Wilsonville Wrestling Recap
The Wrestling team at WVHS’s season has come to an end. It was full of ups and downs. Lots of struggle, but with struggle comes growth. Here’s a recap of how the season went:
The first tournament for the Cats came as the Tyrone Woods invite. It was also the biggest tournament that the Cats had participated in at the time. They went up against the likes of Hood River, Pendleton, Barlow, and Silverton. Their youth showed as they struggled against the other wrestling powerhouses.
Next, the Cats had a big challenge: their first NWOC meet against a very tough Scappoose squad. The Scappoose team is one of the most respected teams in not just the NWOC, but the entire state. Coming into the match, the Wildcats were heavy underdogs. But they fought hard. They took some early points, however, Scappoose ran away with it by a score of 57-22.
In a quick turnaround, the Cats geared up for another large tournament, this time in the form of the Rose City Classic. This time they faced off against Thurston, Dallas, and Glencoe, among others. Similar to the Tyron Woods tournament, the Cats fought hard but their youth and inexperience showed early.
The NWOC is not a friendly schedule, as the wrestling Wildcats had to strap up for another tough conference opponent. This time: the Hillsboro Spartans. The Spartans were led by some big-bodied veterans and scrappy youth. The Cats were outmatched and they dropped this dual 56-30.
The Cats had been looking to gain some sort of momentum throughout the grueling season and they hoped that a matchup against 6A Centennial would be a good starting point. It was neck and neck towards the end with both teams seeming like they’ll run away with it but then the other team would catch back up. In the end, it was the Cats who got the win by a score of 38-33!
The Colton Holly Memorial Invitational is one of the biggest tournaments of the year in the state of Oregon, which Wilsonville plays host to. It pays homage to former Wildcat Wrestling star Colton Holly, who passed away back in 2010. The Wrestling powerhouses of the state gather in one gym to battle it out to see who’s top dog in Oregon. The Wrestlers of Wilsonville did all they could but ultimately, the experience of the other programs caught up to them.
Wrestling is a very unique sport, with an incredible amount of effort and determination needed to see improvement. “You have to work hard and listen to your coaches to be successful,” Cooper Adams, a sophomore wrestler, says about the sports workload to be triumphant. “You need to take the good with the bad and just wrestle your hardest.” Throughout the season, this year’s wrestlers definitely fought through the struggles they faced, and used the season to focus on self improvement and development.
“As the season came to an end, I feel like it was great,” Hannah Gillas, a senior and captain for the girls wrestling team for the 2021/22 team says. “We had a great season, many individual wins during tournaments, and an overall great league performance.” This year’s girls team, which consisted of 6 wrestlers, ended the season with 60 takedowns from a wide variety of weight classes. “I couldn’t think of a better group of people to be on a team with for my last year of wrestling before college, and everyone made the experience amazing.”
This season was full of dips and valleys. The inexperience often hurts them but it also sets them up for the future. They have a group of young, talented wrestlers who are going to lead the future of Wilsonville Wrestling.
