While the weather hasn’t been especially treacherous so far this winter, it has still been a bit rough at times, especially for the Tigard wrestling teams.
“We were starting to compete in December, and things got a little tough for us all the way around because we had so many boys and girls getting sick,” said Kaleb Reese, head coach of the Tigard girls wrestling team. “Now we’re finally starting to get healthy again and hit out finer strides, so it’s looking good.”
As the regular season nears its end, both teams are getting ready for the league and state competitions, and Reese and Geoffrey Jarman, head coach for the boys team, both think they have a few wrestlers who can compete with the state’s best.
Part of that is experience, and part of that is the close-knit nature of the school’s wrestling program. Jarman said the boys are a senior-heavy group with tons of kids who have wrestled together throughout their high school careers.
On the girls side, this is the second year that girls wrestling has been its own separate sport after the Oregon School Activities Association sanctioned it as a new sport prior to last year. Tigard had one of the higher turnouts for its new girls team last year, and that number has grown this year.
The coaching staff for the two teams decided it was best to have the boys and girls practice together.
“Practicing together shows that we’re all doing the same thing,” Jarman said. “It’s not girls doing girls wrestling. They’re wrestling. They do every bit of the practice the boys do.”
It has helped the girls team, which has a lot of new competitors trying it out since it’s a new sport, learn quickly. It has also helped bring the girls and boys teams close together. It’s not uncommon to see members of one team watching the other at dual meets cheering them on from right beside the mat.
“This is one of the most cohesive groups I’ve ever coached,” Jarman said. “They go to dinners together. We do a lot of morning practices, and they’ve got together on weekend mornings to do extra training on their own. They have each other’s backs. I don’t think you can get that without going through the practices and through the grind together.”
Here’s a closer look at how the individual teams are doing this year heading into the postseason:
Boys Team
Jarman said his senior-heavy team has been great at pushing each other to work hard this year. He also said he was a good number of freshmen on the team, and while they might not be cracking the lineup too regularly, they’re helping work with the older kids at practice and also seeing up close what it takes to compete as a varsity wrestler.
“They’re seeing that if you come in and work through all those bumps and bruises, you can be solid at the end of your career,” he said.
As of our press deadline, the boys were undefeated in dual meets this year and still in the running for a league title. Jarman said Tigard hasn’t won a league title since the early 1990s.
One big reason for the team’s success so far this year is senior Cody McLay, who Jarman said has been having a strong season and has lost a couple of tough, close matches to top-ranked talent.
“He’s a really explosive athlete,” Jarman said. “He’s fast, he’s strong, and he’s one of the most disciplined kids on our team.”
Another senior having a strong season for the Tigers is Carson Looney, who Jarman said is wrestling well enough to potentially place in the state tournament. But it was a recent act of Looney’s not during a match that stuck out to Jarman about how integral Looney is to the team.
One of his teammates was wrestling in the championship match at a tournament, and Looney was watching from next to the mat. The Tigard wrestler lost, and Looney waited while the other wrestler spoke to Jarman and the other coaches. Looney then walked over to tell his teammate that he knew finishing second sucks, but great job, and offered some encouragement going forward.
Another wrestler Jarman said is enjoying a solid senior season is Namari McKibben. Jarman said he had a few unlucky years earlier in high school, missing time due to an injury one year and having his appendix removed another.
Jarman said McKibben had a good junior year and came back even better for his senior season. He added that McKibben had a really great showing in the dual meet against Oregon City, and it turned the meet around for the Tigers.
But it’s not just all seniors wrestling well for Tigard. Jarmon said he has been impressed with plenty of his younger wrestlers, including Asher Nebeker, Moses Adegbite, and Jorge Ramos.
“Asher has a lot of energy,” Jarman said. “We just have to polish is up. He has the tank and the go. It’s hard to get kids to wrestle how he wrestles. He pushes and pushes and pushes, and knows he’s going to be tired at the end of the match.”
He added that Adegbite doesn’t have as much experience as the other two underclassmen, but he’s hard at work every day and has already seen major improvements this year.
Ramos is the younger brother of Julian Ramos, who Jarman said was having a great year but broke his arm. There is still a slight chance he can wrestle again this season, but Jarman said it was too early to tell as of our press deadline.
As for Jorge Ramos, Jarman said he has been in the youth wrestling program for a long time.
“We’ve been excited to get him as our 106-pounder for a number of years,” Jarman said. “His biggest struggle right now is he’s 10 pounds lighter than everyone else. He wrestles at 96 pounds. He takes a couple of lumps because of that.”
Girls Team
In its first ever season, the Tigard girls wrestling team nearly brought home a state title last year thanks to Natalie Wilhoit. The now-senior made it to the championship match in the state tournament last year. She nearly had a last-second pinfall, but the refs had already called the match.
Wilhoit is back and has been having a great senior year, Reese said.
“She’s been killing it,” he said. “She’s really hitting her stride right now.”
Another standout this year has been fellow senior Sydney Knipe, a four-year wrestler for the school. Knipe qualified for the state tournament last year and is looking even better in her senior season, Reese said.
“She is having a phenomenal year,” Reese said. “She is doing really well. She is explosive and hitting her moves and just being confident when wrestling. It’s really fun to watch.”
Reese also said two newer wrestlers are having solid seasons: Eileen Rodriguez and Hailey Garcia.
Rodriguez is a senior in her second year of wrestling.
“I’m disappointed we’re going to lose her this year because she is just starting to figure it out,” Reese said. “I wish I had her for another year or two because I have a feeling she’s going to be real good in a year or two if she sticks with it.”
Garcia is a sophomore and also in her second year wrestling.
“She’s got 10 or 12 wins on the year already,” Reese said. She’s got a winning record. She’s already starting to figure it out. It’s pretty awesome.”
Looking a little ahead to the state tournament, Reese said he can see Wilhoit making another strong push to be a state champion, which he can also see for Knipe.
Reese also said senior and fellow four-year competitor Valery Chun could be in contention for a state title, too, along with Garcia and Rodriguez.
“If those three can put it all together and go on a run, they’ve all got a great shot,” Reese said.
And looking even a bit further out beyond this year’s state championship tournament, Reese said the new girls team program is in good hands.
“We’ve got actually a couple of freshmen that came in this year, and they were brand new to the sport, but they’re buying in, and they’re having a lot of fun,” Reese said. “They’re learning a ton and they’re here every day and just working really hard. I’m excited to see them grow in the sport over the next few years.”
Follow Adam Littman Sports on Instagram: tigardlife.com/go/littman
