Oregon (OSAA) 6A, 5A wrestling championships Day 1 roundup

Two defending champions are out, but most of the big names advance to Saturday's action

Crater sophomore Jaxon Godley is one of 10 Comets to advance to the semifinals during Day 1 of the OSAA Class 5A wrestling championships. / René Ferrán

PORTLAND — As Brooklyn Jackson warmed up for her OSAA 6A/5A girls 235-pound quarterfinal match at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the David Douglas sophomore peppered her coaches and her best friend, teammate Sequoia Chorn, with questions about her opponent.

Nobody responded. They figured she’d be better off not knowing.

It wasn’t until Jackson departed the match with a 2-1 decision that everyone let her know she’d just taken down the top seed and defending state champion, Liberty senior Bianca Miranda.

“I just thought she probably had been on the podium,” Jackson said, smiling, with Chorn standing beside her. “I knew she had a seed. But I didn’t know she was the defending champ.

“But I wasn’t really thinking about the other opponent. I just went all in. I told myself I can’t lose, and I’m going to be a winner.”

Jackson’s victory was not the only surprise on Day 1 of the big-school portion (Class 6A and 5A boys and 6A/5A girls) of the OSAA wrestling championships.

Tualatin senior Logan Sunnell, the defending state champion at 6A 190, went down with an injury in the second round of his opening match against Forest Grove’s Preston Vandehey and couldn’t continue. Vandehey went on to win his second-round match and advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals.

The 6A boys wrestled only through the quarterfinals. The 5A boys and 6A/5A girls will start with the semifinals Saturday.

Class 6A boys

Top 10 (Quarterfinalists)

1, West Linn 74.5 points (8)

2, Newberg 72.5 (9)

3, Grants Pass 55 (6)

4, Roseburg 54.5 (7)

5, Sprague 54 (8)

6, South Medford 52.5 (6)

7, Sandy 50 (5)

8, Clackamas 48.5 (4)

9, Sherwood 48 (5)

10, Forest Grove 47 (5)

The defending champion Tigers trail the 2023 champion Lions by two points after the limited action of Day 1 that entailed the first two rounds of the championship bracket and Round 1 of the consolations.

The 13 remaining top seeds averaged just 1 minute, 40 seconds, on the mat, with only one match — Lincoln senior Nico Farinola’s 19-3 technical fall of West Linn’s Nate Gusdorf — going to the third round (albeit for nine seconds).

Class 5A boys

Top 10 (Semifinalists)

1, Crater, 127 (10)

2, Thurston, 113.5 (8)

3, Dallas, 72.5 (6)

4, Redmond, 71.5 (5)

5, Canby, 70.5 (3)

6, Hillsboro, 43 (2)

7, West Albany, 42 (2)

8, Mountain View, 37.5 (2)

9, Bend, 37 (2)

10, Lebanon, 36.5 (3)

Midwestern district rivals Crater and Thurston have turned the 5A meet into a two-team affair, putting considerable distance between themselves and defending champion Dallas after the first day of competition.

The Comets advanced 10 of their 17 qualifiers to the semifinals, with the remaining seven still alive in the consolations, and the Colts have eight of their 22 in the semifinals and 19 returning Saturday.

Class 6A/5A girls

Top 10 (Semifinalists)

1, Dallas 57.5 points (5)

2, Redmond 55 (4)

3, Thurston 52.5 (3)

4, Forest Grove 38.5 (3)

5, North Medford 32.5 (3)

6, McKay 30.5 (2)

7, David Douglas 28 (2)

tie, McNary 28 (2)

9, Crater 27.5 (2)

10, Aloha 26 (1)

tie, Barlow 26 (2)

tie, Corvallis 26 (2)

Brooklyn Jackson of David Douglas / René Ferrán

Jackson wanted to try out for wrestling in middle school but instead stuck with basketball through her freshman year.

“I’m tall,” she quipped. “I had the height.”

Finally, she joined Chorn on the Scots wrestling team, and while she made the podium three times during the regular season, she came to the Coliseum sporting a 13-10 record and a No. 8 seed after a runner-up finish at the district meet.

She pinned her first-round opponent in 83 seconds before her matchup with Miranda, who also reached the 235 final in 2023.

Jackson received an early penalty point and led 1-0 after one round. Miranda chose the top position for the second, looking to turn Jackson and get a fall, but while Jackson gave up a stalling point, she survived the round without giving up a point.

Jackson chose down for the third period and finally wriggled free with 24 seconds left for the decisive point.

“I was on the floor pretty much the whole match, and she almost had me into a pin, but she put me in a half and pulled my shoulder back so much that I yelled in pain,” she said. “My coaches hyped me up, and I was ready to go.”

Jackson assured herself of a top-six finish with the win, while Chorn remains alive in the consolation bracket, so they’ll both return to the Coliseum on Saturday.

“And I want that title,” Jackson said. “So, I’m here to win tomorrow.”

So is Dallas, which finished second to Thurston at last year’s meet but holds a narrow lead over Redmond and Thurston.

“I don’t look at the brackets a whole lot,” said Dragons coach Austin Markee, who has seven of his 12 qualifiers still alive in the bracket. “But there’s going to be some really important semifinals tomorrow.”

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