Oakridge girls wrestling doesn’t need to guess if they’re good or not.
With four returning wrestlers who all made a state title bout last season, plus some more talent entering the program, the 2A Warriors know where they stand in the crowded 4A/3A/2A/1A field.
They are the preseason No. 3 team in the large classification, but what matters most is what they’re doing on the mat.
“We had one poll where we were No. 1 that came out a couple days ago,” Oakridge head coach Dan Nibblett said. “The polls are a guess. We’re not good guessers, we’re good wrestlers.”
The best of the bunch is senior Vanessa Keller who is going for her fourth state title this season, winning the first three at 100, 105 and 110 pounds.
Keller and North Medford’s Skylar Hall are technically looking to become the first four-time sanctioned state champions. West Linn’s Destiny Rodriguez is largely viewed as the first with an unsanctioned title in 2021 along with state crowns in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
For Keller, who opened up the year winning the Kenny Cox Memorial tournament at 115 on Dec. 6 at Churchill High School, it’s all about finding a way to win no matter what.
“Her nickname is ‘Champ,’” Nibblett said of Keller. “Vanessa is the champ. No matter what the situation is, she’ll find a way. She’s a once-in-a-generation athlete. I couldn’t be more thrilled. She was the softest, sweetest little girl and now she’s just a terror.”
Also returning alongside Keller is her younger sister in sophomore Victoria Keller, who Nibblett said has been breaking all of Vanessa’s old records.
Victoria Keller made it to the 120 final last season as a freshman before getting pinned in the title bout by Siuslaw/Mapleton senior Macali Lade.
Junior Emmalee Brissette returns after making the 115 final a year ago before dropping a 9-7 decision in the final, and senior Kali Williams is back after a runnerup finish at state at 130.
Junior Brianne Jones is another state qualifier returning at 170. She won her first match at state last year before falling, winning a consolation match and falling in the consolation quarterfinals.
“Last year, Kali Williams became the sixth girl in history to get 100 wins,” Nibblett said. “I’ve got four girls on the team who will earn that in the next year. We’re pretty proud to have that level, my core four have a 90% winning record.”
Joining Vanessa Keller atop the podium at the season-opening Kenny Cox tournament was that core four in Brissette at 120, Victoria Keller at 125 and Williams at 145.
The depth for the Warriors goes beyond that core four though with freshman Ellie Walters coming up to high school. She made the final of the Kenny Cox tournament at 120 before falling to her teammate in Brissette.
Another wrestler sure to make noise is junior Kayden Liberidhs in the 170 range. She won state titles growing up before high school, but took her freshman and sophomore years off as she recovered from a devastating knee injury she suffered playing football.
“(Liberidhs) is back at 170 and tougher than ever,” Nibblett said. “She’s a complete unknown to most of the state.”
Last year, the Warriors finished second in the team race to La Grande, falling just short with 92.5 points compared to the Tigers’ 98.
It’s quite the task for a school like Oakridge, with an enrollment just over 70, to try and take down a school with an enrollment a little bit above 400 like La Grande.
But with the love of the sport felt throughout the community, there’s no second guessing that the Warriors will be in contention come the end of February.
“That’s the beauty of this group, they started in USA Wrestling and there are no divisions,” Nibblett said. “Our kids have attained 52 state championships. They’ve been wrestling with that level coming up, so they don’t really think anything different.”
Tyrone S. Woods memorial (boys)
The preseason No. 1 Newberg boys wrestling squad took care of business in the Tyrone S. Woods Memorial held Dec. 6 at Oregon City High School.
The Tigers took first as a team with 227 points, followed by Camas (WA) in second with 177.5 and Redmond in third with 149.5. Other Oregon schools in the top 10 include Barlow in fourth (140.5), Aloha in sixth (125.5), Beaverton in seventh (119), McDaniel in eight (110.5), Hood River Valley in ninth (107) and Sprague in 10th (103).
Newberg came away with six individual winners in senior Hezekiah Worthington (113 pounds), junior Andres Mendoza (120), sophomore Jacob Jump (126), junior Hunter Hurl (132), junior Sawyer Keinonen (138) and senior Gavin Rangel (144).
The PIL had a solid performance getting two individual winners in Jefferson senior Titus Rodela at 165 and McDaniel senior Lucas McCall-Petke at 215. The Democrats also had senior Nicklas Blanco make the final at 175 via four pins before dropping the final by a 13-2 major decision.
Barlow and Aloha each had an individual champ in sophomore Layth Qouchbane for the Bruins at 190 and senior Noah Miner for the Warriors at 285.
