Ava Collins of Vale wins 2nd state championship by beating a good friend: Oregon wrestling 157/140 small-school roundup
Ava Collins and Hannah Hernandez train together with the same wrestling club.
During the season, Collins’ Vale team and Hernandez’s Ontario team cross paths several times as Malheur County neighbors.
And Friday night at the OSAA state championships, the Eastern Oregon neighbors brought their friendly rivalry to Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls 140-pound title match.
“It’s just such a mental game with me,” said Collins, who was vying for her second title. “I just know I have to go out there and just have fun with the match. And that’s my friend out there. But for that six minutes, you just gotta treat her on the mat like she’s another opponent.”
Collins put aside her feelings for her good friend long enough to pull out a workmanlike 7-0 victory — the third time in the past month she’s defeated Hernandez.
“I’m just so happy she was my final match opponent,” said Collins, who has not lost to an in-state wrestler since falling in the semifinals of the 2022 state tournament. “It’s just awesome for us to share that moment.”
Collins then reflected on how when she entered high school, “I didn’t even want to wrestle. And now, I’m here, and it’s just amazing.”
4A: Scappoose junior Maverick Heimbuck completed a 45-2 season with a 9-1 major decision against Sweet Home’s Luke Rosa in the 157-pound final.
3A: After Nyssa had a 14-year streak of having at least one OSAA state champion broken last year, senior Ashton Wilson began a new streak for the longtime small-school power (13 team titles) with a second-round pin of Camaron Houston of Coquille/Bandon.
2A/1A: Oakridge junior Kayden Tiller pinned Elgin’s Gen Wintersteen with 31 seconds left in their final to finish the season 30-2.
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