A good day on the mat for Salem-Keizer
Local wrestlers go 5-4 in title appearances at State Wrestling Championships in Portland
Five girls and four boys from Salem-Keizer were in action on championship Sunday at the 2023 OSAA State Wrestling Meet in Portland. The title day—moved back one day due to heavy snows earlier in the week—attracted plenty of mid-valley residents wanting to track the fortunes of their favorite grapplers. And it was quite the morning.
McNary junior Max Blanco continued his magical 2023 run at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. After winning the Central Valley Conference title and wrestler of the meet at North Salem High earlier in the month, Max had a workman-like state tournament—with a pin, two major decisions, and a hard-earned 9-7 decision over second-seeded Cody Lybarger of Mountainside to capture the 6A 106-pound crown.
In the girls 5A/6A bracket, McKay’s Sarahi Chavez—the #2 seed at 100 pounds—came up just one-point shy of the championship, falling 6-5 to top seed Skylar Hall of North Medford after recording two wins on the way to the title match. The sophomore still claimed a silver medal for her second-place performance.
At 120 pounds, a big girls victory for North Salem junior Mariko Sonis. The overall number-three seed in her weight class, Mariko pinned her opening opponent, muscled out a 4-2 decision against second-seeded Layla Morris of Mountainside, then forged a 9-4 victory over top-seeded Sadie Hall of North Medford to claim the championship.
The girls 145-pound championship bout was a no-loser situation for Salem-Keizer, with two local competitors in the final. North Salem’s Icela Sanchez Rodriguez shocked second-seed Jasmine Hopkins of Forest Grove with a 10-3 decision in her opening match, and won again in the semi-finals. Her opponent for the championship was Reese Lawson of West Salem—the top seed in her weight class. Lawson lived up to her billing, pinning Rodriguez just 58 seconds into the match.
Back in the 6A boys bracket, South Salem had advanced to wrestlers to the finals for the first time in school history. At 160 pounds, second seeded senior Anton Chacon wrestled tenaciously with three pins in four matches Saturday. In the title match Sunday, Chacon fell to top-seeded Chase Dennis of Tigard 4-3 to finish second.
McNary’s second boys finalist of the tournament, senior Josh Friesen upset David Douglas second seed Anthony Linares to reach the 170 pound title match. He finished the tournament strong on Sunday with a pin of top-seed Cougar Friesen of Newberg 1:43 into the championship bout.
McNary’s last title bout competitor, Ali Martinez, was seeded second at 190 pounds of the 5A/6A girls bracket. The agile Martinez—who starred last spring for the Celtic softball team—pinned her way to the championship, putting David Douglas sophomore McKenzie Mills’ shoulders to the mat 1:59 into the championship match.
The final Salem-Keizer title day competitor was South Salem senior Alex Decrozuic, the top seed at 220 pounds. Alex recorded, two pins and a decision on Saturday, and squared off against second ranked Steven Ramos of David Douglas. Ramos prevailed in a very competitive 8-6 match, and Decrozuic claimed the silver medal.
All-in-all, a fantastic meet for schools that lacked the depth for a team championship, but brought home plenty of hardware.
In 6A boys team results, West Linn edged two-time defending champion Newberg 288-262 to claim the championship. Sprague was the highest finishing CVC team with 70 points—in 11th place.
In the 5A/6A girls tournament, McKay (49 points) and North Salem (47) finished in fifth and sixth places respectively, behind first place North Medford—which recorded 78 points.
Thanks to the many people who contributed photos to help pull this story together. They include, but are not limited to: AnneMarie Dufault, Athletic Directors Scott Gragg, Brodie Cavaille, Donnie Kim and Wendy Stradley.