Local wrestlers shine in the spotlight during 6A/5A girls district
Published 4:02 pm Sunday, February 23, 2025
North Medford senior Sadie Hall, left, battles Eagle Point sophomore Emma Lee during the 6A/5A District 4 girls wrestling championships Saturday in Eugene.
North Medford senior Sadie Hall, left, battles Eagle Point sophomore Emma Lee during the 6A/5A District 4 girls wrestling championships Saturday in Eugene.
Crater junior Abby Samitore, top, scores back points against North Eugene's Keana Lopez during the 6A/5A District 4 girls wrestling championships Saturday in Eugene. Photo by Kim Samitore
Crater sophomore Amari Meilicke, left, battles Redmond's Emersyn Fancher during the 6A/5A District 4 girls wrestling championships Saturday in Eugene. Photo by Kim Samitore
Crater freshman Audrey Robinson, right, battles Thurston's Gracie Buergey during the 6A/5A District 4 girls wrestling championships Saturday in Eugene. Photo by Kim Samitore
Crater qualified six of its eight wrestlers Saturday for the upcoming Class 6A/5A girls wrestling state tournament in Portland. Photo by Kim Samitore
North Medford, South Medford each crown 2 champions; Crater qualifies 6 for state
North Medford and South Medford each had two wrestlers earn individual championships, while Eagle Point and Ashland had one apiece to highlight a strong local showing at the Class 6A/5A District 4 girls wrestling championships Saturday in Eugene.
Crater wasn’t able to crown any champions but led the local area in state qualifiers, with six of its eight wrestlers advancing thanks to top-four finishes at North Eugene High.
Reigning state champions Skyler Hall and Sadie Hall of North Medford each placed first at 105 pounds and 130 pounds, respectively, to help the Black Tornado finish fourth overall in the team standings.
Skyler Hall, a junior, steamrolled through her bracket before registering a pin in 1 minute, 5 seconds over Redmond’s Gemma Delance in the finals. Senior sister Sadie Hall was equally dominant at 130, pinning Eagle Point sophomore Emma Lee in 2:22 to earn the championship.
Alixia Hernandez, who was runner-up at last year’s state tournament, finished second at 190 after losing 5-1 to Thurston’s Izabella Castlebery in the finals to help round out North Medford’s state qualifiers.
South Medford sophomores Jamie Baldwin (110) and Mia Nicasio (235) also secured district championships, while the program’s first state placer from a year ago — junior Leilarose Calva — finished fourth at 170 to earn her third trip to state.
Baldwin pinned Redmond’s Ryah Johns in 3:04, while Nicasio pinned Thurston’s Katiry Day in 37 seconds and Crater senior Katelyn Klingler in 2:39 in a round-robin setup for the 235 weight class. The Panther duo became the first district champions in program history.
Eagle Point junior Emily Fitzgerald (155) earned a district crown with a 32-second fall over Thurston’s Emily Zerr in the finals. Along with the runner-up Lee, Eagles freshman Bella McFall also advanced to state by placing fourth at 120 to help Eagle Point finish sixth in the team standings.
Ashland junior Sage Thatcher authored a championship effort at 170 after upsetting the top-seeded Calva in the semifinals with a pin in 5:48. Thatcher then scored a 10-6 decision over Jade McGowan of Grants Pass in the finals.
The Grizzlies also saw sophomore Lilly Dominguez take third at 125.
Klingler’s runner-up showing was the highest finish for Crater, and was secured thanks to a pin over Day in 3:30 in the 235 bracket.
Crater freshman Audrey Robinson (135) and sophomore Amari Meilicke (140) each placed third, while fourth-place finishes by junior Abby Samitore (105), freshman Hailey Pygman (110) and sophomore Erica Lease (145) allowed the Comets to finish fifth in the team standings — just two points behind North Medford.
Thurston earned the team title with 270.5 points, followed by Redmond (231.5), Grants Pass (114), North Medford (102), Crater (100) and Eagle Point (90.5). South Medford was eighth with 87.5 points.
GIRLS TEAM SCORES: Thurston 270.5, Redmond 231.5, Grants Pass 114, North Medford 102, Crater 100, Eagle Point 90.5, Ridgeview 89.5, South Medford 87.5, Caldera 79, North Eugene 67, Bend 58, Ashland 46.5, Willamette 42, Mountain View 38.5, Springfield 37, Summit 25, Roseburg 19, Sheldon 3, Churchill 0, South Eugene 0.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
100 — Eily Asher, Thurston, pinned Madalyn Ladd, Summit, 1:26; 105 — Skyler Hall, North Medford, pinned Gemma DeLance, Redmond, 1:05; 110 — Jamie Baldwin, South Medford, pinned Ryah Johns, Redmond, 3:04; 115 — Teagan Merritt, Thurston, pinned Isabelle Copeland, Ridgeview, 1:17; 120 — Mia Pedersen, Redmond, pinned Reese Isabell, Grants Pass, 3:40.
