SALEM — Phoenix might not be a favorite to win the Class 4A title at the state wrestling tournament today, but there's more than just trophies at stake at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem.
There's drama.
The Pirates experienced plenty of drama moving two of four wrestlers through the semifinals Friday into tonight's finals. Senior Nick Amuchastegui (152 pounds) and junior Noah Berman (171) both won their semifinals with pins to counter a pair of tough losses by brothers Shyne and Ryan Tourville.
The win by Amuchastegui set up a stellar final against Estacada senior Josh Stalcup, the last wrestler to beat him two years ago in the state semifinals. Both are defending state champions, and they've met just once in the past two years, with Amuchastegui earning a 4-1 victory in the Oregon Wrestling Classic earlier this season. Stalcup, though, was given the top seed at 152.
Both are headed to Pac-10 Conference schools as well: Amuchastegui to Stanford and Stalcup to Oregon State.
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After the semifinals, the Pirates were fourth in the team standings with 91 points, trailing Sweet Home (120), Tillamook (107.5) and Scappoose (104). Illinois Valley, which also moved two of its four semifinalists into the finals, was sixth with 89.5 points.
Tonight's matches begin at 5:30 p.m. with the 103-pound final.
Phoenix enters today's action with six of its seven entries still capable of placing (top eight). Consolation action begins at 9:30 a.m.
Illinois Valley seniors Adam Miller and Jesse Swift both won their matches at 145 and will meet in the final.
While the Amuchastegui-Stalcup finale might have been on the wrestling horizon all season, Berman has been a mild surprise, especially after his tournament experience last season when he failed to make weight.
"That's on my mind, what a turnaround that would be," Berman said. "To go from not making weight to winning the state title, that would be a story."
To make the turnaround a reality, Berman said he focused on a simple thing — discipline.
"Something just clicked in my head," he said, "and I decided I wanted to be a state champion."
Combined with the Phoenix coaches, Berman said his season has progressed rapidly, especially through the past two months in which he has become somewhat unbeatable.
Berman dominated North Bend senior Austin Kintner in the semifinals before scoring a fall at 4:48, his third fall in four tournament matches.
"He's peaking at the right time," Phoenix assistant coach Brian Murphy said. "He's really doing a great job with his technique, learning new techniques and using them in matches."
Beyond technique, Berman said his endurance has improved significantly as well. He will face La Grande senior Dusty Bell in the final.
The Pirates were just seconds away from having a third finalist.
Trailing 4-3 in his semifinal match at 119 pounds, senior Shyne Tourville scored a two-point reversal against defending state champion Jesse Kane of North Valley with seven seconds left. But, Kane immediately scored a reversal of his own and won 6-5, the third time this season he has beaten Tourville by one point.
As happened in the semifinal, Kane won the other two matches with reversals in the final 10 seconds.
"I just kept making little mistakes, not following through on my moves," Tourville said, adding he didn't have time to mentally celebrate the late reversal because Kane responded so quickly. "I was pretty mad when that happened."
Ryan Tourville, a sophomore, jumped to an early 2-0 lead in his semifinal, but lost 8-6 to Estacada senior Jonathan Floyd.
Amuchastegui danced off the mat after pinning Astoria senior Josh Banta in 38 seconds, his third straight fall in the first round, and sounded confident about winning tonight. Not only has he gone undefeated in two seasons since the semifinal loss to Stalcup in the 2005 state tournament, Amuchastegui hasn't allowed an offensive point this season. Stalcup's point at the OWC came on an escape.
While confident, Amuchastegui also sounded respectful, especially from the experience at the OWC.
"He earned that escape," he said. "I didn't just let him go."
Stalcup, Estacada's coaches said, is avoiding interviews until after the final to maintain his focus. He won his semifinal with a fall in 1:45 over Sweet Home senior Andrew Knight.
Freshman Luke Amuchastegui (119) and senior Ryan Black (130) are also in consolation action for Phoenix.
Hidden Valley's Kody Sells also advanced to the championship final with a 5-4 decision over top-seeded John Hedge of Marist.
Class 4A
TEAM SCORES (Top 25) — Sweet Home 120, Tillamook 107.5, Scappoose 104, Phoenix 91, Estacada 90.5, Illinois Valley 89.5, La Grande 89, Cottage Grove 74.5, South Umpqua 67.5, North Bend 65, North Marion 64.5, Cascade 63, Molalla 58, Henley 53, Ontario 51.5, Philomath 49, Pleasant Hill 49, Astoria 47, Stayton 39.5, Hidden Valley 35, La Pine 34, North Valley 33, Brookings-Harbor 32.5, Banks 29.5, Siuslaw 26.
OTHER LOCAL TEAMS — Rogue River 15.
Local Results
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
SEMIFINALS
103 — Flavio Michel, Stayton, dec. Dusty Culver, Illinois Valley, 11-6.
112 — Danny Johnson, Sweet Home, pinned Matt Duran, Illinois Valley, :56.
119 — Jesse Kane, North Valley, dec. Shyne Tourville, Phoenix, 6-5.
125 — Kody Sells, HIdden Valley, dec. John Hedge, Marist, 5-4.
130 — Jonathan Floyd, Estacada, dec. Ryan Tourville, Phoenix, 8-6.
145 — Adam Miller, Illinois Valley, tech. fall Danny Cox, Estacada, 3:45; Jesse Swift, Illinois Valley, dec. John Tuck, La Grande, 8-7.
