Wrestlers place at state tourney

The long road to the OSAA State Wrestling Championships concluded with two Outlaws placing in the top six, and one narrowly missing a medal.

Junior Carter Van Meter, who brought a 38-16 record to the tournament picked up three more wins for the season on his way to fifth place in the 3A 126-pound class.

Following a first-round bye, Van Meter faced Benjamin Dinan of Banks (30-8) who got the best of Van Meter at the 1:52 mark with a pin. This sent Van Meter into the consolation round where he picked up two wins by pin, first over Rowyn Miller of Glide (2:15) and next against James Anderson of Rogue River (0:52).

In the consolation semi-final, Caden Cox of Glide beat Van Meter by technical fall, setting up a fifth-place match against Jonny Rice of Rainier. Van Meter had the upper hand and pinned Rice at 1:15 to secure the fifth-place medal.

"Carter did a great job in a tough weight class and I am so thrilled to have him coming back next year to see how much higher he can climb," said Coach David Kemp.

Senior Scott Henderson, 24-17, scored a win in round one over Leland Beem of Santiam Christian (1:37) before taking on Jacob Logan of South Umpqua in the quarterfinal round. The pair battled evenly for the first two minutes before Logan took Henderson down at the 2:47 mark. Henderson stormed back with two wins in the consolation round. He pinned Calvin Longoni of Vale (1:19) and then scored a 7-6 decision over Max Smith of Warrenton.

Henderson then faced one of the top seeds in the tournament, Dayne Muller of Siuslaw, who had suffered only four losses in 41 matches during the regular season. Muller sent Henderson to the sixth-place match with a quick pin (0:49). Henderson's final match was nearly identical as Adrian Stubbs of Lakeview pinned Henderson at the 0:49 second mark.

"I am so proud of Scotty for how he handled himself throughout his career. To think that he didn't win a wrestling match until his junior season makes his performance a huge accomplishment," said Kemp. "Also even though he was wrestling in the 190-pound class, he weighed in at 178 this week, which is giving up a lot of weight."

Tyson Kemp, a sophomore with a 32-18 record in the regular season, faced off in the first round against Philemon Mauck of Banks (34-7) and came up short, losing by pin (1:02). Kemp received a bye in the first round of consolation and picked up a 3-0 decision over Luke Baker of Nyssa. In the do or die consolation round three, Kemp faced off against Boone Marquess of Pleasant Hill and it was anybody's match through four minutes before Marquess secured a pin at the 4:30 mark.

"I think Tyson will come back hungrier than ever," said Kemp about his son. "Of course he's bummed to not place, but he came as close as he could have."

Kemp, who is in his second year at the helm of the team, sees progress in the program.

"With Carter and Tyson back, along with some other underclassmen, I am looking forward to next season already," he said.