Harrisburg head wrestling coach Desmond Bennett was born and raised in the town a few miles north of Eugene.
He’s been going to Eagles events for as long as he can remember, but nothing quite stands up to what the coach saw on Jan. 6 inside their home gym.
The 3A Eagles were able to get 6A No. 2 West Linn to take the trip down south for a dual. And the Lions were all over them to start, jumping out to a 14-0 lead through the first three wrestlers and then 20-5 after a Harrisburg forfeit at 132 pounds.
The Eagles were able to tie it up at 20 thanks to a pin from senior John Henderson at 138, a 7-1 decision for junior Trayson Truesdell at 144 and then a pin from junior Jackson Peterman at 150.
West Linn went back in front via back-to-back pins from Grayson Fabrycki at 157 and Maclain Culp at 165.
But that’s when the Eagles brought out the big boys to close out the dual.
Maverick Taylor won by major decision at 175, Leno Penaloza won via pin at 190, Henry Scheffel won by pin at 215 and senior Brody Buzzard closed it out with a fall at 285. All four are seniors, and they got the deciding victories on senior night in front of the home crowd.
Harrisburg took the dual 42-31 in front of a huge crowd that Bennett described as deafening at times and leading him to claim it was one of the biggest moments in Eagles’ athletics history.
“Sheldon’s not coming 20 minutes north to play us in football, baseball or basketball. We get the equivalent in wrestling,” Bennett said. “Team coming down from Portland, the No. 2 team in 6A, state champs three years ago. You get a chance to probably have the biggest win in our community’s history in our gym, there’s nothing that can compare to that for any other sport. The guys embraced that and wrestled hard all the way through.”
The Eagles, ranked No. 2 in the 3A OSAAtoday preseason coaches poll on the boys side, have had a long time to think about the 2025-2026 season.
Last season ended with a good amount of heartbreak, starting with then-senior Luke Cheek missing weight at districts and not getting a chance to go for a fourth state title.
At state, the Eagles took second as a team behind Burns and saw four out of their five finalists lose a title bout.
It was a similar feeling on the girls side where Harrisburg finished third in the 4A/3A/2A/1A race with two girls reaching the final only to come up just short.
“That was a rough night, we had seven in the finals and we had one champion,” Bennett said. “We lost a few that we were definitely favored in and we just made a mistake here or there and it snowballed from the beginning.
“The kids are motivated and they put in a lot of time in in the offseason.”
Of course, that lone champion is the senior Buzzard, who this year is going for his fourth crown. He would be the 44th wrestler to do it in state history and only the second ever from Harrisburg, joining Dax Bennett who accomplished it from 2016-2019.
This season, Buzzard has been working on his scrambling more and trying to fight through uncomfortable moments rather than giving up a takedown and working his way back up.
Buzzard, who attends Marist Catholic and competes for the Eagles wrestling team since the Spartans don’t offer the sport, is also a standout football player and plans to pursue the gridiron after high school.
However, there’s no one more committed to the grind and hard work it takes to pull off a four-peat in Bennett’s eyes.
“Right now he’s focusing on his scrambling…he’s a perfectionist, 4.0 student,” Bennett said. “I’ve never had a harder worker in 25 years of coaching, he just works.”
Buzzard hopes to be one of many on that podium inside Veterans Memorial Coliseum come Feb. 26-28. And the Eagles want to reclaim that 3A team title that they won in 2024 after they entered the year ranked No. 2 behind Burns at No. 1 and ahead of Banks at No. 3.
Also returning from those finals appearances are junior Andrei Donayri, Peterman and Truesdell. The Eagles also have sophomore Brandon Henderson and junior Braxton Henager back after they were both No. 1 seeds at state last season.
With a deep group of returning talent, the opportunity is certainly there. And similar to a big dual win over Sweet Home in 2024, Bennett believes the recent win over West Linn can be a moment to galvanize the group and get them focused on what it takes to win it all again.
