Herculean Huskies: Elgin boys wrestling claim “unofficial” 1A championship
By Joe Hathaway on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
ELGIN — Thanks to stellar performances by its top three wrestlers, Elgin claimed the team title as the Huskies hosted the unofficial 1A state championships on Saturday, January 20.
The officially sanctioned state championship tournament, hosted by the Oregon School Activities Association, combines 2A and 1A teams and will be held later in February.
“This unofficial state tournament has been going on for about 20 years,” said Lee Fincher, head wrestling coach at Elgin. “Pretty much every other sport has an official 1A state championship, but wrestling isn’t really conducive to do because of low numbers.”
Fincher says the “unofficial” state tournament rotates between schools in eastern and western Oregon each year.
Fincher said Elgin boys won the tournament with 154 points, with Crane finishing second with 139 points. The Elgin girls wrestling team finished second.
As the tournament came to a close, three Elgin wrestlers stood at the top of the podium as champions. Landyn Fincher won all three of his matches to claim the 106 pound title. Gen Wintersteen, wrestling at 157 pounds, also went 3-0 to win his weight class. Ty McLaughlin also went 3-0 to win the 175 pound title.
“Our guys did great, we’re looking really good right now,” said Fincher.
Other local boys wrestling teams that finished in the top ten on Saturday included Pine Eagle (4th), Adrian (6th), Union (7th), Imbler (8th) and Echo (9th).
