The 2011 Oregon State Wrestling Championships followed the pre-meet script to the letter as all the team favorites won handily and a few individuals added their names to the record books as expected.
Burns won its 10th-straight 3A title, 5A
Hermiston and 2A
Culver won for the fifth year in a row, 6A
Roseburg captured its fourth title in five years and 4A
Henley (Klamath Falls) recorded an impressive team win.
In all, 950 wrestlers from 172 schools participated in this year's tournament held at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. And two won their fourth-straight title - Zac Cardwell of
Lowell and Mikie Rodriguez of
Hillsboro.
Cardwell won at 189 pounds and joins his father (1981-84) to become Oregon's only father and son to win four straight titles each. Zac finished with a career mark of 140-3. His father, Jeff, lost once in 129 matches during his four years at Lowell.
It took Zac 58 seconds to pin his first opponent, then 32 seconds to pin his second. He needed 4:12 to record a pin in the final and finish another season unbeaten.
"I've been dreaming of this since I was a little kid, since I first understood what it means to win four," said Zac, whose uncles Scott Cardwell and Dan Casarez also won four state wrestling titles during their four years at Lowell.
Rodriguez won at 135 pounds for his fourth title - his first at 6A after winning three when Hillsboro competed at 5A. Twenty wrestlers have won four state titles in Oregon.
Ten wrestlers earned their third-straight title:
* 6A — Seth Thomas, Roseburg, senior, 152; Dylan Fors, Roseburg, senior, 171; Brandon Griffin,
Sprague (Salem), junior, 189.
* 5A — Joey Delgado, Hermiston, junior, 135; Zac Brunson,
Churchill (Eugene), junior, 160; Curtis Berger, Hermiston, senior, 189.
* 3A — Johnny Campbell,
Myrtle Point, senior, 125; Brigham Hansen,
Riverside (Boardman), senior, 171; George Swartzlender, Burns, senior, 285.
* 2A/1A – Quinn Johnston,
Gold Beach, junior, 135.
SCIO FOOTBALL COACH STEPS DOWN AFTER BACK-TO-BACK 2A TITLESAfter leading his team to back-to-back 14-0 seasons and a pair of State 2A titles, Kyle Braa is stepping down as the head football coach at
Scio.
Braa, a Scio alum and the school's athletic director, said he plans to get his master's degree in athletic administration. He and his wife are expecting their first child this summer.
Braa said the finalists for the head coaching position are former Scio head coach Mike Jones and longtime Scio assistant Jim Mask.
