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Central's Tanner Swinehart through to state wrestling meet

SWEET HOME -- A youthful Central wrestling team sent seven athletes into a brutal field on the second day of the Special District 4 Championships hoping to qualify for the biggest stage -- this weekend's Class 4A state tournament.

February 22, 2012

SWEET HOME -- A youthful Central wrestling team sent seven athletes into a "brutal" field on the second day of the Special District 4 Championships hoping to qualify for the biggest stage -- this weekend's Class 4A state tournament.

Just one -- freshman Tanner Swinehart -- made it out on Saturday at Sweet Home High School.

Coach Van Holstad said that for the fourth-place 145-pounder, that's not all that surprising.

"Well, the kid works the hardest out of everybody on the team," Holstad said of Swinehart, who went 4-2 in the two-day tournament and will travel to Friday and Saturday's state championships at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

Tanner Swinehart

Tanner Swinehart

The Panthers placed eighth in the team standings with 65 points. Third-ranked Cascade won the title with 382 points, No. 4 Sweet Home was second with 378 and No. 5 Philomath third with 196.

Swinehart's first-round state match is already set, as he will face Banks freshman Travis Thompson, ranked No. 3 in his weight class by The Oregon Wrestling Forum.

"It was one of my big goals throughout the year and my coach just helped me a lot," Swinehart said.

Holstad said Swinehart's biggest development has been learning a "smarter" way to wrestle.

"He'll want to wrestle the toughest kid and he'll want to beat the toughest kid's best move, which is really difficult, so we're trying to figure out ways to make him wrestle smarter, and he's doing that," Holstad said.

"That was kind of nice to be able to see him figure that out and how it benefited him."

While Swinehart was the only state qualifier, the Panthers saw four others place in the tournament: Sam Armstrong (sixth, 113 pounds), Bryndyn Gardner (sixth, 138 pounds), Noah Stepp (sixth, 182 pounds) and Collyn Lawson (sixth, 195 pounds).

All five of Central's placers were underclassmen -- meaning good news for the program's future.

"Last year we only had three placers, and they were all seniors, and this year we have five -- that's a good improvement," Holstad said.

For Swinehart, it's a tough road ahead, but Holstad knows anything can happen.

"That's a tough kid from Banks that's ranked fairly high, but you never know," he said. "Tanner's a tough kid, he works really hard, and he's in great shape. I don't see why he couldn't go there and upset a kid that's ranked."

Added Swinehart: "One of my goals is to place in the state tournament, so I guess we'll see how that turns out