The 'Must Watch' list for this weekend's OSAA wrestling state championships

SBLive Oregon has identified 15 wrestlers — including five who will be going for a fourth state title — for its Must Watch list at Memorial Coliseum

West Linn wrestler Oscar Doces will go for a third 6A state championship. / Taylor Balkom

Last year, we introduced our list of 12 ‘unbeatable’ wrestlers entering the state championships.

This year, SBLive Oregon has identified 15 wrestlers — including five who will be going for a fourth state title — for its Must Watch list at Memorial Coliseum this weekend.

Kale Cornell, Burns, senior

3A 126

Season record: 33-5

Career record: 167-18

First opponent: Winner of Jack Forson, Scio-Julian Gnos, Willamina match

Cornell hopes to become the third Burns wrestler to win four state championships, joining Talon Hofman (2001-04) and Cy Swartzlander, who did so from 2006-09 while wrestling for the Hilanders and Lakeview during his career. He arrives riding a 21-match win streak that includes two victories over 2A/1A state champion Taylor Parsons of Grant Union/Prairie City.

Oscar Doces, West Linn, senior

6A 144

Season record: 25-4

Career record: 113-21

First opponent: Aiden Swanson, Grants Pass, senior

Doces has become one of the state’s top middleweights since arriving at West Linn from Ida B. Wells after his freshman season. He won state titles at 126 and 138 the past two seasons, ending Zachary Keinonen’s bid to become a four-time champion in one of the marquee matches of last year’s meet, and won a second Reser’s Tournament of Champions gold eagle last month.

Canby senior Jackson Doman / Photo by Taylor Balkom

Jackson Doman, Canby, senior 

5A 215

Season record: 42-0

Career record: 151-19

First opponent: John McCartney, Woodburn, sophomore

Doman has not lost a match since his sophomore year, when he fell in the 182 quarterfinals to eventual champion Preston Echeverria of Hillsboro. Doman won two more matches to make the medals podium, then the devout Mormon defaulted his final two matches because the snow-delayed tournament finished on a Sunday. He went 45-0 to win the 215 title last year, won a second Reser’s TOC last month, and might have to go through another returning state champion (Silverton’s Brash Henderson) to defend his crown this weekend.

Easton Kemper, Burns, senior

3A 190

Season record: 33-4

Career record: 143-13

First opponent: Winner of Bodhi Baller, Willamina-Beau Olsen, Sutherlin match

Kemper looks to join Cornell as teammates to win a fourth state title at the same tournament — something that has happened only three times. Kemper has lost only once to an in-state opponent this season (to South Medford’s Bridger Foss in mid-December). He placed third at Sierra Nevada and was runner-up at Rollie Lane.

Bridger Foss, South Medford, senior 

6A 175

Season record: 34-1

Career record: 149-15

First opponent: Layton Walter, Sherwood, senior

Foss arrived in Southern Oregon from Oakes, N.D., where he placed seventh at the Class B state meet as a freshman. He has lost only three of 124 matches the past three years, winning titles at North Bend, Grants Pass and Nor Cal, and he finished second at the Tim Brown Memorial (to Gideon Gerber of Oakdale, Calif.) this season.

La Pine wrestler Devon Kerr / Taylor Balkom

Devon Kerr, La Pine, senior

3A 138

Season record: 38-4

Career record: 154-17

First opponent: Evan Wise, Jefferson, junior

The Kerr family has created a rich legacy at La Pine, with 12 state championships spread among three brothers, a sister and the patriarch, Dave, who won the school’s first state title in 1989. None has become a four-time state champion — an accomplishment Devon can achieve this weekend.

Zorina Johnson, Ida B. Wells, junior 

6A/5A Girls 130

Season record: 25-0

Career record: 60-1

First opponent: Evelyn McKenzie, Southridge, sophomore

Johnson’s only loss during her high school career came in the 2023 state final to West Albany’s two-time champion Ariana Martinez. Only two opponents (Renae Cook of Forest Grove twice and Raenah Smith of Mead in Spokane) have gone the full six minutes against Johnson the past two seasons — although that could change this weekend, with Cook in the same half of the draw and top seed Sadie Hall of North Medford (also a returning state champion) looming as a possible opponent in the final.

