Hermiston crowns 2 state wrestling champions, finishes fourth in team standings

The Hermiston wrestling team did not have the horses this year to contend for a state team title, but they did crown two champions Saturday in Valen Wyse (170 pounds) and C.J. Hendon (138).

The Bulldogs took 14 to state and had six placers in capturing fourth in the Class 5A team race with 138 points at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Crater won the team title with 175.5 points, ending Hermiston’s run of four consecutive titles. Dallas (147.5) was second, followed by Redmond (144).

Wyse (43-4) pinned Mikel Bremner of Milwaukie in 1:29 for his second state title (he won at 152 last year).

Hendon (36-5), who was third last year, won his first title, beating Brody Diaz de Leon of Sandy 6-4 in overtime.

Also placing for the Bulldogs were AJ Tuia (23-17), who was sixth at 145, Julio Leiva (30-13) was fourth at 170, and Kenny Bevan (220) and Beau Blake (285) both placed fifth.

In the 3A tournament, Riverside’s Aristotle Rockwell won his second consecutive state title, beating Kasey Collier of Glide 9-3. Rockwell finished the season 35-0.

Also placing for the Pirates were Anthony Kernal (fourth at 220), Ruben Villa (fifth at 285) and Andrew Barker (sixth at 120).

Riverside finished eighth in the team scoring with 68 points. Nyssa ran away with the team title, rolling up 287 points and crowning four champions.

This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Hermiston crowns 2 state wrestling champions, finishes fourth in team standings."