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By Kris Henry February 28. 2016 2:00AM Hardly a Meek effort Crater sophomore Logan Meek, top, works on Central's Collin Swinehart in the 145-pound title match. Meek won, 14-2. PHOTO BY ANGIE WALTERS PORTLAND — Crater wrestler Logan Meek had high hopes of a Class 5A state title last year during his freshman campaign, only to see that get derailed en route to a fifth-place finish. Given another chance to shine, the sophomore Comet wasn’t about to miss out here at the Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. Meek scored early and often in his state championship match at 145 pounds against Central senior Collin Swinehart, putting the No. 1 seed on his back four times to win going away in a 14-2 major decision. It was Swinehart who knocked Meek out of the championship bracket one year ago with a 6-3 win in the state semifinals, and that fact did not escape the Crater standout. “A little bit of revenge is always nice,” Meek said of his victory. “It’s not too often you get to go and see the guy in the finals that knocked you off the year before. It felt awesome.” Two fellow Comets, sophomore Zeth Brower and senior Cavin Gillispie, weren’t as fortunate as Meek in the end but still had outstanding showings in reaching the championship finals. For Brower, a 7-0 loss left him with his second straight runner-up finish at 106, while Gillispie came up just shy of his title goal in a 6-2 loss at 182. “You’re in the state finals and it’s tough matches,” said Crater head coach Greg Haga. “You’d like to have pulled one of those others out but that’s the way it goes.” Any concerns over not capping off the tourney in style went by the wayside, however, when it was announced that Crater finished tied for second place in the team standings with fellow Midwestern League program Churchill at 137 points apiece. “I’m real happy,” Haga said of his program’s first trophy since placing third at the 6A level in 2012. “I think we could’ve taken advantage and maybe scored a few more points but we have all these guys back except two and I think we’ll be a little bit stronger next year.” Hermiston earned its fourth straight 5A title with 226.5 points. The Bulldogs have now won nine of the 10 championships since the 5A classification began in the 2006-07 school year. Meek fought off a single-leg attempt by Swinehart midway through the first period, then countered quickly with a takedown of his own and a three-point near fall for a 5-0 lead that was never threatened. Meek’s lead ballooned to 8-0 through two periods and he had it at 10-0 before Swinehart managed his first escape. “Getting that five off the start definitely helped,” said Meek, “and after that I just kept it rolling and broke him down. I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been and it paid off.” Brower put together another strong tournament but had to settle for state runner-up again after coming up short against top-ranked freshman Legend Lamer of Crescent Valley, 7-0. Lamer opened a 2-0 lead midway through the first period and, after an escape and a single-leg takedown, carried a comfortable 5-0 lead into the final period. Brower worked to find an angle in on Lamer throughout but just couldn’t get anything going to place second. Brower had earned his spot in the finals with a pin and two major decisions. Gillispie showed remarkable consistency throughout the season and found himself in a 2-2 tie with top-seeded Bob Coleman of Hermiston heading into the third period. After a Coleman escape and a stalling point against Gillispie pushed the deficit to 4-2, Gillispie found himself having to go for a desperation shot in the final seconds that Coleman cleared and slipped around for the final 6-2 margin. Gillispie finished his career as a three-time state placer after taking fourth at the 6A level as a sophomore, third last year at 5A and second in his final time around. Crater also saw senior Tommy Winningham (170) and junior Jace Godley (152) come through with third-place finishes in the afternoon rounds. Winningham earned a clutch 1-0 win to move into the placing rounds, then scored a pin to reach the third-place final, where he earned a forfeit from Jeff Dunagan of Dallas. It was Dunagan who scored three points in the final minute of the quarterfinals to drop Winningham from the championship bracket. For Winningham, that made him a four-time state placer after taking fourth in the 6A tourney as a freshman and third there as a sophomore before moving to the 5A level to place fourth last year and third this time around. Godley suffered a tough 3-0 loss to Dallas No. 2 seed Tanner Earhart in the morning semifinals but regrouped well and dominated his third-place final, pinning Wilsonville’s Taran Floyd in 17 seconds. “I’m just real proud of our guys fighting today in the consolation,” said Haga. “Between Jace and Tommy, coming back through like they did put us in a position tonight where we could be fighting for a second-place trophy. Looking at our personnel and lack of experience, I thought our kids did a great job.” For Eagle Point, Saturday’s 5A action didn’t exactly go as hoped in placing 15th overall with 43 points. Senior Bryan O’Neil suffered a 12-5 loss to top-seeded Liberty standout Ethan Wendell at 138, then was pinned by CJ Hendon of Hermiston and ultimately placed sixth after forfeiting his fifth-place final against Redmond’s Matthew McCain. Scott Martin finished as the highest-placing Eagle by scoring three wins on Day 2, including an 11-9 decision over Central’s No. 3 seed David Negrete in the third-place final. CLASS 5A TEAM SCORES (Top 10) — Hermiston 226.5, Churchill 137, Crater 137, Dallas 120, Lebanon 114, Redmond 110.5, Sandy 107.5, Hillsboro 78.5, Central 77, St. Helens 67.5. OTHER LOCAL SCORES — Eagle Point 43. CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS 106 — Legend Lamer, Crescent Valley, dec. Zeth Brower, Crater, 7-0. 145 — Logan Meek, Crater, maj. dec. Collin Swinehart, Central, 14-2. 182 — Bob Coleman, Hermiston, dec. Cavin Gillispie, Crater, 6-2. THIRD-FOURTH FINALS 152 — Jace Godley, Crater, pinned Taran Floyd, Wilsonville, :17. 170 — Tommy Winningham, Crater, forfeit Jeff Dunagan, Dallas. 182 — Scott Martin, Eagle Point, dec. David Negrete, Central, 11-9. FIFTH-SIXTH FINALS 138 — Matthew McCain, Redmond, medical forfeit Bryan O’Neil, Eagle Point. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected], www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20160228/SPORTS/160229580 © 2016 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->