Cottage Grove and Thurston’s wrestling programs are both competitive, and they have made several notable changes.
Cottage Grove hired a new coach, Charlie Kent, who said he strives to hone and polish the Lions’ young team.
“We’re young this year,” Kent said. “Fifty-four kids on the team and only 18 returners, so we’re still building, but we aim to place in the top ten at State this year; it’s an interesting dynamic. We also have a super tough middle school team coming up and we’re looking for this group to set the tone for the future as those kids trickle in.”
Kent said that the influx of talent is due partly to the hard work of CG’s local wrestling club.
“Our community has a fantastic club team where the staff have been working hard for the past 5-6 years to build the program and so we’re seeing some of those first kids who started in 4th or 5th grade on the state podium now that they’re in high school,” Kent said.
Kent said he will still lean on the returning star power of Jeffrey Conklin (132), Carter Bengtson (144) and Allison Palluck (125). Palluck in particular is a returning state champion for the Lions and grabbed the title in the 2022-23 season. Kent emphasized how disappointing her injury was last season.
“Allison’s ’23 season was derailed by late injury and she couldn’t participate in the championship season,” Kent said. “One of her goals is to finish off her high school career with a state championship and she’s hungry after missing the opportunity last year.”
Meanwhile, Mike Simons’ powerhouse of a program at Thurston relies on leadership and seniority from his team. The Thurston girls’ program has won five team state championships in the past eight years and the boys’ team has won a state trophy in seven consecutive years.
“Our boys and girls teams have a 2024-25 goal of winning team state championships,” Simons said. “This has been our goal probably for the last five years with each team,” Simons said.
Thurston’s girls in the last two years were 2nd and 1st and the boys were 2nd twice at the OSAA state championships.
“We have a really good boys and girls senior class with many returning state placers. We are fairly deep at most weight classes which will help us throughout the season. I am excited to see our young wrestlers improve as well. When you have a good senior class the younger wrestlers develop quicker. There will be some great competition in our wrestling room this year to make the varsity lineup,” Simons said.
ALL STATE HONORS
VOLLEYBALL
CLASS 3A
FIRST TEAM
■ Cheyenne Green, OH, Sr., PHHS
■ Claire Crawford, S, Sr., PHHS
SECOND TEAM
■ Ruby Jackson, MB, Sr., PHHS
■ Emily Krauss, L, Sr., PHHS
HONORABLE MENTION
■ Piper Hanson, OH, So., CHS
BOYS SOCCER
CLASS 3A
SECOND TEAM
■ Matthew Jenkins, F, Jr., CHS
■ Deacon Edwards, GK, Sr., CHS
HONORABLE MENTION
■ Brady Pratt, M, Jr., CHS
CLASS 4A
FIRST TEAM
■ Armando Legorreta, F, Sr., CGHS
SECOND TEAM
■ Rogelio Soto-Cruz, M, Sr., CGHS
■ Hayes Valley, F, Sr., CGHS
CLASS 5A
FIRST TEAM
■ Tucker Fitzpatrick, F/M, Sr., THS
GIRLS SOCCER
CLASS 3A
FIRST TEAM
■ Mila Nguyen, F, So., CHS
■ Kenna Caldwell-Copeland, GK, Jr., PHHS
HONORABLE MENTION
■ Tessa Hammond, M, Sr., PHHS
■ Ellie Epperson, D, Sr., PHHS
CLASS 4A
SECOND TEAM
■ Brielle Engle, F, Jr., CGHS
CLASS 5A
FIRST TEAM
■ Macy Taylor, F, Sr., THS
CROSS COUNTRY
CLASS 4A
FIRST TEAM
■ Carter Bengtson, Sr., (2-time defending state champion)
SECOND TEAM
■ Ella Cardwell, Jr., CGHS
HONORABLE MENTION
■ Easton Hutchins, Sr., CGHS
CLASS 5A
SECOND TEAM
■ Carson Buergey, Jr., THS