Redmond also got an individual champ in junior Gannon McNulty who won five matches via two tech falls, two major decisions and a fall at 157 pounds.
Crater duals (boys)
A few of the state’s best teams competed in the eight-team Crater duals Dec. 5-6, hosted by the preseason 5A No. 1 Comets. Also in the field were 6A No. 2 West Linn, 6A No. 9 Grants Pass, 5A No. 6 Canby, 5A No. 7 Eagle Point and 2A/1A No. 1 Culver. North Medford and Shasta (CA) filled the last two spots.
The Comets were cooking on the mats, winning all seven duals rather easily, including a 60-9 victory over West Linn. Culver cave Crater its biggest test with the Comets only winning it 65-18.
West Linn still took second place with a 6-1 mark, including a good test from Grants Pass in a 45-36 win. Eagle Point recovered to take third thanks to three tight victories over Shasta (36-31), Canby (39-37) and Culver (39-36).
Canby took fourth, Culver took fifth, Shasta took sixth, Grants Pass took seventh and North Medford took eighth to round out the results.
Perry Burlison invite (boys)
Preseason 4A No. 1 Sweet Home was also in action at the Perry Burlison Invitational Dec. 6 at Cascade High School, along with other ranked opponents in 6A No. 6 Mountainside, 5A No. 1 Crook County, 5A No. 4 Dallas, 4A No. 4 Cascade, 4A No. 6 Philomath, 4A No. 8 Marshfield, 4A No. 10 Madras, 3A No. 5 Pleasant Hill, 2A/1A No. 2 Lowell and 2A/1A No. 8 Elgin.
However, the one out of state team took home the title in Soldotna (AK), finishing with 220 points to sneak by Sweet Home in second with 213. Crook County took third (164), Cascade finished fourth (118) and Dallas took fifth (115.5) to round out the top five.
The Huskies got three individual champs in junior Jesse Landtroop at 126, senior Tytus Hardee at 132 and senior Jeremiah Steagall at 190.
Crook County also put three on top of the podium with junior Casen Villastrigo at 113 and sophomore Alejandro Vargas at 120. Freshman Madden Sandoval was the big surprise at 144, taking down Sweet Home top seed Dillan Davis in the first round.
Lebanon also had multiple winners with senior Seth Wynn winning the 165 crown and Grady Cox taking the 175 title.
Mountainside saw sophomore Isaac Conner win at 150, Crescent Valley had junior Colton Hankey take the 138 title and Dallas placed sophomore Carson Langford in first at 215.
The two small schools also represented with Elgin freshman Lucas Fincher winning at 106 and Lowell senior David Finch taking the heavyweight title.
Kenny Cox (girls)
Preseason 6A/5A No. 1 Thurston dominated the Kenny Cox Memorial on Dec. 6 at Churchill High School, winning the team title with 311 points over 4A/3A/2A/1A No. 3 Oakridge in second with 146.
Rounding out the top five were Newport in third (82), North Eugene in fourth (80) and Willamette in fifth (66.5).
The Colts had individual winners in Mya Arciga at 105, Kaylee Hadden at 110, Kassidy Hadden at 135, Allison Cummings at 170 and Rylie Lynnes at 190.
Knife River Invitational (girls)
And the other preseason No. 1 in La Grande at the 4A/3A/2A/1A level competed in the Knife River Invitational on Dec. 6 at Scappoose High School.
The Tigers took home third place at the tournament, sitting behind 6A/5A No. 4 Crook County in first with 351.5 points and 6A/5A No. 2 Dallas in second with 246.5. La Grande had 214 points, followed by 4A/3A/2A/1A No. 7 Scappoose in fourth with 145 and Estacada in fifth with 85.
The Cowgirls had the most individual winners with six that include sophomore Chevelle Boynton (100), freshman Lauren Echeverria (115), sophomore Maylee Yancey (125), junior Jayde Pascuzzi (130), junior Taylor Echeverria and freshman Hazell Harris (145).
La Grande was next in placing atop the podium with four winners, including junior Carleigh Radke winning at 110, junior Avery Robinson winning at 120, sophomore Emmeline Livingston winning at 135 and senior Madison Armstrong taking the 190 crown.
Other winners include Dallas’ Marissa McGinnis at 105, Scappoose’s Alivia Abouchiani at 155, Hood River Valley’s Valeria Solorio Campos at 170 and Estacada’s Emma Stalcup at 235.
austinw@osaa.org
Subscribe
