La Pine boys & girls win wrestling titles; Redmond claims first championship in 64 years
(Update: adding video, comments from Redmond wrestlers)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The La Pine Boys and Girls team captured a 3A state title this weekend at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It's the boys' third title in a row, and the first time both a boys and girls team from the same school won the OSAA tournament since a girls champion first became recognized in 2019.
On Sunday, the Redmond boys won their first state championship since 1959, shocking the rest of the 5A league.
In the final statewide wrestling poll of the season, the Panthers were ranked fifth, behind Thurston, Dallas, Mountain View and Crescent Valley.
Redmond senior wrestler Ansen Widing, who won an individual state title at 126 lbs., was surprised the team won.
“It just blows my mind," Widing said Monday. "I knew we had the team to do it, but I didn’t think it would be, I didn’t see it happening. But I’m glad it did.”
Sophomore wrestler Billy Jackson, who got second at 120 lbs., said he'll cherish this moment forever.
“It was crazy -- my coach Davis has only won two team titles, so it was just cool," Jackson said. "He’ll remember us forever now.”
The Redmond girls fell short of a team medal, but sophomore MacKenzie Shearon became the first female wrestler to claim a state title in program history.
Widing commented on the family-like closeness the program has.
“Everyone's super close together if that makes sense, everyone says wrestling is like a family sport and that’s really how we make it feel," he said. "Everyone is just family with everyone. Everyone cares for everyone on this team.”
Other individual state titles include:
Scout Santos-Boys 120lbs, Drew Jones-Boys 132lbs, Jackson Potts-Boys 160lbs (Mountain View-5A)
Makenna Duran-Girls 120lbs, Gavin Sandoval-Boys 152lbs (Crook County, 4A)
Landyn Philpott-Boys 132lbs, Devon Kerr-Boys 138lbs, Kira Kerr-Girls 155lbs, Tag Delucca-Boys 160lbs (La Pine-3A)
Wylie Johnson-Boys 285lbs (Culver-1A/2A)
