Oregon Wrestling Classic
Redmond, Oregon By Valley Boys
Garrett Urruita Of Lebanon is One Tough Kid on the Grid Iron and on The Mat.
Sports such as football and basketball typically garner the spotlight of fans and media attention across the nation as well generates the highest amount of revenue at the collegiate level. To many, the sport of wrestling is not fully understood and is a sport that does not get much press.
‘The State of Oregon has produced many state champions that have flourished at the next level and have produced many college athletic scholarship opportunities for the very best athletes. OregonPreps.com traveled to Redmond, Oregon recently for the largest wrestling in the State; an event second only to the OSAA State championships that get held in Portland, Or. in February.
That event is called the Oregon Wrestling Classic. This year well over 100 Oregon schools showed up from 1A all the way up to 6A for this dual format, where school sizes compete solely against their own class sizes to see who is truly the best of the best.
The classic showcases the very best wrestling programs with the dual format, as well as the elite individual wrestlers showing off who is the best in the state of Oregon. And, the best keep getting even better, just as football and basketball does. Every year, or so it seems, there’s talk that wrestling numbers are down at the high school level and yet a participation survey for all sports conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations shows just the opposite to be true. In 2008, wrestling ranked eighth in the country for schools offering the sport and sixth in participants.
It was in the same place last year, but with 317 more schools and more than 14,000 athletes. For Oregon, there were 196 schools with wrestling teams in 2008, boasting 4,647 wrestlers. Last year there were 200 schools with teams and 5,436 grapplers.
Sports participation has never been this high in the country as a whole, with 7,667,955 high school athletes across the country in 2011. OregonPreps had the opportunity to talk with several of Oregon’s finest grapplers and witness first hand how tough this sport truly is at the Oregon Classic where we watched some of the State’s Top schools perform.
Many kids start wrestling at a very young age and dream of getting to go to the State Championships, where typically only the top 3 or maybe 4 wrestlers will go from each district. Most kids never get that shot. 3 time state champion at 138 from 5A Hermiston is Joey Delgado and he started wrestling at seven years old.
He wrestled and also played football until the 7thgrade and finally quit “because it was a waste of time,” Delgado said adding, “I started wrestling year around.”
Joey Delgado Of Hermiston is a 3 Time State Champ on The Mat.
That move proved to be a good idea, as Delgado is not only closing in on his 4th straight state championship title, but he has signed his letter of intent to wrestle for the OSU Beavers next year. Currently ranked 10thin the nation at his weight class, he also had offers from Wyoming, Cal Poly, and Boise State. Delgado says his number one top ranked Hermiston team works extremely hard and gets pushed by head coach and former OSU grappler, Curt Berger.
“Our team goals are to out work every team,” he says. “My personal goal this year is to win a 4th title and I make sure I’m focused every time I step on the mat and look at every single match like it’s a state title,” he adds.
Many believe the sport of wrestling has direct ties to the sport of football and they both go hand in hand in development.
“I think that if you wrestle then football will come much easier,” said 160 pound number one 5A state ranked Garrett Urrutia, from the Lebanon Warrior squad.
Urrutia helped his football team this year rushing for 1068 yards, averaging 12.42 yds per carry on 86 touches. He not only rushed for 18 touchdowns, but he also averaged 5.8 tackles per game at LB.
“I think football is my number one choice,” said Urrutia, who has a 3.88 GPA and has been contacted by Willamette University for football and Southern Oregon for wrestling. “If I wrestled in college, I would go to Southern Oregon where my older brother Dalton is wrestling,” he said.
Urrutia is one tough kid, as he missed his first 3 football games due to a broken hand. But Urrutia admits wrestling is a tougher sport.
“They know how to work harder and are generally in better shape,” he said adding, “wrestling is a whole body workout with intense cardio.”
Many outstanding grapplers also play football, but there are elite wrestlers that just devote themselves to wrestling. Zac Brunson, a 3 time state champion from Churchill, is just one of those guys.
“I didn’t really enjoy it,” the 170 pounder said of football, “my dad introduced me to wrestling around 6 years old and he passed it down to me and I feel in love with it and it just stuck.”
Brunson, who is currently ranked #1 in the entire nation, took all 5 official college visits and recently signed his letter of intent with the University of Illinois. In July 2011 he won 11 matches during 3 days to win the 152 title at the national freestyle championships in Fargo, North Dakota. OregonPreps asked Brunson what made him tick and why he is so unstoppable.
“I have a strong will to win and I am deeply passionate about not losing,” Brunson said, “I hate to lose.” He also echoed what Urrutia said about how hard the sport of wrestling is. “I have yet to see a football guy come out for wrestling and not walk away thinking that wrestling was way harder,” he said. “This sport is another level both physically and mentally, it can take a real toll on you,” Brunson added.
Not every #1 state ranked wrestler has been in the sport for a long time. Crescent Valley’s Austin Powellis currently undefeated in his weight class with 18 straight wins, 5 tournament championships, and is ranked #1 in Oregon as a 5A grappler.
“I quit basketball in the middle of my freshman year and put on a singlet,” said 6’ 4” Powell with a chuckle, who had never dreamed of wrestling before that and
Austin Powell of Crescent is a Top Ranked Football Player and Now #1 5A Heavy-Weight in Oregon
played on elite junior high basketball teams. “I really wanted a sport that would enhance my football skills and make me tougher,” he said.
Powell, a junior, definitely has football skills as OregonPreps selected him as one of the top lineman on either side of the ball in Oregon out of all class sizes and classifications. But Powell’s focus right now in wrestling is to be a state champion in late February.
“The number one ranking is great, but until I am standing on the podium with a gold metal around my neck, it is not official that I’m the best,” Powell said. “I really want to play football at the next level in college, and I will do whatever I have to in order to get there,” he said.
Powell, who started as a left tackle and defensive end for CV, said that he has received letters from 8 different D1 schools.
“None of that matters until I have an offer,” Powell said. “I want to be a state champion in wrestling this year, help my football team win state, and then get an offer to play college football,” he added. “I am obsessed with winning, highly competitive, and hate to lose,” said Powell.
OregonPreps last interview at the Oregon Classic was with state champion Jared Groner, the 6A heavyweight from Oregon City HS at 285. Groner started playing football in the 3rd grade and wrestling in the 7th. Groner is also ranked number one in state and has been contacted by Pacific in Forrest Grove for both football and wrestling opportunies, as well as South Dakota State University for wrestling. “I haven’t decided because both sports are really close to me,” said a very polite Groner, who sports a 3.85 GPA. He said both of these sports really go hand in hand. “There are huge connections between wrestling and football,” the gentle giant admits. “It has been very good for me on the line to wrestle and has really helped my balance,” he says. The Oregon Classic showcased many of the top schools in the state with overall team scores and also spotlighted several number ranked grapplers. OregonPrepswas there to cover the event to witness incredible talent with more than 1,000 wrestlers from more than 100 schools. The following schools ended up in first place in their respective school classifications:
- 1/2A was Culver
- 3A Glide
- 4A was Henley over Sweet Home
- 5A was Dallas over the #1 ranked state Hermiston squad
- 6A was Roseburg as the Champions.
A lot of tough wrestling was witnessed at this year’s Oregon Classic and now the league duals officially begin.
