Farlow leads Hood River boys wrestlers at state

“Connor had a great tournament; he wrestled really good and he scored a lot of points,” said Rolen. “Connor just continued improving throughout the whole season, so we’re really excited for him. Connor (4.0 GPA) and his brother Carson (3.9 GPA) are both doing extremely well academically, too.”

Connor Farlow, a Northwest Oregon Conference district champion (132 pounds) won three of five matches in his weight class. Farlow won by fall over Taylor Culp of Thurston in his opening round match Saturday. He won a second straight match by fall over sophomore Jace Spencer of Dallas. In the quarterfinals, Farlow lost by fall to sophomore Elijah Bayne of Crater. Spencer was a 2022 returning state tourney wrestler; Bayne went on to win his second successive title.

Farlow split two consolation-round matches on Sunday. He won by a major decision over senior Kaden Kramer of Wilsonville, followed by a loss by fall to junior Everest Sutton of Crescent Valley, who is a two-time state champion. The Kramer-Farlow match was a rematch of the Northwest Oregon Conference district tourney championship, won 10-4 by Farlow.

The HRV sophomore concluded the season with a 34-6 overall record, and he earned a medal for a second straight year after a sixth-place state finish in 2022.

Connor’s brother, Carson, won two of four matches in the 132-pound weight class. Carson won the NWOC district title in his class at Canby on Feb. 18. At state, he opened with a first-round win over Garet Flores of McKay High, but lost to Jaden Ellis, a returning state wrestler from Thurston High in the quarterfinals. (Ellis went on to finish second to Mountain View’s Drew Jones, who won the 6A title at 138 in 2022.)

Farlow (31-6) stayed alive in one round of consolation matches, beating Clayton Waldron of Mountain View, but lost in his second match to No. 7-seed William Pence of Bend.

Carson capped his career by earning a $500 Tyrone S. Woods scholarship award at the state meet. This is the first time in Hood River Valley High School recent history that brothers have won district titles in the same year. Their father, Derik, is a longtime Eagle volunteer assistant coach and he’s also an HRV graduate.  

Hood River had three other wrestlers at state: senior Kevin Castro at 152 pounds; Connor Tennant at 170; and Mason Steffers at 220. Castro (26-14) won one of three matches, topping Reed Kamperman of Mountain View in the consolation rounds. The HRV wrestler was eliminated in the next round by returning state wrestler Joshua Jones of Silverton.

Tennant (22-18) had a tough draw at state, having to face No. 2-seed Sawyer Casarez of Thurston in the first round. Casarez (35-6) won by fall over the Eagle wrestler and went on to finish second. Castro lost his next match to Ashland’s Will Downs, another returning state wrestler. Downs went on to place sixth.

Steffers, a first-time state qualifier, lost both his wrestled matches; he also advanced in the consolation rounds with a forfeit win. Steffers (13-8) lost in the first round to eventual sixth-place finisher Eli Nava of Dallas, and he lost a 4-2 decision to Kyron Dodds of Dallas in the consolation rounds.

“I’m super proud of the guys and they all wrestled really hard, and they gave 100 percent, which is all we can really ask of them,” said Rolen. “Some of them had a great experience and others finished their high school wrestling career at the state tournament. They were disappointed about not making it onto the podium, but that’s what life is like sometimes.”

HRV totaled 26 points in the meet and finished 18th out 28 squads in team scoring. Redmond won the 5A team championship with 204.5 points; Thurston was second at 197.5.