Jesse Skoubo/Democrat-Herald Philomath's M. Hill vs Central's Ricky Cedillo.
Andy Cripe | Gazette-Times Matt Hill of Philomath celebrates after defeating Daryl Watkins of Corvallis high in the 160 championship match.
Andy Cripe | Gazette-Times Travis Spencer of Philomath and Dustin Shear of Corvallis in the heavyweight championship finals of the 2008 Benton County Championships.
Andy Cripe | Gazette-Times Derick Calder of Philomath and Michael Joos of Corvallis in the 171 championship finals of the 2008 Benton County Championships.
Andy Cripe | Gazette-Times The Philomath wrestling team hoists their trophy after winning the team title in the 2008 Benton County Championships Saturday in Monroe.
Andy Cripe | Gazette-Times Kyle Swank of Philomath and Josiah Wai of Corvallis in the 119 championship finals of the 2008 Benton County Championships.
Andy Cripe | Gazette-Times (1/10/2008) Philomath’s Travis Spencer pins Sweet Home’s Shaw Valentine in the 285-pound match on Wednesday night. It gave the Warriors a 6-0 lead, but Valentine’s Huskies got the last laugh with a 48-22 win.
Central Linn Invitational
HALSEY Gazette-Times (12-22-07)- Philomath High’s Kyle Swank, Sam Phelps, Matt Hill and Heath Honeycutt all picked up wins to help lead the Warriors to the team title at the Central Linn Invitational on Saturday.
The Warriors finished with 2181/2 points to knock off second-place Central Linn (1481/2).
Philomath’s JV team was eighth out of nine teams.
Central Linn got wins from Ronald Cauldwell, Josh Jones and Tyler Sloan.
Philomath’s Marcus Hartwig, Allen Neufeld, Josh Erickson, Derrick Calder and Sam Zook all had second-place finishes.
Central Linn’s Scott Lacoste and Charlie Karpins also placed second.
Alsea Bay Classic
Philomath wins wrestling tourney
Gazette-Times (1-7-2008)
WALDPORT - The Philomath High wrestling team followed up Thursday’s 65-9 ValCo League dual meet win over Taft with an impressive performance at the Alsea Bay Classic over the weekend.
The Warriors had six wrestlers in the finals, and while they didn’t come away with an individual title, they won the tournament and scored the most points ever at the event.
Second-place finishes went to Blake Woosley (103), Marcus Hartwig (112), Bryce Dryden (152), Matt Hill (160), Heath Honeycutt (215) and Travis Spencer (Hwt).
Third-place finishes went to Kyle Swank (119) and James Zook (189), while Troy Thurmond (145) and Derrick Calder (171) were fourth.
The Warriors face defending state champion Sweet Home at home on Wednesday.
Santiam Christian finished 11th and had six place winners led by Hayden Tedrow, who placed third at 103. Steven Morris (285) and Tristan Manley (152) placed fourth, Noah Krussow (130) was fifth and Jordan Gerding (145) and Ian Woosley (103) placed sixth.
Team scores: 1. Philomath 234; 2. Harrisburg 161; 3. Pleasant Hill 142; 4. Riddle 133.5; 5. Lowell 131.5; 6. Springfield 127.5; 7. Oakridge 123; 8. Warrenton 104.5; 9. Nestucca 103; 10. Coquille 78; 11. Santiam Christian 76; 12. Gold Beach 72; 12. Knappa 72; 14. Jefferson 69; 15. Waldport 60.5; 16. Corbett 30; 17. Taft 27; 18. Siletz Valley 18; 19. Mohawk 5.5
Sweet Home 48, Philomath 22
ANDY CRIPE/Gazette-Times Heath Honeycutt of Philomath pinned his opponent Logan Clark of Sweet Home in the 215 match.
ANDY CRIPE/Gazette-Times Philomath's Travis Spencer pinned Shaw Valentine in the 285 match.
Warriors miss out on upset By Raju Woodward Gazette-Times Reporter
Sweet Home’s depth at lower weights does in Philomath
PHILOMATH - Prior to Wednesday night’s dual meet against Sweet Home, the defending 4A state champions, Philomath High wrestling coach Troy Woosley said his wrestlers had to avoid getting pinned if PHS wanted to upset the fourth-ranked Huskies.
So he couldn’t have been happier when Travis Spencer pinned Sweet Home’s Shaw Valentine in the opening match to give the Warriors a quick 6-0 lead.
“I was glad to be the first one to wrestle,” Spencer said. “It was pretty good to give the team spirit.”
It, however, was short-lived, as the Huskies reeled off five straight pins en route to a 48-22 Val-Co League victory.
Woosley expected his lowerweight wrestlers to struggle against Sweet Home. He said the Huskies were “loaded” in those weight classes. Yet he was encouraged by the effort his wrestlers put forth in those matches.
“We got aggressive on our feet,” Woosley said. “We actually had more takedowns than they did. Usually, that’s a good sign. It shows the kids had the desire to win. We got beat by experience tonight.”
The best match of the meet actually came at 135 pounds. Charlie Stouder took a 2-0 lead into the third period before Sweet Home’s Kyle Hummer tied it up with seconds to go. Hummer then held on to win 5-3 in overtime, pushing the Huskies’ lead to 33-6.
PHS finally got back on the board when Matt Hill earned a 7-1 decision against Brad Pitts three matches later in the 160-pound showdown. That made the score 48-9.
The Warriors took three straight matches to end the meet, capped by a Heath Honeycutt’s pin of Logan Clark in the 215-pound match. Derrick Calder and James Zook won by decision prior to Honeycutt’s victory.
“I just warmed up like I normally do,” Honeycutt said. “I was happy with the way I performed. Overall, I think a match like this will make us work harder in practice. The main thing is that we peak at districts.”
Added Spencer: “It gave us a chance to see what the competition is going to be like. So we can start getting ready for districts.”
While Woosley would have liked to have seen his upperclass wrestlers record more pins since that was where the Warriors held an advantage, he said facing Sweet Home this early in the season wasn’t an issue. In fact, it was good preparation for the Oregon Classic in Redmond this weekend.
“We have that coming up and it features some of the top teams in the state,” Woosley said. “There are some advanced wrestlers there, so we have got to stay on our feet and work on positioning.
“Tonight, they moved us around, instead of us moving them around.”
Sweet Home 48, Philomath 22
103: Mitch Grove, SH, p. Blake Woosley, 4:52; 112: Taylor Tagle, SH, p. Marcus Hartwig, 3:58; 119: Danny Johnson, SH, p. Kyle Swank, 3:04; 125: Kris Newport, SH, p. Allen Neufield, 1:34; 130: Jack Perry, SH, p. Seth Faust, 1:57; 135: Kyle Hummer, SH, dec. Charlie Stouder, 5-3; 140: Brock Crocker, SH, p. Cody Keen, 1:32; 145: Levi Weikel, SH, p. Kyle Dalke, 1:37; 152: Nick Pitts, SH, dec. Bryce Dryden, 5-3; 160: Matt Hill, PHS, dec. Brad Pitts, 7-1; 171: Derrick Calder, PHS, dec. Anthony Albright, 13-5; 189: James Zook, PHS, dec. Marc Callagan, 13-4; 215: Heath Honeycutt, PHS, p. Logan Clark, 1:18; 285: Travis Spencer, PHS, p. Shaw Valentine, 2:29
