.

North Medford totaled 129 points to edge Corning Union by 11 points for the girls team title, with Sutherlin (115) and Crater (109.5) not far behind.

Kira Diaz dominated her championship match at 100 pounds to propel Crater, scoring a 16-1 technical fall over Ember Nichols of Corning Union to wrap up a strong effort in Grants Pass.

Eagle Point’s Emma Lee also advanced to the finals at 130 but came up short following a pin by Henley’s Ava Eddy.

BOYS TEAM SCORES (Top 10): Crater 312, Burns 198.5, Grants Pass 159.5, South Medford 151.5, Del Norte 150, Philomath 128.5, McKinleyville 81, Cottage Grove 72, Crescent Valley 65.5, Modoc 60.5.

BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

106 — Jack Mulvahill, Crescent Valley, dec. Brayden Martinez, Crater, 3-1; 113 — Mike Diaz, Crater, dec. Liam Shepherd, Burns, 11-8; 120 — Chulhs Bates, Del Norte, major dec. River Sandstrom, Philomath, 10-2; 126 — Philip Alger, Crater, major dec. Peyton Wafer, Douglas, 14-0; 132 — Jeremiah Oliva, Crater, tech. fall Jeffery Conklin, Cottage Grove, 17-2.

138 — Joey Hutchins, Crater, pinned Canon Winn, Burns, 1:24; 144 — Jaret Hickey, Crater, pinned Carter Bengston, Cottage Grove, 4:47; 150 — Curtis Bartley, Del Norte, dec. Aidan Godley, Crater, 4-1; 157 — Jaxson Godley, Crater, pinned Riley Barrett, Philomath, 1:07.

165 — Owen Hull, Grants Pass, pinned Cannon Kemper, Burns, 2:49; 175 — Ryland Walters, Crater, dec. Colton Schaad, Del Norte, 1-0; 190 — Bridger Foss, South Medford, major dec. Easton Kemper, Burns, 11-1; 215 — Jacob Mann, Siuslaw, tech. fall Travis Ege, Crater, 18-3; 285 — Isa De La Torre, South Medford, major dec. Peyton Stewart, Corning Union, 12-3.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES (Top 10): North Medford 129, Corning Union 118, Sutherlin 115, Crater 109.5, Siuslaw 93.5, Eagle Point 87, Grants Pass 81, Arcata 80, Lakeview 80, Mazama 74.

GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

100 — Kira Diaz, Crater, tech. fall Ember Nichols, Corning Union, 16-1; 105 — Emilija Singleton, Sutherlin, pinned Jozy Clark, Illinois Valley, 1:04; 110 — Skyler Hall, North Medford, pinned Morgan Melton, Illinois Valley, :51; 115 — Riley Stubbs, Lakeview, major dec. Abby Riggs, Siuslaw, 17-9; 120 — Hadley Gunderson, Burns, dec. Macali Lade, Siuslaw, 2-1.

125 — Allison Palluck, Cottage Grove, pinned Kira Hunter, Sutherlin, 1:20; 130 — Ava Eddy, Henley, pinned Emma Lee, Eagle Point, :44; 135 — Shyla Sells, Mazama, pinned Keeley Guthrie, Sutherlin, 3:36; 140 — Sadie Hall, North Medford, pinned Lillian Afrida, Arcata, :31; 145 — Kaydence Johnson, Hidden Valley, pinned Danin Lacouture, Siuslaw, 3:37.

155 — Kaylianna Mazzucchi, North Bend, pinned Rory Bickmore, Arcata, 3:53; 170 — Amariz Meraz, Corning Union, dec. Lalaine Chan, North Medford, 9-6; 190 — Megan Weil, Burns, major dec. Sialafua Polamalu, Douglas, 10-0; 235 — Breanna Meek, North Valley, pinned Alixia Hernandez, North Medford, 3:10.

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