Lady Bulldog wrestlers continued to make waves – and a name for themselves in wrestling circles – by placing second in team standings during the Thurston Girls’ Tournament on Dec. 22.
Placing second was especially impressive because it came against girls’ wrestling powerhouses such as 4A Elmira – one of the first schools to build a strong girls’ wrestling team. Fielding just five wrestlers, Creswell finished second only to 5A Thurston, which fielded five times as many.
”To beat Elmira and to place second in a tournament like this is fantastic and speaks volumes for our girls,” said Creswell Head Coach Wayne Roberts. ”Our girls’ team is blazing a trail; they’re tough, they’re determined – and making these strides and bringing home trophies is only going to build excitement for our program and make other girls interested in joining the team.”
Hannah Bettis was undefeated (3-0) in winning her 110-pound bracket. ”She’s on a path, on a mission; she’s wrestling at a whole other level,” Roberts said. ”I’m really excited to see what she does; she could be our first girls’ state qualifier.”
Brielle Brick placed second at 140 pounds, losing only to Thurston’s Hallie Smith, who went to state last year.
”Brielle’s in the process of dropping weight to 135 and should be very tough there,” Roberts said.
Julianne Kersgaard placed second at 100 pounds, Guinevere DeVore placed third at 135 and Carley Wilkerson went 0-2 at 125.
”In her third-place match, Guinevere came back and beat the girl who kept her from going into the finals,” Roberts noted. ”What I’ve noticed is, our girls don’t give up. They’re coming back from five, six points down to win matches and beating people they’ve lost to before because they stay focused and keep wrestling tough, and all their hard work is paying off.”
During Thurston’s seven-team dual tournament, Creswell defeated North Eugene but lost to Tillamook, Elmira, Thurston and Springfield – all strong 4A and 5A schools. Creswell did not wrestle against Churchill.
”We were definitely the smallest school there, and we had so many kids out sick or on vacation with their families that we were able to fill just eight weight classes and had to forfeit a lot of matches,” Roberts said.
Against North Eugene, Miguel Lopez pinned Kyler McArthur in 3:43; Ayden Stubbs collected a forfeit at 138; Carlie Prosser pinned Kai Lindskog in 5:55; Logan Johnson pinned Ben Patterson in 1:04; Creswell forfeited at 160, 170, 182 and 195, and there was a double forfeit at 220; at 285, Corbin Allison was pinned by North Eugene’s Logan Kerr in 23 seconds; the Bulldogs forfeited again at 106; and Bettis collected a forfeit at 113.
Victory was decided in the final two weight classes: Creswell’s Juan Bautista, a first-year wrestler who normally wrestles JV and was competing in his first dual meet, went 3-2 at 120 pounds to tie Creswell with North Eugene. Jurny Halvorson then sealed the Bulldogs’ win by pinning his opponent in 3:02 at 126 pounds.
”Juan really stepped up – he was crushing it; very driven,” Roberts said. ”I see quite a bit of potential in him.”
During Thurston’s JV meet, Halvorson won his 126-to-132-pound bracket and Hugo Taura placed third in his 120-to-126-pound bracket.
Next up for the Bulldogs is the Elmira Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29.
”If we have our whole team and our team is healthy, we should be competitive there,” Roberts said.
