![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
The wrestling team has become the district champions. With a score of 419.5 points, the wrestling team placed first in team score as second place, the Oregon City Pioneers, scored 286 points.
Held at Lakeridge High School, the 6A OSAA Three Rivers League (TRL) meet had 17 West Linn wrestlers qualify for the state meet.
The state meet competitors include Max Bell and Mason Carnrite, both freshmen. The sophomores that advanced were Romeo Daly and Ryder Sprague. Juniors that moved on were Nate Gusdorf, Tripp Moussavi, Oscar Doces, Lucas Gray, and Ryder White. Finally, the seniors that advanced were Colby Cook, George Kovchegov, Henry Dillingham, Charles Spinning, and Jansen Kouame.
All of these wrestlers finished top three in their respective weight classes at the TRL district meet.
The weight class champions include Cook, Sprague, Doces, Carnrite, Dillingham, and Spinning.
Additionally, Dillingham and Spinning got their 100th career wins as a part of West Linn wrestling at the meet.
Competing in the 157 pound weight class, Dillingham got first place, as he beat Mitchell Johnson of Oregon City in the final round.
“This team is awesome,” Dillingham said. “I have plenty of amazing partners that push me everyday. The team camaraderie is just amazing. It’s hard to beat last year’s [team], but this year’s team is pretty close.”
Last year, the wrestling team won the 6A OSAA Wrestling State Championship. They look to go back-to-back this year against the likes of the Newberg Tigers, one of the top wrestling teams in the state and Pacific Conference district champions.
“We’re not worried about it,” Spinning said. “[Us] and Newberg have a little bit of a rivalry so we take those matches a little more personal, but we don’t focus on that when we wrestle.”
The 6A OSAA State tournament will be held at the Veteran Memorial Coliseum in Portland on Feb. 22-24.
“I feel good,I know the work I’ve put in so I’m feeling pretty confident about where I am,” Spinning said. “We qualified more guys this year than last year. We’ve got some guys that can do really good things [and] I think there’s a handful of kinds on our team that can win it. Let’s see next week.”
