The Tillamook High Cheesemakers boys’ and girls’ wrestling teams capped a very successful season with a total of 18 athletes competing in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union Class 4A state tournament February 22-23 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
The Cheesemakers, guided by Head Coach Rex Metcalf and assistant coaches Christian Mata and Courtney King, had a total of five grapplers who earned prestigious top-five, medal winning podium finishes. Jak Hopkes (2nd place), Bryce Haltiner (2nd place), Chance Fletcher (5th place), Addison Josi (4th place) and Faliscity Murphy Snider (4th place) each had an outstanding performance at the tournament.
“It went okay, but it wasn’t what we wanted and we were hoping for better results,” said Mata, a 2016 Tillamook High graduate who was on the Mooks wrestling team who took second place at state his senior year. “It was pretty cool that we had two girls place fourth. The girls’ wrestling program is kind of growing and we had four that qualified for state, which was really good.”
Hopkes won three-of-four matches in the 120 pound weight classification to get second. Hopkes (33-5 record) won his first match by fall over Demitrius Mavola of North Bend. He followed with a win by decision (11-4) over Dillan Davis of Sweet Home in the quarterfinals and a close 6-2 semi win over Aldo Duran of Baker. Hopkes lost by fall to state champion Kyle Sieminski (54-3) in the first-place match. Hopkes a junior and the defending state champion, reached the state tournament for a second straight year.
Haltiner won three straight matches by fall to reach the championship in the 113-pound division. He won his first match over Riley Vaughan of Sweet Home, followed by a quarterfinal win over Tanner Schuh of Phoenix and a semi win over Henry Bankhead of North Marion. Haltiner then faced Skyler Sutton of Cascade in the first-place match and he lost a close one by a 5-0 decision to get second. Haltiner, a senior, concluded the season with an impressive 34-4 record and capped his career as a four-time state tournament placer.
Fletcher (32-7) won four-out-of-six matches to get fifth in the 132-pound weight class. He won his opening match by fall over Cole Roy of Pendleton, followed by an 11-4 quarterfinal loss to Alberto Flores of Crook County. Fletcher came back and won two consolation bracket matches both by fall over Lukas Hernandez of Philomath and Braden Slocum of Junction City. Fletcher lost a close battle by a 4-0 decision in the consolation semis to Mason Wolcott of La Grande, followed by another close match with a 6-4 win by decision over Roy to earn the fifth-place medal.
Josi and Snider both took fourth place in girls ‘competition. Josi won two-out-of-four matches in the 170-pound division. Following a bye in the opening round, Josi won her quarterfinal match in a 6-4 sudden victory over June Highburger of Elmira. She followed with a semifinal loss by fall to Evelyn Wirfs of Cascade. Josi then won a consolation semi match by fall over Joie Wernegreen of Hidden Valley. Josi, a sophomore, advanced to the third-place match, where she lost by fall to Maddy Armstrong of Lagrande, to earn a fourth-place medal winning podium position in her first state tournament appearance.
Snider, a senior, won three-of-five matches in the 140-pound division to get fourth. She won her first two matches by fall over Samantha Starr of Colton and followed with a quarterfinal win over Danin Lacouture of Siuslaw. Murphy-Snider then won a semi match by fall to Ava Collins of Vale and then she won by technical fall over Aurianna Van Houten of Oakland in the consolation semis. Snider then earned the fourth-place medal after a loss by fall to Quincev Ludvia of Lakeview in the third-place match.
Tillamook grapplers who each won boys’ matches at the tournament included junior Zavarta Anderson (126 lbs.), junior David Weathers (138), sophomore Jonathan Depas (190), junior Koi Smith (190), senior Kenneth Lopez (285) and freshman Clayton Petty (285). Freshman Damian Kiser (106), sophomore Jakoby Goss (120), freshman Ezekial Show (126), junior Lucas Robertson (144) and junior Jonathen Torres (175) wrestled at the state tourney and they each lost both of their matches. Kiser finished with an 11-4 record, Goss finished 12-11, Show had a 7-6 mark, Torres had an overall record of 11-22 and Robertson finished at 17-23.
Anderson won one-of-three matches and had an overall record this season of 14-12. Weathers won one-out-of-three matches and he finished with a record of 26-15. Depas won one-out-of-three and he fnished the year at 11-11. Smith won two and lost two and he concludes the season at 22-15. Lopez won one-out-of-three and he finished at 19-6 overall. Petty won one-of-three matches to finish the season at 11-11. The boys team notched a total of 82 points.
“We have plans for our kids to continue competing throughout the spring and the summer,” said Mata. “We’ve noticed that sometimes these kids don’t do a lot during the offseason, so when wrestling season starts up again in the winter, it just seems like we’re kind of starting all over from the beginning again. We’re trying to get the kids more involved in the offseason just to keep them wrestling, which would be better for them.”
Senior Shayla Hillstrom competed in the tournament for the first time ever and she won one-of-three matches in the girls 130-pound division, including a win over Kaydence Johnson of Hidden Valley by a close 11-10 decision. Freshman Jessica Brown (235) also competed for the Mooks girls’ squad and she lost both matches. The girls squad scored a total of 27.5 points.
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