The Cottage Grove Invitational Tournament on Jan. 25-26 gave Creswell Bulldog wrestlers their final test against opponents outside their own classification prior to the district tournament and girls’ state qualifier.
“The CGI is always a pretty tough tournament; from here on out, we’ll be wrestling only 3A teams,” said Coach Wayne Roberts, whose Bulldogs placed 16th of 27 teams — many from larger schools.
During the Boys’ Varsity Tournament on day one, Alex Metteer went 4-1 to place third at 120 pounds and Logan Johnson went 3-2 to place fourth at 145.
Metteer pinned Special District 2 rival Ethan Litson of Pleasant Hill in 2:25. “They’ve been going back and forth; this season it’s 2-1 in Alex’s favor,” Roberts said. “He’ll be one of Alex’s tougher state-qualifying opponents at districts.”
Johnson, currently ranked No. 2 in state at 145, pinned Skylar Peters of Pleasant Hill in 5:45. “That could potentially be a tough state-qualifying match,” Roberts said. “A lot of the highest-ranked wrestlers in state at 145 pounds are in our district alone.”
Also scoring for Creswell, Giovanni Vazquez went 2-2 at 120, Miguel Lopez went 1-2 at 120, Josiah Lee went 1-2 at 126, Carlie Prosser went 1-2 at 138 and Nick Kubishta went 2-2 at 152.
“We’re getting pretty close to our district seeding meetings,” Roberts said, noting that Creswell fielded multiple wrestlers at some weights during the CGI, and with the district tournament capped at two wrestlers per team, per weight class, the Bulldogs’ pile-up at some weights “could mean that we’ll have some kids who may not get to wrestle at districts, which is unfortunate.”
The Second Chance/JV Tournament on day two was organized into four-wrestler crab pools. For Creswell, Kubishta went 2-0 to win his 152-pound pool; Lee went 2-0 to win his 126-pound pool; Jurny Halvorson went 1-1 to place second in his 126-pound pool; Lopez went 1-1 to place second in his 120-pound pool; and Juan Bautista went 1-1 to place second in his 120-pound pool.
Hobbled by injuries, Creswell fielded just two wrestlers in the Girls’ Tournament. Julianne Kersgaard went 1-2 at 100 pounds and Guinevere Devore went 1-2 at 130 pounds.
On Jan. 31, the Bulldogs host a district dual meet, where the team’s two seniors, Hannah Bettis and Jaxson Wilkerson will be honored. “It should be a fun night,” Roberts said.
Looking ahead, the coach said he’s hopeful that some injured Bulldogs will be back on the mats for the Girls’ State Qualifier on Feb. 1 and 2 at Thurston and the District 2 Tournament on Feb. 15-16 at Pleasant Hill.
“We’ve had some major injury issues this season: concussions, knees, shoulders, ankles, elbows, but I think we’re coming out in February strong and should do fine,” Roberts said.
Girls’ state-qualifying hopes have been particularly high for Bettis and freshman Brielle Brick — both currently injured.
“We hope Hannah’s able to compete at districts and qualify for state that way, and we all think Brielle has a real chance to finish in the top four at state, because she’s been pretty dominant this season,” Roberts said.
