SALEM — The feature match at the state wrestling tournament went according to plan for 5 minutes and 40 seconds for Phoenix senior Nick Amuchastegui Saturday night.
Then, the world turned upside down.
Trailing 6-3 in the Class 4A final at 152 pounds, Estacada senior Josh Stalcup scored a two-point takedown on an "inside back" maneuver, then followed through to eventually pin Amuchastegui at 5:50 of the six-minute match.
With a capacity crowd at the Oregon State Fairgrounds roaring from the excitement, Stalcup raced off the mat having won his third straight state title. Amuchastegui sat stunned, having lost for the first time in two years.
"This is the end of high school wrestling for me, so I'm disappointed," Amuchastegui said after more than 10 minutes of recovery time. "But, it's the start of another chapter. I'm lucky enough to have a chance to wrestle in college. We'll meet again.
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Both wrestlers are headed to Pac-10 schools: Stalcup to Oregon State and Amuchastegui to Stanford.
Amuchastegui's loss somewhat overshadowed Phoenix junior Noah Berman's championship match at 171, which he won 7-1 over La Grande senior Dusty Bell. Berman scored two takedowns, a reversal and got a penalty point. Bell scored an escape with 10 seconds left.
Berman said watching the Amuchastegui match gave him motivation for his match.
"I felt really bad for Nick," Berman said. "He's the best wrestler here, pound for pound, and to see what happened at the end I was stunned. It nearly drove me to tears."
Berman, who didn't make weight at the tournament last year and was disqualified, said the match highlighted a simple fact of athletics.
"It just shows that anything can happen at any time," he said. "And, to anyone."
Phoenix finished fifth in the final standings, just two points, and twenty seconds, away from third place. Sweet Home won the title despite not having an individual champion. Illinois Valley placed seventh.
Illinois Valley crowned a champion at 145 pounds when junior Jesse Swift beat teammate Adam Miller, a senior, 5-4. Swift scored an escape early in the third round for the decisive point.
Stalcup and Amuchastegui both won state titles last year wrestling at different weights, which might have happened this year except Stalcup lost 4-1 when the two met at the Oregon Wrestling Classic. He said he purposely dropped weight to make the 152 bracket at the district meet so he could face Amuchastegui in the state final.
"I beat the top guys at 160 and I knew I could win there," he said. "This was the match I wanted, especially after losing to him this season."
Stalcup scored a takedown in the first round, the first offensive points Amuchastegui had given up this season, but the Phoenix standout, who hadn't lost since a semifinal loss to Stalcup in the 2005 tourney, scored an escape and then a takedown for a 3-2 lead after the first round. He scored another escape and takedown in the second round and, after giving up an escape early in the third round, led 6-3 with seconds counting down toward a second straight state title.
But, Stalcup, with his coaches screaming "wrestle", responded by pulling out a move that had gotten him to a national final in the summer.
"That's a move I have and I needed it," he said. "I knew a takedown wouldn't score enough to win. I needed a takedown and more."
"I didn't think he could follow through on that move," Amuchastegui said, "but he did."
Amuchastegui said he had opportunities to score more points earlier in the match, but didn't take advantage of them.
"I wasn't intense enough," he said. "I had chances, they were there."
Phoenix coach Harry Mondale said matches at the state meet rarely generate the crowd intensity of the Amuchastegui-Stalcup duel, which led to a disheartened second-place finisher.
"I told him the sun is still going to come up tomorrow," Mondale said. "There's more wrestling to come."
Amuchastegui is 1-4 against Stalcup, having lost all three meetings their sophomore season.
Phoenix won four additional trophies in consolation action, including a third-place finish by senior Shyne Tourville at 119. His brother, sophomore Ryan Tourville, finished fourth at 130. Freshman Luke Amuchastegui placed fifth at 119 and senior Ryan Black placed fifth at 130.
Illinois Valley won two other trophies. Freshman Matt Duran finished fifth at 112 and freshman Dusty Culver placed sixth at 103.
