After a successful season for both boys and girls Camas High School (CHS) wrestling teams, varsity line-ups traveled to the district tournament last weekend. The boys team ranked first for the second consecutive year, and the girl team ranked fifth. Senior wrestlers Jackson Lougen, Elliott Scott and junior Luke Webb came first in their respective weight classes. Sophomore girls Avery Vega-Padilla and Jasmine Cha also secured the gold. 

The wrestlers faced a busy week before districts, taking on two meets and a tournament in just four consecutive days. It was a challenging schedule that tested the willpower of each athlete. They had their first and only home dual meet against Union High School, with the boys and girls teams securing a victory. This dual confirmed the wrestling teams going completely undefeated in every one of their duals this season, earning both of them league champion titles. At Battleground High School, the day before the home dual, the wrestlers captured a victory against Skyview High School with a score of 42-34. Both teams performed excellently at duals and also notably at much harder tournaments, with the girls team placing second at the Clark County Championships tournament and the boys placing first in the Larry Brown Invitational, Battle of The Axe Dual-Tournament, and second at Hammerhead and Oregon City. All of this hard work has paved a strong reputation for the CHS wrestling program, with unimaginable growth over just three months in the 2023-2024 season.

“[The training and conditioning throughout the season] helped all of the girls improve a lot, because at the beginning of the season, a lot of people were not very used to all of it, but by now, everyone can do five sprints easy, no breaking a sweat,” sophomore district champion Jasmine Cha said.

 This girls team has seen significant improvement over the season in addition to this being the first year that they could call themselves league champions. With the girls team only having around 10 wrestlers last year, the growth and development of their team have allowed many female athletes to participate and succeed in the sport. 

As practice continues this week and anticipation for the Regionals tournament builds, wrestlers prepare mentally and physically for the weekend ahead. 

“The cards were stacked against us [at the district tournament] but we prevailed… now, our biggest goal for regionals is to qualify as many [wrestlers] as possible for the state tournament,” Head Coach John Constein said.

With around eight total CHS wrestlers heading to the state tournament last year, the coaches anticipate that with the great effort and outstanding results of the team this season, there will hopefully be many more who advance past regionals and onto state. 

“I’m going in ranked second in the state, I’m thinking highly of myself, I wouldn’t want to doubt myself. I’m making sure to focus on my mental training and not over-tire myself when it comes to the physical aspect of training,” team captain Jackson Lougen said.

Thanks to the hard work of all of the athletes, coaches and parents, this season has gone phenomenally. Wrestling remains one of the most all-around challenging high school sports, and the persistence of every athlete who has stepped out onto the mat is nothing short of inspiring as a reminder that hard work is the pathway to success.