Wrestling: District champ Warrenton hoping for state title

Jun. 22—The Warrenton Warriors are the new kings of District 2 wrestling. And with the youth on the current roster, Warrenton's district title last week could be the first of many.

Warrenton district championships were common in the 1970's, when the Warriors won five straight from 1973-77 (under three different coaches). Dennis Warren took the Warriors to additional district titles in 1988 and 1990.

That marked the end of Warrenton's district championships, until the 2021 Warriors won last Saturday's District 2 title at Clatskanie, topping a field of eight teams.

The Warriors finished with 230.5 points, ahead of second-place Rainier (214), with Yamhill-Carlton (177) a distant third. Defending champion Dayton finished back in the pack with 115 points.

"We knew that we had a shot because we were as deep as any team in our league, but our league is very deep," said Warrenton coach Corey Conant. "Rainier, Willamina, Yamhill-Carlton, Dayton and Taft all have competitive programs, and Amity and Clatskanie have some very high-talent individuals on their teams."

Meanwhile, Warrenton's highest finish at state is second place, accomplished in 1976, '77 and '89. If all goes right, the Warriors will break through with a state championship later this week, when 3A schools meet for the season-ending tournament Saturday in Redmond.

As the champion from the state's toughest district — why not Warrenton? Last year's District 2, champion, Dayton, finished second at state in 2020.

Warrenton had just five wrestlers in the 2020 state tournament, and the Warriors doubled that and will be well-armed with 10 athletes this year. (Only La Pine, with 12, will have more wrestlers).

The group is led by senior Sam Irwin, the huge favorite at 195 pounds. The defending state champion would be Warrenton's first two-time state champion in over 50 years of school records.

Irwin had to wrestle a little over a minute to win his district title. The bracket at 195 only had four wrestlers, with Irwin scoring victories by fall in the semifinals over Yamhill-Carlton's Hunter McAvoy in 23 seconds, then pinned Yamhill's Hunter Stephenson in 56 seconds for the title.

Warrenton's other two-time champion was senior Nic Pior at 145. He pinned wrestlers from Clatskanie and Willamina in his first two matches, then defeated Dayton's Jimmy Larsen 8-5 in the finale.

At 170, sophomore James Mickelson pinned No. 1 seed Parker Cavan of Willamina (5:18) and won by fall over Rainier's Donovan Smith (1:51) to reach the finals, where he would have faced junior teammate Alex Tapia. The Warriors opted "to save that match for the state tournament," Conant said, as Tapia was given the victory by forfeit.

Tapia pinned Eli Jones of Taft in 23 seconds, then topped No. 2 seed Andrew Allen of Willamina, 4-2, to reach the final.

Elsewhere, junior Jorge Lopez took third at 138, finishing 3-1 and beating higher-seeded wrestlers along the way.

Freshman David Niehuser was third at 152, where he pinned Yamhill's Eli Potter and Kyle Troutman of Dayton, before a loss in the semifinals.

Warrior junior Josh Niehuser (3-1) was third at 182, where senior Duane Falls (2-2) took fourth, and also earned an at-large spot at state. Niehuser defeated Falls 10-4 in the third-place match.

And at 220, junior Josh Smith was third, "and continues to show huge improvement and toughness in his second year," said Conant, who was voted district Coach of the Year, "which is a huge honor and testament to our staff and the work we have put in together. Trent Klebe, Steve Stratton, Lennie Wolfe and I all share the award."

Early this week, the tournament added the 10th and final Warrior, Austin Atwood, to the 126-pound bracket.

The Warriors "needed contributions from up and down the lineup, and we needed to earn bonus points from falls, which is exactly what the kids went out and did," he said. "It was satisfying to see their hard work pay off. Not every wrestler met their goal, but we set very high goals for ourselves and can live with the results of our best work."