In a wrestling family, Sweet Home's Kyle Sieminski the first to win 4 state titles: Oregon wrestling 120/110 small-school roundup
Kyle Sieminski had his heart set on going out with a blaze of glory.
Not only would the Sweet Home senior become his school’s first four-time state champion, but he would do so by pinning his way to the title.
He won his first three matches in a combined 169 seconds, but as time wound down in the final match of his run to becoming the 51st four-time champion in state history Friday night during the Class 4A 120-pound final at the OSAA wrestling state championships in Portland, despite holding a comfortable lead over Tillamook’s Jak Hopkes, he couldn’t pin his opponent down.
“I was a little frustrated at first when I couldn’t get to my stuff,” Sieminski said. “But I guess it worked out.”
Finally, after getting a reversal, Sieminski turned Hopkes toward the mat, and as the final second clicked off the clock, the referee’s hand slapped the Veterans Memorial Coliseum floor.
“I’ve been thinking about this a lot, but deep down, I knew that I was going to come out on top,” said Sieminski, who finished the season 54-3 and went 166-14 for his career. “It feels pretty good, yeah. The first one for my school. Yeah, it’s pretty awesome.”
Not only does his victory make him his school’s first four-timer, but it also gives him bragging rights in a family where his father, Clint, won his third title a quarter-century ago and brother Jacob — who fretted behind the mesh barrier as he watched Kyle’s match — won his second a year ago before graduating in June.
“I get to bully them a little bit about it, yeah,” Kyle said, smiling. “But I know how good my brother and my dad were. I’m the first one, so that feels pretty good.”
3A: In a year, Harrisburg junior Luke Cheek might join Sieminski in the four-timers club. Cheek won his third title with a first-round pin of Yamhill-Carlton’s Cayden Hill, and like Sieminski, he did so while helping his team win a state championship.
“That’s definitely in front of my mind now,” Cheek said. “To be the second to do it at Harrisburg (Dax Bennett was the first from 2016-19) would be pretty cool. So, it’s just back to training and keep training to achieve that goal.”
2A/1A: Lowell junior Harley Hardison won his second title, overcoming a stalling penalty with 6 seconds left to hold on for a 9-8 decision over Willamina’s Kisor Savage.
4A/3A/2A/1A Girls: Harrisburg freshman Paxton Steele denied Siuslaw’s Macali Lade a second title, escaping with 4 seconds left after Lade tied the 110-pound final with a reversal 10 seconds earlier for a 7-6 decision.
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