The Canby High School wrestling team hosted the Northwest Oregon Conference district championships on Saturday and capped its NWOC debut by doing pretty much what it has been doing all season: Dominating.
The Cougars mauled their competition en route to the district crown with 409 team points, far outpacing second-place Centennial (261), Hillsboro (244.5), Wilsonville (176), Hood River Valley (152.5), Milwaukie (124), Putnam (85.5) and Parkrose (31).
Senior Ethan Ensrud capped an incredible high school career, claiming the 160-pound district tile in a 5-2 decision in the 160 class over fellow Coug James Keinonen and was also tabbed as one of the tournament’s top wrestlers, while coach Jeremy Ensrud was named NWOC Coach of the Year.
Other champions in their weight class were Craig Williams at 120, who defeated Centennial’s Samuel Ramirez in a 2-0 decision; Thomas Marquez at 152, who took a 7-3 decision over Kevin Castro of Hood River Valley; and Wyatt Samarin at 170, who won by fall in 4:49 over fellow Cougar Isaiah Parsons.
Cody Stevenson took second in the 106-pound weight class, losing by fall to Centennial’s John Duong in 35 seconds, while Matthew Young also claimed silver at 126, losing to Milwaukie’s Theo Baldwin in a 9-2 decision.
Canby’s Benjamin Young also took second at 138, being defeated by Skyler Salzman, of Hillsboro, in a 6-3 decision; as did Jackson Doman, losing to Hillsboro’s Preston Echeverria in a 10-1 major decision.
Third-place finishers for the Cougs included Nico Yazzolino at 120, Peter Sansone at 152, Tyler Konold at 195, and Paul Masingila in the heavyweight 285-pound division. Dean Williams (113), Gabe Baker (182) and Gideon Noss (220) claimed fourth in their respective divisions.
The commanding performance was the perfect end to a perfect season for the Cougs, in which they went 15-0 in dual meets and won all five tournaments in which they competed.
In all, Canby qualified 18 wrestlers to compete in the OSAA wrestling state championships, which will be held between February 23 and 25 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
Qualifiers and initial brackets are available online here. For more information about the wrestling state championships, visit OSAA.org.
