Wrestling, wrestling and more wrestling at Reser’s TOC in Hillsboro
Sprague’s Cole Steketee nabs an individual title; Olympians finish 11th
The massive Reser’s Tournament of Champions wrestling event wrapped up Saturday night at Liberty High School in Hillsboro—and when it was all over, a familiar team was atop the standings.
The Newberg Tigers—paced by five first place finishes on the second and final day of competition---edged out second place West Linn by 35 points to claim the tournament crown for the third time in four years.
Sprague’s 285 pound wrestling phenom—unbeaten Cole Steketee (27-0)—muscled his way to his weight class crown with a tough 1-0 decision over Roseburg’s Grady Hamilton. Steketee’s performance was part of a solid team finish for the Olympians, who placed eleventh out of 22 Oregon schools at the annual grappling event.
The 2023 OSAA wrestling championships are slated for February 23-25 at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum.
Local results from Reser’s TOC
Fifth Place Match-132 pounds
Tommy Belding (La Grande) 31-6, Fr., over Andrey Cernev (Sprague) 19-7, Jr., Decision, 5-3
Third Place Match-160 pounds
Gavin Sandoval (Crook County) 25-7, So., over Josh Camillo (Sprague) 24-5, Sr., Decision, 5-2
Fifth Place Match-182 pounds
Kenya Johnson (Sprague) 24-5, So., over Michael Campos (Liberty ) 26-9, Sr., Fall, 2:46
Championship Match-285 pounds
Cole Steketee (Sprague) 27-0, Sr., over Grady Hamilton (Roseburg) 26-8, Sr., Decision 1-0
Team Scores
1, Newberg, 190. 2, West Linn, 155.3, La Grande, 152.5 4, Mountain View, 148.5, Sweet Home, 145. 6, Thurston, 129.5 7, Dallas, 120. 8, Redmond, 112.5 9, Crater, 108.5 10, Crescent Valley, 106. 11, Sprague, 102. 12, Hillsboro, 96. 13, Crook County, 90. 14, Scappoose, 88. 15, Grants Pass, 75. 16, Roseburg, 65.5 17, La Pine, 65. 18, Bend, 52. 19, Liberty, 51. 20, Culver, 49. 20, Harrisburg, 49. 22, Cleveland, 12.