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In a dream scenario, the Ben Jorgensens of the world would meet the Steven Romeros, and the wrestling would be kept on the mats instead of spilling into the voting booths.
In reality, Jorgensen's dream season gave the Hermiston senior a slight edge over his Sunnyside counterpart as the Tri-City Herald's Outstanding Wrestler of the Year.
Jorgensen capped a marvelous career by winning his third Oregon 5A state title, complemented nicely by the Bulldogs' third straight team title.
In all, Hermiston placed five wrestlers on the all-area first team and six more on the second team, and coach Curt Berger was named Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
But those accolades pale when compared to the last two weeks of the season for Hermiston, which scored a jaw-dropping 565 points in the Intermountain League district tournament (double anyone else) and then set a state record with 303 points at state.
After placing 27 out of a possible 28 competitors at districts, the Bulldogs placed 16 of the 18 wrestlers they took to state.
"The whole two weekends in a row, breaking records and scoring high numbers, it was amazing," said Jorgensen, who finished the season 45-2 and was 134-32 for his career. "We wanted to go out with a bang, and that's exactly what we did."
Though he is just the second three-time state champion in school history (Kyle Larson was the first from 2001-03), Jorgensen wasn't exactly pegged for greatness when he was a freshman. That's when he took the bulk of his 32 career losses, tipping the scales at around 85 pounds and giving away 10 or 15 pounds even to the lightest of wrestlers.
"What a great career he had here," Berger said. "You start off at 85 pounds, and everybody else beat you up in the (wrestling) room.
"It's fantastic for somebody to be able to do that, not come in a superstar but go out a superstar. That's through work ethic, and he's been really good for the program."
Jorgensen came into this season with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. His first two titles came at 103 pounds, a weight that is often as light in talent as it is in weight. More than one 103-pound state champion has put on weight and never even made it back to state.
"I've heard that's what everybody says -- if you're semi-tough, you'll be able to win (at 103), and once you bump up a couple of weights, that's the real challenge," Jorgensen said. "I was definitely going out to prove that."
Jorgensen showed his mat cred wasn't to be taken lightly. One of his biggest moments came in a 6-5 loss in the championship of the Reser's Tournament of Champions to three-time state champ Tommy Siciliano of Newberg, regarded as one of the better wrestlers in the country. Jorgensen led the match but gave away a takedown in the final seconds.
Romero completed an incredible season of his own, going 41-0 in winning the 3A title at 112 pounds after winning at 103 last season. He finished as the Grizzlies' record holder in single-season pins, technical falls and near falls. His two-year run at state included five pins, a tech fall and two 6-1 decisions in the finals that were never close.
Jorgensen and Romero, both seniors, were given a serious run for outstanding wrestler by Hermiston freshman Joey Delgado, who went 47-1, won a title at Reser's and was named the outstanding wrestler of the 5A state tournament after blitzing the 103 bracket with four pins and an 11-2 major decision.
Joining Jorgensen and Delgado on the first team are Hermiston teammates Brandon Adolf, a senior at 130, and sophomores Bryce McMahon (140) and Curtis Berger (171).
Moses Lake, which won district and regional titles, placed junior Ricco Moreno (125), seniors Thomas Pfeiffer (145) and Sam Villegas (152) and sophomore Brian Chamberlain (189) on the first team and had two more on the second team.
Othello junior Reuben Lopez at 135 is the only CWAC wrestler on the first team, while the SCAC East had three: Connell junior Nato Orozco (215), Warden senior Tony Martinez (285) and Royal senior Angel Ledezma (160) -- a four-time state runner-up.
River View senior Sam Beckwith is the girls 130-and-under selection, while Kiona-Benton sophomore Sheridan McDonald was the easy choice for 135-plus after winning her second state title.
