‘I love the feeling of winning.’ Good thing — because Canby’s Jackson Doman didn’t lose all season: Oregon wrestling 215/190 big-school roundup
Last wrestling season ended anticlimactically for Canby junior Jackson Doman.
When the snowstorm hit the Portland area the week of the OSAA state championships, it pushed the medals matches to Sunday morning, and Doman — a devout Mormon — defaulted his fifth-place match.
A year later, Doman was able to wrestle his final match at the state meet, completing an undefeated season and becoming the first Canby wrestler in more than a decade to win a state title by defeating Dallas’ Cole Langford 6-2 in the Class 5A 215-pound final at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Cougars’ last state champion before Doman was James Roberts, who won the 6A 130 title in 2010.
“It feels great,” said Doman, who finished the season 45-0. “I just love wrestling. I love the feeling of winning. I went out there, put in the work, and I’m glad it showed in that match.”
Saturday’s final was a rematch of the Reser’s Tournament of Champions final, after which Doman (a 5-1 winner that day) predicted the two would meet again in the state final.
It was tournaments like Reser’s, which Canby hadn’t attended in almost a decade before this year, that Doman believes prepared him and his team for the success they had this weekend — the Cougars’ fifth-place finish is their best since 2009.
“Even last year, we had a lot of talent, but the mindset wasn’t there,” Doman said. “But this year, we’ve been doing some bigger tournaments, putting in a lot of extra work in the room with each other, and I feel that’s improved us so much.
“Our team has been going to a lot of little tournaments in random places, but Reser’s really showed us what we needed to work on, how to win matches.”
6A: Lake Oswego junior Lusiano Lopez also ended a long title drought for his school, becoming the first Laker to win a state championship since Austin Faunce in 2013 with a 17-6 major decision over Forest Grove’s Carter Bennett.
The Lakers haven’t posted a top-10 finish in the team standings since 1966, but Lopez is optimistic.
“We’re coming back,” he said. “We’re just going to keep working. When you get the results, you just love it, and it’s awesome.”
6A/5A Girls: McNary senior Ali Martinez, who survived a scare in her quarterfinal match Friday, successfully defended her 190-pound title with a third-period pin of Eagle Point junior Alixia Hernandez.
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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
