Riley Barrett of Philomath erases bad taste of 2023 with state title in 2024: Oregon wrestling 150/135 small-school roundup
It had been 17 years since a Philomath wrestler had left the OSAA wrestling championships wearing a gold medal when Riley Barrett took the mat for Friday night’s Class 4A 150-pound final at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
He still had a bad taste in his mouth from how the sophomore’s first visit to the Coliseum finished — he placed fourth after being disqualified in the placing match on the final day.
“It was a bad call, but it is what it is, you know,” he said. “You’ve got to move on.”
Barrett has not lost a high school match since that Sunday morning almost one year earlier, completing an undefeated season with an 8-3 decision against Sweet Home’s Jacob Landtroop.
His 48-0 season was the Warriors’ first undefeated campaign since Connor Kuhn went 25-0 and won a state title at the OWA championships during the COVID 2021 summer season, and Barrett became the school's first OSAA champion since Matt Hill in 2007.
“The pain of that loss, I never want to feel that again,” Barrett said. “I mean, this means everything. I’ve been counting down the days since I took that loss last year. I’ve been counting down every single day, writing it down, trying to do everything I can.”
4A/3A/2A/1A Girls: Gervais senior Sariah Zepeda capped an undefeated season by pinning Estacada’s Kirsten DeLazerda with 36 seconds left in the second period of the 135-pound final. Zepeda went 19-0 this season in winning her second title.
3A: Youth was served as freshman Cannon Kemper of Burns pulled out a 4-1 decision over Harrisburg senior Landen Hecht. Kemper is the younger brother of three-time champion Easton Kemper, who won the 175 title later Friday night.
2A/1A: Illinois Valley senior Ryan Griffin finished the season 39-1 and won his second consecutive title with a third-round pin of Tegan Evans of Enterprise/Wallowa.
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