‘You never lose — you always learn.’ Lessons from 2022 help make Dylan Clark a champion in 2023: Oregon wrestling 120/110 small-school roundup
By René Ferrán | Photos by Leon Neuschwander
Two-tenths of a pound. About 3.2 ounces.
That’s how much an extra small apple weighs. Or three slices of bread. Or a standard deck of cards.
That’s also how much Henley junior Dylan Clark was over when he weighed in for the district tournament last year.
“That was tough for me,” Clark said. “I had a great season going, and then district comes. It was a hard cut, and I just failed. I should have gone up, but lesson learned. You never lose — you always learn.”
So, Clark spent the summer commuting nearly two hours one-way from Klamath Falls to La Pine to train with the burgeoning mat club there and wrestling in freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments.
He took those lessons into this season, and with several Hornets coaches and competitors watching from his corner, Clark finished the season undefeated at 47-0, capping his run with an 18-8 major decision over Stayton’s Conrad Baxter in the 120-pound Class 4A final Friday at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
“This has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,” Clark said. “A big thank you to my parents because of the gas, the effort, the time, the money. Every single day, all summer long, six hours in the gym, and I finally got it.”
Clark recorded nine takedowns in Friday’s final, giving him a state-leading 150 for the season (according to stats submitted to TrackWrestling.com) to just three against.
“My goal was to be taken down less than five times, and I didn’t give up more than five all year,” he said. “My goal was to go undefeated, and I did that. Now, my next goal is to go to Fargo and become a placer there.”
3A: Burns sophomore Canon Winn, who lost in the 106 final last year to Harrisburg’s Luke Cheek, finished the deal this winter with a 12-0 major decision over La Pine senior Mason Webb. Webb finished third behind Winn and Burns freshman Preston Hill at district two weeks ago.
2A: Lowell sophomore Harley Hardison also came back after losing in last year’s 106 final to win his first title, pinning Willamina freshman Adoniyah Stanton in the first round.
4A/3A/2A/1A Girls: Siuslaw sophomore Macali Lade won the first girls title in school history, defeating coastal rival Julia Towers of Taft by fall in the second round of the 110 final.
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