Newberg's Dillon Le wins state title — 3 weeks before marrying another wrestling star: Oregon wrestling 144/130 big-school roundup
Newberg senior Dillon Le has plenty to celebrate the next few weeks.
Saturday night, Le defeated classmate Brandon Smith 3-2 to win the Class 6A 144-pound title at the OSAA wrestling state championships at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
On March 16 comes an even bigger day. He’ll celebrate his nuptials with Haley Vann, the three-time state champion with Cleveland he met last year.
“How do you guys know about that?” Le said, a big grin creasing his face.
The couple met last season during the Northwest Duals meet, but it wasn’t until last year’s state meet — when Vann completed her three-peat and Le placed fifth — that they started getting serious.
It was that fifth-place finish — which Le considered a bit of a disappointment after winning a district title and coming to the state meet seeded third — that provided inspiration for his run to his first title this weekend.
This time, he was the No. 5 seed after losing to Smith in the ultimate tiebreaker in the district final.
Along the way, he ousted No. 4 Gage Culp of Sandy in the quarterfinals, then knocked off top seed Andrey Cernev of Sprague 10-1 in the semis before avenging his loss to Smith by escaping with 3 seconds left in the match.
“I thought I was going hard enough,” Le said. “But I had to push myself all the way to my limits and past that.
“I couldn't be here without my coaches, my teammates, my family. It’s unbelievable.”
6A/5A Girls: A year ago, twin sisters Skyler and Sadie Hall of North Medford reached the finals in their freshman season. Skyler won her match; Sadie fell short against North Salem’s Mariko Sonis.
Again, the two reached the finals this year, and after Skyler won her second title, this time Sadie came through to join her atop the medals podium, knocking off top seed and returning champion Kailea Takahashi of Forest Grove 4-3 in the 130-pound final.
“I think her winning last year just really helped me to work harder and become a champion,” Sadie said. “Knowing that we can both push past adversity, that we finally get to be sisters and put in that title just working hard, it’s fantastic.”
Takahashi led 3-2 entering the third, but Hall took advantage of a mistake to reverse her with 45 seconds left, then held her down to clinch the title and avenge a loss to Takahashi in the Lady Dragon Invitational final.
5A: In the rubber match between Thurston’s Colton Annis and Crater’s Jaxon Godley, it was the Colts junior who came out on top with a 10-6 decision. The two met in the semifinals of the Reser’s TOC, where Godley won, and Annis returned the favor last week with a victory in the Midwestern district final.
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Meet the champions: Class 6A | Class 5A | Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A/1A | Class 6A/5A Girls | Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls
Vote for best wrestler: Class 6A | Class 5A | Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A/1A | Class 6A/5A Girls | Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls
Previewing the state meets: Class 6A | Class 5A | Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A/1A | Class 6A/5A Girls | Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls
Recapping the district meets: Class 6A | Class 5A | Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A/1A | Class 6A/5A Girls | Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF 2024 OSAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Photos by Taylor Balkom