Leif Larwin, Bend, sophomore

5A 175

Season record: 40-1

Career record: 83-4

First opponent: Aydan Beckstead, Thurston, senior

Larwin won the middle school Triple Crown in the summer of 2023 before dominating as a freshman, announcing himself at the Reser’s TOC last year before romping to his first state title. His only defeat this season came at North Bend in mid-December, and he arrives this weekend riding a 32-match win streak that includes a second Reser’s gold eagle.

Mallory Lusco, Grant Union, senior

4A/3A/2A/1A Girls 235

Season record: 29-1

Career record: 103-9

First opponent: Winner of Kayden Twichell, Rainier-Hannah Travis, Central Linn match

Lusco finds herself in a similar position as last year — the three-time state champion and Eastern Oregon signee could become the first girl to win four OSAA titles since girls wrestling was made an official sport in 2019, but to do so, she’ll likely have to avenge a midseason loss to top seed Breanna Meek of North Valley. A year ago, Lusco did just that, riding an armbar to a third-period pin to keep her four-timer quest alive.

Dominic Macon, Nelson, senior 

6A 285

Season record: 32-0

Career record: 95-12

First opponent: Winner of Yuko Cueto, Beaverton-Braeden Krizan, Tigard match

In 18 months, Macon has transformed himself from a middling athlete into one of the state’s top football prospects, having signed to play defensive line for the University of Washington, and its premier heavyweight wrestler, having won 64 consecutive matches and a state title in dramatic fashion as a junior.

Layla Morris, Mountainside, senior

6A/5A Girls 125

Season record: 48-0

Career record: 129-13

First opponent: Angelique Martinez, Reynolds, senior

Morris was solid during her first two seasons, qualifying for state twice and winning a district title as a sophomore. Everything started clicking for her last season, when she went 42-2 and won the 115 state title — the first by any Mavericks wrestler (boy or girl) — and she rides a 64-match win streak into this weekend, including titles at Sierra Nevada (beating U16 national champion Me’kala James in the final) and Lady Dragon.

Crater wrestler Jeremiah Oliva / Taylor Balkom

Jeremiah Oliva, Crater, sophomore

5A 120

Season record: 37-1

Career record: 68-4

First opponent: Joseph Maxfield, Dallas, senior

Oliva is halfway to becoming a four-time Reser’s TOC champion, and if he can extend his win streak to 40 this weekend, he’ll be halfway to becoming the first wrestler to win four state titles wearing a Comets singlet (Hayden Walters won three for Crescent Valley before returning to Crater and winning his fourth in 2023).

Polly Olliff, Dallas, senior

6A/5A Girls 115

Season record: 50-1

Career record: 136-7

First opponent: Kara Hopkins, Barlow, sophomore

The Dragons have long been known as a wrestling school, with coach Tony Olliff leading them to two championships and three runner-up finishes from 2011-18. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that his daughter picked up a few tricks during his 20-plus years leading the boys program. During Polly’s career, she’s won two state titles and placed third as a freshman. Her only loss this season came in the Lady Dragon final to rival Jennifer Russell of Corvallis — the same wrestler who handed Olliff her previous loss in the Tod Surmon final last year before she came back to win her second title.

Jadyn Pense, St. Helens, sophomore

4A/3A/2A/1A Girls 170

Season record: 43-1

Career record: 82-8

First opponent: Mila Wonser, Mazama, sophomore

The wins just keep coming for Pense, who won her first state title last year, then earned the OWA Triple Crown (freestyle, folkstyle and Greco-Roman) and went 2-2 at the 16U Nationals in Fargo, N.D. Her only loss this season came in the only match she wrestled up a division at 190 (to David Douglas’ McKenzie Mills, third at 190 last year). She won the Pacific Coast Championships and Lady Dragon among her eight tournament titles.

Landyn Philpott, La Pine, senior

3A 144

Season record: 47-2

Career record: 172-19

First opponent: Keaton Mattinen, Rainier, senior

Philpott and Kerr have a chance to go back-to-back on the same mat as four-time state champions, with Philpott earning his chance with a hard-fought 7-4 decision over Vale’s Gunnar Tamez last year. His only two losses this season were to Victor-Alexander Gutierrez of Central Catholic (Calif.) in the Sierra Nevada final and Doces in the Reser’s TOC semifinals, with a title at Rollie Lane also on his resumé. 

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