“We talked this week about how we need that moment, we’ve been kind of up and down,” Bennett said. “(That night) could be that moment, we talked a lot about that opportunity … Our kids just grabbed a hold of it and they’re pretty excited right now.”
And the feeling is the same on the girls side where the Eagles are ranked No. 2 behind La Grande at No. 1 and ahead of Oakridge at No. 3. Harrisburg has those two finalists from last year both back in sophomore Eden Ridgley and junior Paxton Steele.
Most recently the girls competed in the Sutherlin Invitational where they took third behind Thurston and Oakridge. Ridgley won at 100, Steele won at 110 and senior Lily Ridgley took second at 140, but did pin defending state champion Jade Seymour from La Pine in the semifinals.
The Eagles went down to the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno, Nevada before the end of 2025 where Eden Ridgley took home the title at 100 pounds, Steele took third at 110 and senior Izabella Castleberry took second at 170.
“We’re a lot tighter group this year, especially our girls,” Bennett said. “I did bedroom checks down in Reno one night. I knocked and they answered and I’m like, ‘What are you guys doing, it’s almost bedtime?’ They’re like, ‘We’re just doing a Bible study before bedtime.’ All eight girls were there.
“They’re always together, on the corner of the mat watching each other wrestle. That’s going to be a fun race with us, Oakridge and La Grande at the girls state tournament.”
With both teams performing so well, there’s a lot of people to thank in Bennett’s eyes for getting this program to where it currently stands among the best in Oregon.
Athletic director Scott Buzzard is someone Bennett described as the best wrestling athletic director in the state with the way he helps the program from the administration angle but also as an assistant coach.
There’s 10 assistant coaches on the staff, and the dual against West Linn was also an alumni night to get even more of the community out and into the gym.
No matter how the season may come to an end at the end of February, the work put in by the Eagles is unmatched by any in the state.
“The kids are working hard and had a lot of coaches put in a lot of time,” Bennett said. “Just trying to get better every day and give both of our teams a shot. I think right now we’re sitting in a pretty good spot, I like our chances.”
Best of the West
Newberg continues to prove it’s one of the best programs in the Pacific Northwest after the Tigers took first in the Best of the West tournament held Dec. 20 in Pasco, Washington.
Newberg won with 283 points over a field that included some of Washington and Idaho’s best squads. The Tigers edged out Wapato (WA) in second with 278.5 points.
Individual winners for the Tigers included Hezekiah Worthington at 113 pounds, Andres Mendoza at 120 and Zadek Bowlby at 215. Jacob Jump took second at 126, Hunter Hurl placed third at 132, Kingston Meadors took second at 138, Alex Herrera placed second at 165 and Tylor Johnson finished in third at 175.
Northwest Duals Boys
Newberg used that momentum and rolled right into the Northwest Duals held Dec. 29-30 at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany.
However, it was 5A No. 3 Thurston walking away with this title after the Colts took down the Tigers in the title dual 44-18.
Thurston picked up wins via fall from Samuel Greenstreet at 106, Lukas Salas-Sanchez at 113, Sawyer Greenstreet at 165, Bryce Johnson at 175 and Landon Cramer at 285. Michael Salas-Sanchez also had an 8-3 decision win at 120, Tanner Brumble won 11-5 at 132, Ivan Anderson had a tech fall at 138 and Emmit Distefano won 15-12 at 190.
Newberg got to the final by barely edging by 4A No. 1 Sweet Home in a 36-35 dual win. The Huskies recovered to take third place with a 41-30 win over Eagle Point. Redmond was able to win out on the consolation side with a 43-25 victory over Sumner (WA) in the consolation final.
Northwest Duals Girls
The top three teams in the OSAAtoday preseason girls wrestling coaches poll all competed in the Northwest Duals as well Dec. 29-30 at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany.
Thurston, ranked No. 1 in 6A/5A, drew No. 2 Dallas in the semifinals and No. 3 Redmond had Sedro-Woolley (WA) in the other semi.
