The McMinnville Mat club has had a busy yet successful month as wrestlers from the club attended six tournaments during that time frame.

On Nov. 21, the mat club sent 20 wrestlers to the West Salem Titan Classic. While all of the wrestlers showed improvement and had some success, there were a few who the coaches agreed had excellent days and also placed first. Brian Barnes was 3-0 with three pins and took first place, while Legin Engle was also 3-0 with a pair of pins on his way to the title. Nigel Engle, Alan Duce, Frog Ortiz and Corey Slater also performed well.

The following weekend, the club split and sent a group of younger wrestlers to compete at the Willamina Tournament while a group of more experienced wrestlers travelled to Seaside for the Pacific Coast Championships. At Willamina, the coaches noted special performances by Nigel and Legin Engle, Duce and Slater. The group at Seaside performed well, also, and was led by Barnes’ first-place finish. Tiger Paasch and Jacob Barnes placed second, JT Barnes had a solid third-place finish and Travis Sherman placed fourth.

On Dec. 5, the entire club traveled to McNary for the Celtic Kids Tournament. Once again McMinnville was represented well. Brian Barnes, Manny Humlie, and Travis Sherman placed first for the Grizzlies. Kaleb Vineyard, Frog Ortiz and Tanner Scanlon also had outstanding performances.

Last weekend the Grizzlies sent four to Nestucca and all had success. Nigel and Legin Engle, Duce and Slater all put in outstanding performances and showed continued improvement.

Also last weekend Salem hosted the Rocky Mountain Nationals “West Coast World Championships” at the Oregon State Fairground Pavilion. Seven hundred wrestlers from 10 states attended the event, including four from Mac. Travis Sherman (62 pounds, 8 and under) wrestled finished sixth while Jacob Barnes, 6, wrestled up an age group and finished fourth in the 8 and under, 70-pound division.

Brian Barnes wrestled well against older competition, placing sixth. He was the only 11-year-old to place in the 12 and under, 122 -pound division. The highest placer for the Grizzlies was JT Barnes, wrestling in the 15 and under, 109-pound division. JT wrestled well all day and made it all the way to the championship match before dropping a hard-fought match to a multiple-time national champion from Idaho. He then fell in the second-place match only 15 minutes later, leaving him with a third-place finish.