The Hilander wrestling team heads to state tournament to do what no other high school sports team in Oregon has done before

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

To win a state championship in high school sports, it takes talented athletes, team chemistry, good coaching and a little bit of luck.
To win two consecutive titles, it takes all that and a little bit more.

No one knows what it takes to win eight consecutive Oregon state titles because it’s never been done before, but that’s what the Burns wrestling team has a chance to achieve this weekend.

In 2002, the Burns wrestling team racked up 181 team points to win the 3A title, and they have repeated as champs ever since.

Head coach Mark Hofman has been with the team every step of the way. He was an assistant coach for Bill Winn for the first three years, then an assistant coach for Jeff Kloetzer for two years, before taking over the top spot. Hofman was also the head coach at Crane Union High School for three years before joining the Burns staff.

While the state title run officially began in 2002, Hofman said it actually started years before that. “It was probably around 1989 and we had about 70 kids in the youth program,” Hofman said. “We went to a lot of tournaments, and people around the state involved in the sport could see that once all these kids got to high school, Burns would win state. You could see it was going to happen.”

While the wrestling community had a pretty good idea that Burns would win in 2002, they had no idea that the Hilanders would continue to repeat year after year. “We figured that after we lost those seniors (in 2002), we might fall off, but we never did,” Hofman said. In fact, the team got stronger.

In 2004, Burns set a new team scoring record for all classes by amassing 245.5 points. They then broke their own record in 2007 with 269.5 points. That record still stands, even though Roseburg challenged it last year with 269 points.

Through the years

Hofman said that one of his fondest memories came during the 2002 state tournament. “It was Friday night, and the Sweet Home coach came to us and said it was statistically impossible to catch us,” Hofman said. “That was a good feeling.”

Another special moment for Hofman was when his son, Talon, won four individual titles (2001-2004), becoming one of just a few wrestlers to accomplish the feat. “For me, watching Talon win four was personal satisfaction,” Hofman said. “But my favorite match was probably watching Abe (Jacobs) come back in the finals to win.”

Preparation

While the Hilanders may not win every match they wrestle, they’re not going to lose because their opponent is in better shape.
A typical practice involves going hard for 40 to 45 minutes, a 10-minute break, and another 40- to 45-minute workout. “We hit it hard for about an hour and a half, and then we’re out of there,” Hofman said. “Yeah, I think we’re in better shape than other teams, although Nyssa is always in good shape, too.”

The Hilanders also prepare for the state tournament by attending some of the bigger tournaments around the West. “It was probably about 2003 that we started to put together a tough tournament schedule,” Hofman said. “We’ve always had a lot of dedicated parents that travel all over, and we wanted to face tough opponents every weekend.” So far, that philosophy has paid off.

This year

Nyssa is the only other team to win seven consecutive wrestling  championships and their run came to an end when Burns beat them in 2007. Now with Burns on the verge of winning eight in a row, the main competition will come from the Nyssa Bulldogs.

The Hilanders had 11 wrestlers qualify for the state tournament, and Nyssa will send 15.

“We’ve got the quality wrestlers to win again this year,” Hofman said. “We’ll need some help, but we definitely have the quality to do it.”
As the Hilanders ready for this year’s chance at history, fans will notice the now-trademark mohawk haircuts on many of the wrestlers.

“I think Abe Jacobs started that. It was his mojo,” Hofman laughed. “And the other wrestlers followed suit, some voluntarily, others not so much.”

Can the Hilanders summon enough mojo one more time? Only time will tell.

Burns sends eleven to state

The Burns wrestling team placed second at the Eastern Oregon League District Wrestling Tournament in Boardman Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, and will send 11 wrestlers on to the 3A state tournament in Portland this weekend.

The Hilanders had four individual champions at the district tournament as Pat Stampke won the 125-pound weight class, Brendan Palmer took first at 130 pounds, Josh Cate was the 152-pound champion and Joe Drinkwater captured the top spot at 160 pounds.

Also qualifying for state with second-place finishes were Dallas Root (112), Dillon Root (145) and Michael Martin (215), and third place finishers Chance Peasley (135), Mike Schaff (140), Zach Hooper (145) and Raymond Wright (152).

Jay Masterson (125) and Landon Hanner (171) both placed fourth for Burns, Cody Bennett (130), Jake Swindlehurst (160)  and Skyler Hickey (285) finished in fifth place, and Jake Yaryan (145) placed sixth.

Nyssa won the team title with 326.5 points, followed by Burns with 288, Grant Union 181.5, Riverside 155, Umatilla 65 and Vale 61.
The Hilanders’ Martin came up with undoubtedly the biggest upset of the tournament when he pinned Vale’s Eric Coy, a defending state champion, in the first period of their semi-final match.

The Class 3A state tournament will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-28, in Portland, and Burns will be attempting to win their eighth consecutive 3A state championship when the action gets under way.

EOL state qualifiers

103 — Levi Gagnon (G.U.) 1st, Tyler Wentz (Nys) 2nd, Michael Urrutia (Nys) 3rd.
112 — Rocky Garcia (Nys) 1st, Da. Root (Bur) 2nd, Dallon Henver (Val) 3rd.
119 — Landon Hartley (Nys) 1st, James Town (Riv) 2nd, Eric Goodell (Nys) 3rd.
125 — Stampke (Bur) 1st, Mario Gonzalez (Nys) 2nd, Jimmy Urritia (Nys) 3rd.
130 — Palmer (Bur) 1st, Kyle Schoorl (Nys) 2nd, Cesar Jacabo (Nys) 3rd.
135 — Isaac Whitman (G.U.) 1st, Juan Llamas (Riv) 2nd, Peasley (Bur) 3rd.
140 — Carlos Garcia (Riv) 1st, Allen Iverson (Nys) 2nd, Schaff (Bur) 3rd.
145 — Tanor Morinaka (Nys) 1st, Di. Root (Bur) 2nd, Hooper (Bur) 3rd.
152 — Cate (Bur) 1st, Austin Tolman (Val) 2nd, Wright (Bur) 3rd.
160 — Drinkwater (Bur) 1st, Brian Moore (Nys) 2nd, Christian Llamas (Riv) 3rd.
171 — Brigham Hansen (Riv) 1st, Clay Thomas (G.U.) 2nd, Tayler Elizondo (Nys) 3rd.
189 — Jesse Wise (G.U.) 1st, Ethan Kowing (G.U.) 2nd, Zac Stratton (Nys) 3rd.
215 — Zack Stegman (G.U.) 1st, Martin (Bur) 2nd, Coy (Val) 3rd.
285 — Don Speakman (G.U.) 1st, Jeremiah Pine (Uma) 2nd, Travis Hickman (Nys) 3rd.