Hilhi senior John Morin captures his first state championship at the Class 6A wrestling tournament

The main goal for the Hillsboro wrestling team heading into the OSAA Class 6A state tournament was to come away with some hardware.

“I firmly believe that this is one of the most dense and talented groups that we’ve sent to state,” Hillsboro coach Adam Reese said before the state meet. “You need a little bit of luck, but we like to say that we make your own luck, but you need to stay healthy and things need to go just right.

“If we stay in the thick of things we’re in a position to get a state championship, or if not, some hardware. That’s our main goal — to get some hardware at state.”

That mission was accomplished when Hilhi took fourth place at the state tournament with 117½ points. The Spartans were in second place after the first day of competition, trailing eventual state champion David Douglas, but Oregon City (126½) and Roseburg (120) moved into second and third, respectively, on the final day of the tournament.

Hillsboro qualified 11 wrestlers after the district meet, where the Spartans finished second to Aloha.

At the district meet, seven Hillsboro wrestlers won district championships: Dauki Wilburn in the 113-pound division, Joey Rodriguez at 120 pounds, Andy Downer at 132, Alex Harnsberger at 138 pound, Alex Hada at 145, John Morin at 182 and Ben Kociemba at 195.

In addition, Matt Peterson took second place in the 106-pound division, Isaac Cawthorne finished third in the 152-pound division, T. J. Cavender took third in the 182-pound class and Riggo Saenz was fourth at 106 pounds.

Reese thought that each of his wrestlers had a shot at placing at state.

“I firmly believe that all of those guys should be state placers,” Reese said. “All 11 have a great chance of being state placers. If all 11 are state placers, that gives us a great chance to be right in the thick of things for winning the state title. That’s a lot of points and that’s what we’re shooting for.”

In the end, Hillsboro had five placers at the state tournament.

Morin, a senior, took first place in the 182-pound division to capture his first career state championship. Rodriguez, a junior, took third place in the 120-pound division. Downer, a junior, took third place at 132 pounds. Kociemba, a sophomore, took fourth place at 195 pounds, and Wilburn, a senior, took fourth place at 113.

Elsewhere, Century finished in 15th place at the state tournament with 45 team points.

The Jaguars qualified eight wrestlers for state after taking fourth place at the district wrestling meet.

At districts, Amari Sengsavanh won the 126-pound division, Aaron Beadle won the 220-pound division, Carlos Mendez took second place at 160 pounds, Bret Wilson took second at 182, Brennan Baccay finished third at 120, Ryley Bilderbeck was third at 145, David Lofdahl took third at 195 and Savon Sengsavanh took fourth place at 160 pounds.

At the state tournament, Mendez, a junior, took third place in the 160-pound division and Beadle, a senior, took fourth place in the 220-pound division, but those were the Jaguars only state placers.

Glencoe took 25th place at the state wrestling tournament with 17½ points.

Glencoe qualified nine wrestlers from the district meet, where they finished in third place as a team.

Michael Schrader won a district championship in the 170-pound division, while Max McGee took third place at 113 pounds, Austin Leeson took third at 126, Kyle Flaig took third at 132 and Walker Rabon took third at 285. Christian Chan finished in fourth place in the 113-pound division, Casey Ray took fourth at 138 pounds, Sean Callahan took fourth at 152 and Corey Neys took fourth at 195.

Heading into the state meet, Glencoe coach Jason Harless liked that his team was experienced at competing in the biggest meet in Oregon.

“Several of the guys are returning state qualifiers,” Harless said. “They have the experience of being at that state tournament. For a lot of kids it’s their first time in the state tournament and it’s quite overwhelming. Having that out of the way, we have several kids who are going to walk into the tournament who think that they should be placers.

“I have several kids who are going to walk into there with the expectation that they’re going to make it to the finals.”

Unfortunately for Glencoe, no wrestlers were able to place at the state meet.

Liberty finished 12th at the OSAA Class 5A state wrestling meet with 45½ points.

Liberty qualified nine wrestlers for state at the Northwest Oregon Conference district tournament, in which they took second place behind Sandy.

At the district meet, Kevin Rivas took first place in the 113-pound division, Angel Morales took first at 138 pounds and Juan Ocampo finished first at 285. Derrick Roy took second place at 132 pounds, Michael Feltmans took second place at 138, A.J. Antillon took second at 145, Hunter Dehlin took second at 152, Alexio Martinez took second at 285 and Nathaniel Machado took fourth place at 220 pounds.

Heading into the state meet, Liberty coach Eric Givens was hopeful that the Falcons could finish the tournament with three to four placers.

“I would love to have somewhere in the neighborhood of three to four state placers,” Givens said. “Obviously, I’d love to have all nine, but a realistic goal would be three to four to start with.”

The Falcons fell a little short of that goal. Dehlin, a junior, took third place in the 152 pound division. He was the only state placer for Liberty.