RECAPS
■ THURSTON: The Thurston Colts opened their 2025 wrestling season at the Kenny Cox Memorial Tournament last weekend. Here, to say the Colts crushed their competition might be an understatement. In total Thurston had 16 first-place finishes across the boys and girls side out of a possible 27. In particular, the boys won 10-of-14 of the weight classes while placing in both of the top two slots in five of them (106, 113, 120, 126, and 150).
■ SPRINGFIELD: The Millers competed in the Kenny Cox Memorial Tournament last weekend where they had one first place finisher in Haley Siders (130). This was Siders’ first school tournament since breaking her leg around this time last year, which forced her to end her season prematurely. Milo Whitebird (125) placed fourth for the Millers as well.
COTTAGE GROVE
■ Boys: The Lions boys opened their season with two meets last week. In the ladder meet, Cottage Grove had one first place finisher and four total placers. Jeffery Conklin (138) finished first in his division while Jayden Davis (165) took second in his. Braxton Nowak (215) took fourth in his weight class, and finally Ramon Munoz-Gonzales (285) took sixth in his.
■ Girls: The Lions girls competed in the Battle for the Capital on Saturday last week. Here, Cottage Grove had a wealth of placers despite none taking home first place. Boston Kent (140), Bailey Jones (140B), and Jaylee Tripp (120B) each placed second in their divisions. Bella Valencia (140B) and Emma Adair (130) both placed fourth while Summer Bell (125) and Taylor Blank (130) placed fifth. Olivia Basting (140B) placed sixth.
PLEASANT HILL
■ Boys: The Billies boys competed in the Perry Burlison Invitational on Saturday last week. Pleasant Hill had three boys place with Bryson Boyles (120) placing fifth, while both Dean Scott (113) and Ryder Swaim (285) placed sixth.
■ Girls: The Billies had three girls competing at the Deven Dawson Invitational on Friday last week. Despite the low number of competitors, all three placed with Zaira Duarte (130) placing first in her division.
PREVIEWS
THURSTON: The Colts compete in the Rose City Tournament in Westview this Friday and Saturday. Competing alongside them will be Aloha, Beaverton, Bend, Cascade, Cleveland, McMinnville, Mountain View, Newberg, Riverside, West Linn/Wilsonville, Sprague, Sunset, and Westview. Thurston has started the season strong, with wrestlers placing first in 10-of-14 weight classes on the boys’ side and in 6-of-13 for the girls in their first meet at the Kenny Cox Memorial Tournament. For the girls, look for the 105-weight class in Westview, as Thurston had both of the top two placers in this group at its first meet (Mya Arciga and Alexia Ripka, respectively). Similarly, the Thurston boys had both of the top two placers in five separate weight classes (106, 113, 120, 126, and 150).
SPRINGFIELD: The Millers will compete in the Warrior Classic in Philomath on Friday, Dec. 12. The other teams competing will be Crescent Valley, Dayton, Gilchrist, Junction City, Mohawk, Molalla, Philomath, and Tillamook. Springfield had one first-place finisher in its first match last week – sophomore Haley Siders (130). Siders broke her leg around this time last season, which ended her season prematurely.
COTTAGE GROVE: The Lions boys and girls teams will compete in the Coast Classic on Friday, Dec. 12, and Saturday, Dec. 13, in North Bend. Cottage Grove will compete against Ashland, Brookings-Harbor, Coquille, Douglas, Eagle Point, Elmira, Forest Grove, Gold Beach, Grants Pass, Harrisburg, Hidden Valley, Lowell, Marshfield, Mountainside, Newport, North Bend, North Marion, North Medford, Roseburg, Sheldon, Siuslaw/Mapleton, South Umpqua, Stayton, and West Salem. Look for Jeffery Conklin (138), who placed first in the Adrian Irwin Invitational for his weight class last week. On the girls’ side, look for Boston Kent (140), Bailey Jones (140), and Jaylee Tripp (120), who each placed second in their divisions last week.
CRESWELL: The Bulldogs open their 2025 wrestling season at the Siuslaw Kickoff Duals in Siuslaw on Wednesday, Dec. 10. Competing here alongside Creswell will be Cottage Grove, Pleasant Hill, and Siuslaw/Mapleton. Some names to watch in this one for Creswell are Coleman Breslaw (So., 132) and Paige Ledgerwood (Sr., 115) – both qualified for state last season, with Breslaw just missing out on a placement there.
PLEASANT HILL: The Billies face off at the Culver Invitational at Culver High School in their fourth match of the season on Friday, Dec. 12 and Saturday, Dec. 13. Facing off against Pleasant Hill will be Caldera, Camas Valley, Culver, Glide, Heppner, Illinois Valley, La Pine, Madras, North Lake, Rainier, Regis, Summit, Sutherlin, The Dalles / Dufur, Toledo, and Weston-McEwen. The Billies had three placers at the Perry Burlison Invitational last week, with Bryson Boyles (120) placing 5th. Over the weekend, Pleasant Hill will try to increase the number of placers and hopes to beat Boyles’ previous placement with new competition.
