HRV wrestling wrapped up its season this past weekend at the OSAA State Wrestling Championships in Portland at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The boys and girls had a total of nine wrestlers compete at state this year: Jason Shaner, Adrian Ramirez, Ryan Zeller, Chad Muenzer, Cade Parker, Justin Lane, Grace Miller, Christine Marquez and Elena Kroll.
Of the nine athletes who went to state for HRV, seven would earn podium-finishes, but only one would make Eagle history.
Senior wrestler Shaner cemented his name into the HRV history books as he ended his high school wrestling career as the first Eagle wrestler to win two state titles, coming in back-to-back seasons, and finish a season undefeated with at least 50 matches wrestled (52-0).
Heading into the 132-pound 5A first-place match, Shaner had won by fall in the first round, tech fall in the quarterfinals and major decision in the semifinals.
In the first-place match, Shaner would go up against Bryant Smith of Milwaukie, who headed into this match as the third seed in the tournament and was 36-3 on the season.
Shaner and Smith would go back-and-forth in the final match.
Tied at 7-7 going into the final set, Shaner would prevail and come away with the 9-7 decision victory over Smith to win the 132-pound 5A state title.
The win capped off an historic four years for Shaner.
Shaner now has on his resume two state titles, a 52-0 season and is the only male athlete from HRV to advance to the finals of the USA Wrestling Junior Greco-Roman Wrestling National Championships.
After the first-place victory, Shaner went to Facebook to express his thoughts on his four-year wrestling journey at HRV:
“A 52-0 season and a two-time state champion. Thank you to all my coaches, friends and family who have supported me this season. I loved being able to represent the Hood and bring it home for everyone. Special thanks to Sean Baker (assistant coach) who believed in me since day one!”
Head coach Trent Kroll said of Shaner’s accomplishments, “He leaves us with a standard that with hard work and dedication, we can all make it to the biggest stage and compete. Shaner has worked very hard for everything that he has accomplished throughout his four years at HRV and to see it end the way it did just makes me very happy for him as he has earned it … There’s only more in store for him and we’ll be right there to support him every step of the way.”
For the boys, Ramirez was the highest finisher outside of Shaner, with a third-place finish in the 285-pound weight class.
Ramirez won by a 3-2 decision over Beau Blake from Hermiston to end his season with a 40-8 overall record.
At 120-pounds, Zeller advanced to the third-place match but would fall in triple overtime to Isaac Quesada from Wilsonville. Quesada won 8-6 in a sudden victory; Zeller ended his season with a 40-13 overall record.
The last of the HRV boys to place on the podium was Muenzer, who earned a sixth-place finish in the 126-pound weight bracket.
Muenzer lost in sudden overtime in the fifth-place match to Putnam’s Jonathon Hernandez by a final score of 12-10. Muenzer ended his season with a 39-15 record.
Parker and Lane didn’t advance to a match that would earn them a podium finish, but Parker would end his season with a 30-15 record at 138 pounds and Lane would go 22-16 at 106 pounds.
In the girls’ bracket, HRV finished with two second place finishes and a third-place victory.
At 145 pounds, Miller went into the state tournament ranked first, but would lose by a 5:21 fall time versus Thurston’s Malea Palahniuk in the first-place match.
Marquez also earned a second-place finish. In the 185-pound first place match, Marquez fell by a final time of 1:00 to Jade Piper of Gold Beach high school.
In the 135-pound third place match, Elena Kroll won by a fall time of 5:48 over McNary’s Nicolette Parra.
The HRV wrestling team capped off its season with a 10th place finish as a team in the final 5A team standings.
"We peaked at the right time again this year. We have incredible young adults in our program who continually amaze us with their work-ethic and fearlessness. We are proud of our end of the season results. Thank you to the community for all of your support again this year. Your support feeds us all season long. We appreciate it!" said head coach Trent Kroll.
Commented