The Dragons were able to pull the upset 45-34 over Thurston and the Panthers took care of business against their Washington opponent 50-27 to set up the final.
There, Dallas was able to pull away and pick up a 50-28 victory and cement itself as the new favorite in 6A/5A.
The Dragons had wins via fall from Marissa McGinnis at 100 (was down 11-2 at the time), Aubree Franko at 120, Kassidy Guy at 130, Lindsey Faulkner at 140, Jenna Rogers at 155 and Gabriella Dyer at 170. Yoselin Nunez won via tech fall at 110 and Khadijah Tabib won a 5-3 decision at 190.
In the third place match, Sedro-Woolley was able to take down Thurston as well, winning the dual 45-36.
Century won the consolation side of the bracket, taking out Sweet Home 52-30 in the final.
Sierra Nevada girls
A couple more 4A/3A/2A/1A girls programs were down at the Sierra Nevada tournament in Reno, Nevada Dec. 29-30.
Burns’ Hadley Gunderson won the 115 bracket and Oakridge’s Vanessa Keller took fourth, Oakridge’s Emmalee Brissette took second at 120, Mazama’s Shyla Sells took fourth at 130, Oakridge’s Kali Williams took second and Burns’ Coral Averett took third at 135, Burns’ Megan Weil won the 190 bracket and Mazama’s Lizabeth Henderson took second at 235.
It wasn’t all small schools either as Barlow had a strong showing at the tournament as well. Margaret Lovely took fifth at 100, Abby Richard took sixth at 125, Taylor Ward took fifth at 130 and Olivia Howell took sixth at 155.
More news and notes
St. Helens junior and two-time state champion Jadyn Pense is showing no signs of slowing down with a 20-0 record, 19 of those wins coming via fall and the other a 10-2 decision. She’s already won six tournament titles and is aiming for a third state title come February.
Newport did well at the Molalla Mayhem Tournament held Dec. 20. The Cubs had Ivan Wagner win on the boys side and Silas Moss take home third. For the girls, Camille Keck won at 140, Jaidyn Nastiuk won at 155 and Mysti Ferguson won at 170, meanwhile Maggi Henrikson and Chloe Sackett each took second.
Grant senior Judah Barnett is having a strong final season at 175 pounds. He’s currently 20-2 with 15 falls/tech falls.
Crater has picked up some quick pins this season with senior boy Jaxon Godley winning a match in 10 seconds on Dec. 6 at 175, and sophomore girl Audrey Robinson winning in 10 seconds as well on Jan. 3 at 145.
Canby is once again strong, but is led by girls wrestler Emilia Ensrud at 125 who is undefeated at 17-0, one of those wins coming against a boy. She has 16 wins via a pin and one by tech fall and has also picked up four tournament titles. Keeva Wilcox is another girls standout with 15 pins this season at 140.
For the Cougar boys, they’ve pinning people left and right. Senior Forrest Baumbaugh has 20 falls and four tech falls at 138, junior Trey Smith has 10 falls and eight tech falls at 126, junior Will Doman has 18 falls and three tech falls at 165, senior Dean Williams has 16 falls at 132 and junior Carson Doman has 14 falls and one tech fall at 150.
Estacada junior Emma Stalcup has continued her stellar season, now up to four tournament titles at 235. She’s won the Lady Ranger Classic, Knife Invitational, Molalla Mayhem and Safeway Buckle Classic.
Liberty sophomore Nevaya Gerberg is undefeated this season at 17-0, most of those being first-round falls. She has 16 total and one tech fall this season, along with four tournament titles at 110 pounds.
North Salem junior Aileen Paniagua has been a pinning machine with 18 first-period falls this season. She has an overall record of 23-4 competing between 100 and 105 pounds.
Senior Seth Wynn is representing Lebanon well on the mat with an overall mark of 22-1, that first loss coming at the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno. He competes at 165.
austinw@osaa.org
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