Dusty Fiske
IVN Contributing Writer
The brackets for the Oregon state wrestling tournament came in late so this is just a quick review on the seeding and information on 1A/2A bracketing.
The Cougars have three number one seeds: Ryon and Micah Martinho and Talen Shaffer, two number two seeds: Ebyn Lyndsey and Ryan Griffin and surprisingly two-time defending state champ Mike Miller as a number three seed.
The bracket policy for 1A/2A seems strange because there are three districts in the state. Each district qualifies their first, second and third place finishers. OSAA then selects one fourth place and fills a 16 – team bracket with 10 wrestlers.
This means that the first round in each weight is two matches and six byes. District 3 (Culver’s) had seven fourth place finishers and I.V.’s district only had three. If they took four wrestlers from each district, they would actually have more action in the first round, but that’s just an observer’s speculation.
The boys will be on the road to Portland Wednesday to the Veterans Memorial Colosseum for seeking a championship Feb. 23 -25. “If all 13 boys wrestle their best that’s all I can ask for,” said Coach Jesse Clark.
Good luck wrestlers! The Illinois Valley News will publish the results from state next week.