Newberg wrestling crowned one individual champion and had 11 wrestlers reach the podium at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions last weekend at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.
The Tigers breezed their way to the team title with 224.5 points, edging second-place La Grande by almost 60 points. Gus Amerson was the lone Tiger to finish atop the podium, clinching the title at 150-pounds. After receiving a first-round bye, Amerson bested La Grande’s Jaxon Leonard, Hillsboro’s Skyler Salzman, Thurston’s Jaden Ellis and Crater’s Kutter Christensen in the final on his path to the individual title.
“I think I started out a bit slow, but I picked it up as my matches went on and the intensity needed to rise,” Amerson said. “I didn’t know very much about (Christensen), so I was just kind of being the aggressor and making sure I’m wrestling my style and not his.”
Meanwhile, the remaining results were as follows: Trae Frederick finished second at 157-pounds; Gavin Rangel finished second at 132-pounds; Zach Keinonen finished second at 138-pounds; Isaac Hampton finished third at 126-pounds; Dillon Le finished fourth at 144-pounds; Luke Augustus finished fourth at 175-pounds; Zadek Bowlby finished sixth at 215-pounds; Kiah Worthington finished sixth at 106-pounds; and Sawyer Keinonen finished sixth at 106-pounds.