Oregon (OSAA) 6A wrestling state championships preview: Newberg hopes to reclaim title, West Linn seeks repeat
The Oregon 6A high school wrestling state championships take place Friday and Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Here's a look at what to expect.
Photo by Taylor Balkom
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Schedule
Friday, 8 a.m. -2:30 p.m.: Rounds 1 and 2 and Quarterfinals
Saturday, 9 a.m.: Semifinals
Saturday, 6:15 p.m.: Parade of Champions and Finals
Top seeds (returning champions in italics)
106 Drew Dawson, Roseburg, Soph.
113 Jorge De La Rosa, Forest Grove, Fr.
120 Colby Cook, West Linn, Sr.
126 Isaac Hampton, Newberg, Sr.
132 Moises Lopez, Aloha, Sr.
138 Oscar Doces, West Linn, Jr.
144 Andrey Cernev, Sprague, Sr.
150 Gus Amerson, Newberg, Jr.
157 Henry Dillingham, West Linn, Sr.
165 Charles Spinning, West Linn, Sr.
175 Bridger Foss, South Medford, Jr.
190 Logan Sunnell, Tualatin, Jr.
215 Isandre De La Torre, South Medford, Soph.
285 Li Moala, South Medford, Sr.
Other returning champions
113 Carter Dawson, Roseburg, Soph. (3A 106)
113 Max Blanco, Clackamas, Sr.
126 Jeremiah Wachsmuth, Clackamas, Sr.
138 Zachary Keinonen, Newberg, Sr.
Most state qualifiers
1, Newberg 18. 2, West Linn 16. 3, (tie) Grants Pass, Roseburg and Sandy 14. 6, (tie) Mountainside and Sprague 13. 8, Westview 12. 9, (tie) Clackamas, David Douglas, McDaniel and South Salem 11.
What to watch
West Linn, Newberg set to duel yet again atop team standings
West Linn finally reached the top of the heap last season, winning the program’s first state championship by dethroning three-time reigning champion Newberg in a taut title race.
The scenario is similar again this year — the Tigers bring the most qualifiers to Memorial Coliseum and are hungry to bring the blue trophy back to the Chehalem Valley. The Lions have a strong contingent to mount a title defense, led by three returning champions in Doces, Dillingham and Spinning.
“We have some kids that can flat-out scrap,” West Linn coach Kevin Keeney said. “This Friday and Saturday, if they scrap, you will know their names by the end of the tournament.”
Spinning’s return from a back injury that sidelined him for last month’s Reser’s Tournament of Champions boosts the Lions’ chances of repeating.
“Charlie is one of the anchors to our team,” Keeney said. “He has never left us. He is strong, fast, mentally tough, a great leader and an unbelievable teammate. That kid’s 50% is most kids’ 100%.”
Keeney also points to three teams that won district championships — Sandy (Mt. Hood), Mountainside (Metro) and perennial powerhouse Roseburg (Southwest) — and could challenge Newberg and West Linn for top honors.
“All three of those teams have some real firepower and great coaches,” Keeney said. “Both are a great combination for success at state. The key to our team is to give our best effort on the mat and be the best teammate you can be off the mat. The team score will take care of itself.”
Who will emerge from deep 113 bracket featuring three former champions?
How deep is the 113-pound bracket?
Well, you have three former state champions in Clackamas senior Max Blanco, who won the 106 title last year while at McNary, and Roseburg’s duo of two-time champion Gage Singleton (who lost to Clackamas’ Jeremiah Wachsmuth last year in the 113 final to derail his four-timer chances) and Carter Dawson, who won the 3A 106 crown last year while at Glide.
Then, there’s junior Miguel Elenes of Westview, who placed third at 106 last season, and Glencoe sophomore Joshua Andrade, sixth at 106 as a freshman.
Yet none of them is the top seed. That honor goes to De La Rosa, a freshman who enters the tournament 34-1, including victories over Dawson and Blanco at the North Bend Coast Classic in December and two other state champions from other classifications — Tillamook’s Bryce Haltiner (4A) twice and Thurston’s Kanoe Kelly (5A) at the Northwest Duals.
It all shapes up for a wild weekend at one of the meet’s lightest weights.
Keinonen’s quest for four-timer status could run through Doces
Without defending 138 champion Owen Hull, a Grants Pass junior who started the season 16-0 but has been out since mid-December, that bracket sets up to be a duel between Doces and Keinonen that has several subplots.
First, both are anchors for teams (West Linn and Newberg) that should be in the thick of the team title race again.
Then, there’s Keinonen’s quest to join Alec Ortiz (2006-08 with Willamina, 2009 at Newberg), Tommy Siciliano (2007-10) and Ayden Garver (2019-22) as Tigers who have won four state championships.
Finally, if the two successfully navigate the bracket to meet in the final, it’ll be a rematch of their compelling title match at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions, which Doces won 6-4 in the third round of overtime.
First, though, Doces might have to get past Keinonen’s teammate, No. 8 seed Jacob Smith, who handed the Lions junior one of his five defeats this season at the Rose City Championship. Doces’ other four losses were to out-of-state competition.
