Local wrestlers shine at 1A state tournament

By Garrett Christensen on Monday, February 3rd, 2025 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News

ELGIN – Not every high school sport is about throwing a ball, nor is every team composed of over 30 players. For student athletes in smaller communities wanting to participate in sports like wrestling, it can be daunting at times. Organizational limitations and the limited number of 1A teams can result in smaller schools being mixed up with, and pitted against, disproportionately sized teams. This isn’t always the case, however, as events like the recent 1A State Tournament gave local high school wrestlers a chance to truly shine on their own terms.

Initially organized in 2004 by longtime 1A advocate Check Steves, the aptly titled 1A State Tournament is a standalone high school wrestling tournament designed to give 1A schools the opportunity to wrestle teams of their own league without being pitted against larger schools. As commented by Jason Lathrop, Elgin High Schools girls wrestling coach:

“This is the only tournament all year where they compete at their level. Every other tournament they wrestle someone from a bigger division.”

Though not officially recognized yet by the OSSA due to its limited scope, the 1A state tournament offers a unique opportunity for students of 1A schools to wrestle each other on an even playing field. Any student from either a 1A school or wrestling on a 1A team is welcome to participate.

This year’s tournament was hosted in Camas Valley near Roseburg on Saturday, January 18. Both girls and boys teams participate each year, with the winning school of the boys bracket hosting the following year’s tournament for either Eastern or Western Oregon. Both boys and girls used to wrestle as combined teams, though they were separated into distinct categories in 2023 and given independent scoring brackets in 2024, with Elgin hosting the first independently scored girls tournament last year.

This year, Crane High School took the win for the boy’s team (making them next year’s host) while Elgin came in first for the girls with two weight bracket winners and one runner up. As cheesy as it sounds, however, winning isn’t everything. Lathrop noted that, overall, there is a strong sense of comradery and sportsmanship within the 1A division, competitive though it can be at times, commenting:

“We cheer on the other schools, try to get them to grow and get more kids out. That’s what the coaches have in mind, just grow the sport.”

It’s hoped that the tournament will help grow the 1A scene and eventually allow for more formal organization by the OSSA as compared to the 2A-6A divisions, particularly for the girl’s teams. As only 14 wrestling teams in the state actually have girls wrestling for 1A however, this could take some time. As reflected by Lathrop:

“If you have a 1A school with 80 kids in the high school and 40 of them are girls and 30 of them play basketball, that doesn’t leave you with many kids to pick from.”

Scores for the 2025 1A State Tournament girls’ bracket, by weight category, are below. As of the time of writing, boys’ scores have not been posted.

110

1st Place: Lacatia Mason. Four Rivers.
2nd Place: Abby Dougherty. North Douglas/Elkton
3rd Place: Lachian Thompson. Joseph
4th Place: Bella Burns. North Douglas/Elkton.

125

1st Place – Averie Fisher. Echo
2nd Place – Amber George of Elgin
3rd Place – Matia Kurzhal. Triangle Lake.

135

1st Place – Jacie Lathrop. Elgin
2nd Place – Gwen Bostedt. Joseph
3rd Place – Victoria Alcantar. North Douglas

145

1st Place – Bailey Hasbell. Elgin
2nd Place – April Lopez. Crane
3rd Place- Basey Dawson. Joseph

155

1st Place – Marli Lind. Baker/Powder Valley
2nd Place – Lucy Camacho. Imbler
3rd Place – Jaylynn Bueler. Camas Valley

The boys’ wrestling results will be posted as soon as they are available. For anyone that would like to support the local teams, the district wrestling tournament is February 14 and 15 in La Grande.

(Photo provided by Jason Lathrop, seen above with his team)