OSAA announces new schedule for Oregon wrestling state championships: 6A, 5A placement matches move to Sunday

The placement matches for the 6A, 5A and 6A/5A girls will start at 11 a.m. Sunday, with the tournament concluding around 1 p.m.

By René Ferrán | Photo by Taylor Balkom 

The OSAA released an updated schedule for this weekend’s wrestling state championships at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum that makes significant changes to the tournament. 

The Class 4A, 3A, 2A/1A and inaugural 4A/3A/2A/1A girls meets will be completed in one day on Friday, Feb. 24, with the action beginning on 12 mats at 9 a.m. and concluding with all placement matches starting at 7:45 p.m. 

There is one more change this season that 3A wrestlers will welcome: The OSAA will award medals to the top six finishers, up from the top four awarded at the previous three state meets. 

The 6A, 5A and 6A/5A girls tournaments will still be two-day meets, but the semifinal and blood rounds move from the second day to run on the first night of competition on Saturday, Feb. 25. The girls semifinals start at 6 p.m., with the boys semifinals kicking off at 7:15 p.m.

The placement matches for the 6A, 5A and 6A/5A girls will start at 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, with the tournament concluding around 1 p.m. to allow Coliseum staff to begin preparations for the next Portland Winterhawks hockey game.

Typically, the tournaments run the placement matches (third/fourth and fifth/sixth) other than the championship finals during a separate session prior to the Parade of Champions. The snowstorm that hit Portland on Wednesday evening and shut down the Rose Quarter complex Thursday forced OSAA staff to scramble to create a new schedule Thursday morning.

The OSAA noted in its announcement of the schedule changes that it is subject to further change depending on weather and road conditions. Further schedule updates will be announced on the OSAA website: www.osaa.org.