125 — Joey Dean, Caldera, pinned Nova Danzig, Ridgeview, 2:16; 130 — Sadie Hall, North Medford, pinned Emma Lee, Eagle Point, 2:22; 135 — Reina Barnes-Rubio, Redmond, dec. Alana Troullier, Mountain View, SV-1 4-1; 140 — Kristal Zamora, Thurston, pinned JaydaRae Nance, Redmond, 1:57.
145 — MacKenzie Shearon, Redmond, pinned Karlie Yaroma, Thurston, 1:13; 155 — Emily Fitzgerald, Eagle Point, pinned Emily Zerr, Thurston, :32; 170 — Sage Thatcher, Ashland, dec. Jade McGowan, Grants Pass, 10-6; 190 — Izabella Castlebery, Thurston, dec. Alixia Hernandez, North Medford, 5-1; 235 — Mia Nicasio, South Medford, pinned Katelyn Klingler, Crater, 2:39.
THIRD-PLACE FINALS
100 — Sara Pipinich, Caldera, pinned Faith Gray, Redmond, :30; 105 — Joselyn Jaimes, Ridgeview, pinned Abby Samitore, Crater, 5:00; 110 — Rosalina Montes, Thurston, pinned Hailey Pygman, Crater, 1:45; 115 — Valerie Bowman, Bend, pinned Shamayil Alotaibi, Mountain View, 3:24; 120 — Malakaya Ottow, Bend, pinned Bella McFall, Eagle Point, 1:38.
125 — Lilly Dominguez, Ashland, pinned Emerson Turner, Thurston, 2:51; 130 — Henley Mayfield, Redmond, pinned Mariana Santiago, Willamette, 1:12; 135 — Audrey Robinson, Crater, pinned Gracie Buergey, Thurston, :29; 140 — Amari Meilicke, Crater, dec. Emersyn Fancher, Redmond, SV-1 12-9.
145 — Molly Hutchens, Thurston, pinned Erica Lease, Crater, 2:13; 155 — Kendra Johnston, Grants Pass, pinned Juno Trudell, North Eugene, 1:07; 170 — Abbie Hock, North Eugene, dec. Leilarose Calva, South Medford, 4-0; 190 — Jaiden Campbell, Roseburg, pinned Sophia Ruelas, Grants Pass, 2:43; 235 — Katelyn Klingler, Crater, pinned Katiry Day, Thurston, 3:30.
Boys Wrestling
CLASS 4A DISTRICT 3: At Klamath Falls, Conner Cunningham of Phoenix placed second at 106 pounds to highlight four top-four efforts by the Pirates in the state qualifier.
Cunningham advanced to the semifinals with two byes before scoring a 16-0 technical fall over Henley’s Jace Shearer. In the championship final, Cunningham fell just short after Marshfield’s Garron Castro won 10-9.
Tanner Schuh placed fourth at 126, and Phoenix captured fourth with a pair of wrestleback wins by Caden Cunningham (138) and Makis Bever (165), who each won by fall.
BOYS TEAM SCORES: Marshfield 335, Mazama 281, Hidden Valley 270.5, Henley 201, North Bend 160, Phoenix 114.5, Klamath Union 77.
CLASS 3A DISTRICT 3: At Coquille, Cascade Christian’s Ronald Minard finished runner-up at 190 pounds and Rogue RIver had two third-place finishers in Lucas Gunn (165) and Gianni Gervasi (120) to lead the local effort.
Minard earned three first-period pins before losing by fall in 1:07 to North Valley’s Ryan Gaskin in the championship final.
Gunn pinned teammate Eldon Ivison in the third-place match in 1:17, while Gervasi won by disqualification over South Umpqua’s Sabian Stanturf.
Aaron Emmel also reached the third-place final for Rogue River at 113, but lost 4-3 to Sutherlin’s Christian Lee.
BOYS TEAM SCORES: Pleasant Hill 250, Coquille 212, Sutherlin 209.5, South Umpqua 173.5, Douglas 155.5, North Valley 144.5, Glide 126, Lakeview 123.5, Rogue River 99.5, Cascade Christian 53.5, Brookings-Harbor 45.5.
