PORTLAND – The high school wrestling season ended Saturday night for the Roseburg Indians and before the finals even started, the Tribe knew it would win its fourth straight state title.

Winning state championships is nothing new for the Roseburg wrestling program. Nine of the last 11 teams titles have been claimed by the Indians. Yet, the 2017 trophy has a lot of history behind it.

This year’s Roseburg wrestling team broke a number of school records. The Indians qualified 27 wrestlers for the state tournament, a new school record. Roseburg won the state title with 366 points, the most ever scored by a Roseburg team. And even more history was made on the mats when seniors Layne Van Anrooy and Haydn Maley became the first ever four-time individual state champions in school history.

The Indians finished with four individual champions. Van Anrooy won the 160 pound title with a major decision over Taran Floyd of West Linn. The victory capped off an undefeated season for Van Anrooy, who is committed to wrestle at the University of Michigan.

Maley won the 220 pound championship with an 11-4 decision over JJ Perez of Century. Maley has committed to continue wrestling at Stanford University.

Joining Van Anrooy and Maley on top of the podium were seniors Bennett Mesa and Austin Harris. Mesa won his third state championship with a wild match against Joey Coste of Westview in the 132 pound final. The contest went to overtime and Mesa finally got the upper hand with a 2-1 victory in the third overtime period. The win capped off a great high school career for Mesa, who placed at state four times.

Harris also found himself on the podium for a fourth time at state, but for the first time in his career he was at the top. The senior pinned Adrian Rodriguez of Century in 1:34 to claim the title at 182 pounds.

Roseburg had seven wrestlers make it to the finals this season. Freshman Tristin David, junior Hunter Sparks, and senior Cameron Campbell all finished runner-up after falling short in the championship bout.

The hardest of these losses might have been when Sparks was upset in the 113 pound final. The junior was the top seed and a returning state champ, but his opponent, Phillip Kue of Centennial, snatched away the title at the last second for a 4-3 decision.

Overall, the Indians had 12 wrestlers finish in the top six of their weight class.

Finishing second to Roseburg in the team standings was Sprague with 195 points and Newberg took third with 180.

ROSEBURG’S STATE PLACERS (TOP 6)
Tristin David, 106 lbs (2nd Place)
Archer Bergeron, 113 lbs (6th Place)
Hunter Sparks, 113 lbs (2nd Place)
Damien Wells, 126 lbs (5th Place)
Bennett Mesa, 132 lbs (1st Place)
Shane Sabins, 145 lbs (4th Place)
Layne Van Anrooy, 160 lbs (1st Place)
Brandon Jeffers, 170 lbs (3rd Place)
Matthew McDowell, 170 lbs (5th Place)
Austin Harris, 182 lbs (1st Place)
Cameron Campbell, 195 lbs (2nd Place)
Haydn Maley, 220 lbs (1st Place)
Aaron Adair, 285 lbs (3rd Place)