Cody Vance of Toledo prevails in epic final match vs. good friend from Regis: Oregon wrestling 215/190 small-school roundup
Cody Vance had grown quite a bit over the course of the wrestling season.
Back in December, the Toledo senior wrestled against returning state champion Thomas Bischoff of Regis at the Bill Hagerty Invitational and was pinned.
In late January, they met again at a Class 2A/1A pre-district meet, and this time, Vance pulled out a 3-2 decision in the ultimate tiebreaker.
Friday night at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the two locked up in the 215-pound state final at the OSAA wrestling state championships, and like their previous meeting, neither gave an inch.
The match went to overtime tied 1-1, and three seconds before they’d go to another ultimate tiebreaker, Vance took down Bischoff for the winning points — the cherry on the top of the Boomers’ run to the program’s first team title.
“We’re very close friends as well, so I knew it was going to be a battle from the beginning,” Vance said. “He’s a great guy to wrestle. He’s made me better.”
All four Toledo finalists won their matches to blow past Willamina in the team race.
“It just shows the amount of work we put in the season and how good our coaches are,” Vance said. “I mean, we make our room better every single day because iron sharpens iron. We have great teammates in the room and just help everyone get better. So, I’m just extremely grateful. I’m absolutely blessed and honored.”
4A: Crook County senior Norman Reynolds also turned the tables on his opponent in the final, avenging a loss to Ontario’s Tommy Ishida at the district tournament with a 6-4 decision to win his first title.
3A: Warrenton junior Kaison Smith ended his school’s four-year title drought with a 9-4 decision over Burns’ Joe Weil.
4A/3A/2A/1A Girls: Freshman Ylyana Sandoval joined older brother Gavin atop the medals podium as a 190-pound champion for Crook County, pinning Sivanna Hodge of Grant Union in 1:12 to help the Cowgirls win their first team trophy with a third-place finish. Hodge entered the state meet as the fifth-place finisher from her district but knocked off top seed Lilliyan Jaramillo of Rogue River in the semifinals.
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