Class 4A Results
TEAM SCORES — Sweet Home 154, Tillamook 140.5, La Grande 125, Scappoose 125, Phoenix 124, Estacada 104.5, Illinois Valley 99.5, Cottage Grove 93.5, North Bend 89, Henley 83, Cascade 82.5, South Umpqua 81.5, Pleasant Hill 81, Ontario 70.5, North Marion 69.5, Molalla 63, Astoria 53, Philomath 53, Stayton 49.5, La Pine 48, North Valley 48, Brookings 47.5, Hidden Valley 38, Banks 33.5, Siuslaw 31, Douglas 25.5, Junction City 24.5, McLoughlin 24.5, Rogue River 23, Baker 22, Marist 9, Yamhill-Carlton 9, Sisters 4, Central 3, Sutherlin 3, Newport 2.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
103 — Gabe Goodrich, Banks, def. Flavio Michel, Stayton, 6-5; 112 — Dustin Woolsey, Tillamook, pinned Danny Johnson, Sweet Home, 3:04; 119 — Jesse Kane, North Valley, def. Bryce Klum, Scappoose, 12-3; 125 — Seth Honl, Scappoose, def. Kody Sells, Hidden Valley, 4-1; 130 — Tyler Phillips, Cascade, won by technical fall over Jonathan Floyd, Estacada, 4:16.
135 — Shaun Fletcher, North Bend, def. Brady Lee, Molalla, 11-8; 140 — Jacob Stanley, Cottage Grove, def. Cody Weishoff, Molalla, 12-6; 145 — Jesse Swift, Illinois Valley, def. Adam Miller, Illinois Valley, 5-4; 152 — Josh Stalcup, Estacada, pinned Nike Amuchastegui, Phoenix, 5:50.
160 — Matt Hill, Philomath, def. Grant Koutny, North Marion, 10-7; 171 — Noah Berman, Phoenix, def. Dusty Bell, La Grande, 7-1; 189 — Ryland Geiger, Scappoose, def. Bo Younker, South Umpqua, 11-8; 215 — Kyle Witty, La Grande, def. Jake Banta, Astoria, 8-3; 285 — Jared Owens, Tillamook, def. Levi Cooper, North Marion, 5-2.
THIRD-FOURTH FINALS
103 — Brandon Bowers, South Umpqua, def. Dylan McCallum, La Grande, 13-6; 112 — Chase Fields, Ontario, pinned Patrick Wiggins, Rogue River, 1:07; 119 — Shyne Tourville, Phoenix, def. Mike Coleman, Cascade, 8-2; 125 — Brock Croder, Sweet Home, def. Drew Erickson, Pleasant Hill, 5-4; 130 — Jimi Martin, Tillamook, def. Ryan Tourville, Phoenix, 8-6.
135 — Adam Sprague, Pleasant Hill, pinned Tony Green, Cascade, 2:50; 140 — Garrett Caldwell, North Bend, def. Chase Shirley, La Grande, 6-4; 145 — John Tuck, La Grande, def. Caleb Honl, Scappoose, 10-1; 152 — Justin Johnson, Henley, def. Andrew Knight, Sweet Home, 18-11.
160 — DJ May, La Grande, pinned Judah Lockwood, Henley, 3:57; 171 — Austin Kintner, North Bend, pinned Denver Conrad, Siuslaw, 2:57; 189 — Robin Helfrich, Sweet Home, pinned Clark Wozich, Pleasant Hill, 3:27; 215 — Mike Furrer, Junction City, def. Adam Barichio, Tillamook, 9-3; 285 — Chris Althof, Brookings, pinned Paul Gutzman, North Valley, 1:24.
FIFTH-SIXTH FINALS
103 --Tony Thao, LaPine, def. Dusty Culver, Illinois Valley, 10-6; 112 — Matt Duran, Illinois Valley, pinned Nico Martinez, Ontario, 3:03; 119 — Luke Amuchastegui, Phoenix, def. Jake Smith, Sweet Home, 6-2; 125 — Cody Randall, North Marion, def. John Hedge, Marist, 7-6; 130 — Ryan Black, Phoenix, def. Grant Marcum, Baker, 13-2.
135 — John Garcia, Tillamook, def. Billy Dunn, Cottage Grove, 8-2; 140 — Michael Strickland, Estacada, def. Mike Sandoe, Henley, 11-9 (OT); 145 — Nick Pitts, Sweet Home, def. Danny Cox, Estacada, 5-4; 152 — Josh Banta, Astoria, def. Ian Herzog, Cottage Grove, 16-4.
160 — Caleb Pendleton, Scappoose, def. Josh Harsh, Cottage Grove, 7-4; 171 — Jake Pflug, Stayton, def. Hallister Stephenson, Molalla, 12-2; 189 — Blake Thompson, Cottage Grove, pinned Anthony Rangel, Ontario, 1:32; 215 — Anthony Tilman, La Pine, pinned Luke Sims, Siuslaw, 1:10; 285 — Jerad Jaehnig, pinned Ben Mattingly, Astoria, 3:23.