152 — Nick Amuchastegui, Phoenix, pinned Josh Banta, Astoria, :38.
171 — Noah Berman, Phoenix, pinned Austin Kinter, North Bend, 4:48.
QUARTERFINALS
103 — Dusty Culver, Illinois Valley, dec. Tony Thao, LaPine, 6-5.
112 — Matt Duran, Illinois Valley, major dec. Adam Smith, Tillamook, 13-0; Dustin Woosley, Tillamook, pinned Patrick Wiggins, Rogue River, 1:59.
119 — Jesse Kane, North Valley, tech. fall David Yecha, Douglas, 5:42; Shyne Tourville, Phoenix, major dec. Mike Coleman, Cascade, 12-4.
125 — Kody Sells, Hidden Valley, dec. Alex Jordan, Tillamook, 7-5 OT.
130 — Ryan Tourville, Phoenix, pinned Cameron Chappel, Douglas, 3:20.
140 — Jacob Stanley, Cottage Grove, pinned Robert McGregor, Henley, 1:06; Chase Shirley, La Grande, dec. Jerrod Miller, Illinois Valley, 6-4 OT; Cody Weishoff, Molalla, dec. Mike Sandoe, Henley, 6-5.
145 — Adam Miller, Illinois Valley, pinned Caleb Honl, Scappoose, 1:52; Jesse Swift, Illinois Valley, pinned Travis Hayter, South Umpqua, 4:32.
152 — Nick Amuchastegui, Phoenix, pinned Austin Kelly, Cascade, 1:35.
160 — DJ May, La Grande, pinned Judah Lockwood, Henley, 3:33; Matt Hill, Philomath, dec. Anthony Miller, Illinois Valley, 8-6.
171 — Noah Berman, Phoenix, pinned Brett Muth, Cottage Grove, 4:16.
189 — Robin Helfrich, Sweet Home, dec. Clint Sager, Hidden Valley, 4-2; Bo Younker, South Umpqua, pinned Chris Henry, Henley, 5:34.
215 — Kyle Witty, La Grande, pinned Tim Pope, Illinois Valley, 1:51.
285 — Jared Owens, Tillamook, pinned Josh Humphreys, Rogue River, 1:00; Chris Althof, Brookings-Harbor, dec. Paul Gutzman, North Valley, 5-2.
CONSOLATION BRACKET
SECOND ROUND
103 — Chris Culver, Illinois Valley, pinned Wade Humphrey, Cascade, 4:53.
119 — Luke Amuchastegui, Phoenix, pinned Danny Nunez, Ontario, 2:53.
130 — Joe McCaslin, Sweet Home, dec. Matt Cornish, North Valley, 10-8.
135 — Jacob Miller, Illinois Valley, pinned Robert Balsz, Henley, 1:28.
152 — Justin Johnson, Henley, dec. Kyle Goodnight, Scappoose, 8-3; Rett Heggie, Henley, pinned Derrick Calder, Philomath, 4:35.
160 — Brett Mathes, Henley, dec. JR Gates, Cascade, 5-4.
171 — Jared Schnieder, Henley, dec. Devin Ogdon, North Valley, 8-6.
189 — Lance Tausaga, Illinois Valley, pinned TJ Jenck, Molalla, 4:18.
215 — Adam Barichio, Tillamook, tech. fall Alex Machado, Phoenix, 3:42.
THIRD ROUND
103 — Chris Culver, Illinois Valley, pinned Taylor Tagle, Sweet Home, 2:58.
112 — Patrick Wiggins, Rogue River, pinned Marcus Hartwig, Philomath, 4:31.
119 — Luke Amuchastegui, Phoenix, dec. Derek Findlay, Douglas, 4-1.
130 — Ryan Black, Phoenix, dec. Russel Hutchins, Philomath, 6-4.
135 — Adam Sprague, Pleasant Hill, pinned Jacob Miller, Illinois Valley, 2:15.
140 — Steven Westerlund, Yamhill-Carlton, dec. Jerrod Miller, Illinois Valley, 7-5; Michael Strickland, Estacada, major dec. Robert McGregor, Henley, 12-4; Mike Sandoe, Henley, dec. Daniel Smith, Sweet Home, 4-0.
152 — Justin Johnson, Henley, dec. Kyle West, Junction City, 3-2; Rett Heggie, Henley, pinned Andy Godfrey, La Grande, 4:52.
160 — Judah Lockwood, Henley, major dec. Nathan Gent, Junction City, 10-2; Josh Harsh, Cottage Grove, dec. Anthony Miller, Illinois Valley, 9-3; Brett Mathes, Henley, dec. Kenny Early, Molalla, 7-5.
171 — Jared Schnieder, Henley, dec. Kolt Gunter, Philomath, 2-1.
189 — Clint Sager, Hidden Valley, dec. James Zook, Philomath, 5-2; Chris Henry, Henley, major dec. Chris Mettee, Banks, 9-1; Blake Thompson, Cottage Grove, dec. Lance Tausaga, Illinois Valley, 7-5 OT.
215 — Andrew Neilsen, Douglas, dec. Tim Pope, Illinois Valley, 8-7.
285 — Paul Gutzman, North Valley, dec. Travis Spencer, Philomath, 11-7; Kyle Allen, Estacada, pinned Josh Humphreys, Rogue River, 2:12.
