‘Team players and fantastic wrestlers.’ Chase Dennis and Cade McCallister chasing Tigard history at state meet

“It’s really cool to have the opportunity to get two of them (state titles). It would be huge for the team. Success breeds success.”

By Dan Brood  

Chase Dennis and Cade McCallister have a few things in common.

First of all, they’re both seniors on the Tigard High School wrestling team.

They were both thrown into the varsity fire when they were Tigard freshmen. 

They’ve both had tremendous, success-filled senior seasons for the Tigers squad.

They both triumphed as champions at the Three Rivers League district tournament.

And, of course, they’re both taking high hopes into the upcoming Class 6A state tournament. 

Oh, they’re hoping they end up having one other thing in common — Dennis and McCallister are both striving, and are both very determined, to be state champions.

Cade McCallister (left) and Chase Dennis

The dynamic duo is looking to become Tigard’s first state champions since 1990 when they compete at the Class 6A tournament, which will be held Feb. 24-25 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. 

“Title. That’s it,” McCallister said matter-of-factly following an intense Tigard practice session last week. 

“To win it,” Dennis said of his goal for the state tournament. “I want to control my matches and control everyone that steps on the mat with me.” 

McCallister, who will compete in the 132-pound weight class at the state tournament, and Dennis, who will wrestle at 160, will be vying to be Tigard’s first wrestling state champion since Dave Nieradka claimed the Class AAA title at 123 pounds in 1990.

“That would mean a lot,” McCallister said. “I checked, and the last time we had one was 1990 — it was Dave Nieradka.”

“To be one of the first two to do it in 33 years would definitely mean a lot,” Dennis said.

Dennis and McCallister both seemed prime to make a run at making some Tigard history at the upcoming state event. 

For the season, Dennis has a record of 45-2 — setting a Tigard single-season record for wins. He also holds Tigard’s career record for victories with 121, and that includes the 2021 season that was revised and shortened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s been just listening to my coaches, doing what they say,” Dennis said of the key to his success. “I’ve been keeping more motion on my feet. That’s helped me win more matches.”

McCallister boasts a season mark of 43-4. 

“It’s been pretty good,” he said. “I started off a little bit heavier, a little bit slow, but it got a lot better. It was just studying the game a little bit more, studying the college guys.”

Neither Dennis nor McCallister is surprised by the success they’ve had as seniors.

“Yeah, I expected it,” McCallister said with a smile. “My goal for the past five years has been a state title.”

“I was anticipating to have a bit more competition since last year, but I think maybe I’ve grown a bit,” Dennis said.

Tigard coach Geoff Jarman also isn’t surprised by what they’ve accomplished so far.

“It’s no accident that they’re the winningest wrestlers we have,” he said. “They work hard every day. We have an award, the ‘Guts Club,’ that goes to a kid that never misses a practice, misses anything, and those guys, I don’t think they’ve ever missed a practice in four years. Of course, part of that is luck, but a big part of it is dedication.”

Dennis and McCallister will be joined by six of their Tigard teammates — Joshua Sprague (106 pounds), Peter Ferrand (113), Theodore Sandford (132), Michael Sprague (182), Alan Ramirez Romero (182) and Jason Layton (285) — at the state tournament.

According to Jarman, the two standout seniors are a big reason the Tigers will be strongly represented at the state event. 

“They do a great job. They’re the leaders on our team. They’re pretty charismatic, so people already go to them,” Jarman said of Dennis and McCallister. “We have a guy, Kolby Reed, who didn’t win a match last year. His goal this year was to win five matches, and, man, when Kolby wins a match, Cade and Chase are right there, just as excited as they are for their own matches. For sure, they’re team players. They’re also fantastic wrestlers.” 

Fantastic wrestlers with lofty aspirations. 

Into the fire as freshmen

It didn’t take long for Dennis and McCallister to make their varsity wrestling debut, as they were both inserted right into the Tigers lineup as freshmen.

“It was a good thing for me,” Dennis said. “I was anticipating it a lot. I just wanted to be on varsity.”

“I absolutely learned a lot that year,” McCallister said. “I was training with (former Tigard single-season wins record holder) Cameron O’Connor. He was our last state finalist. It was a really good experience. All that high-level training really helped me grow rapidly. I wanted to be there as a freshman, no question.”

Dennis and McCallister are also quick to point out that they’ve grown a lot as wrestlers since that 2020 season. 

“I can’t even put it into words,” McCallister said. “I don’t think there’s a part of the game that I haven’t grown in exponentially. I look back at my freshman matches, and I’m like, ‘Ugh, I wrestled like that?’” 

“I think I’ve grown a lot as a wrestler since then,” Dennis said. “I think that now, as a senior, if I wrestled my freshman self, I would absolutely (dominate him).” 

Family legacy

There’s yet another thing Dennis and McCallister have in common — they both followed an older brother’s wrestling shoe-covered footsteps onto the mats at Tigard.

“My brother (Cole McCallister) got me into wrestling when I was in middle school,” Cade McCallister said. “He was a senior, and I was in seventh grade. He kind of like tricked me into coming to a practice, and I got hooked on it. He definitely was a huge part of me getting into wrestling.” 

Older brother is still a big part of wrestling for Cade McCallister, as Cole is now an assistant wrestling coach at Tigard. 

For Chase Dennis, his older brother, Carter Dennis, was a wrestling and football standout at Tigard.

“He influenced me a lot,” Chase Dennis said. “I remember in elementary school, my dad would just make me stay after my practice, because then it would be just one trip home, instead of two, and my older brother would just pummel me. Since I got into high school and he’s left, it’s been my goal to be better than him and my dad when they were in high school.”

Dominating at district

Dennis and McCallister tuned up for the upcoming state event by powering their way to championships at the Three Rivers League district tournament, which was held Feb. 11 at Lake Oswego High School.

For McCallister, it was his first district title, after finishing second as a junior.

“I feel like it was a long time coming,” he said. “I should have done better my first two years, and last year, too, honestly. For sure, that was motivation.” 

McCallister won his district quarterfinal and semifinal bouts by fall. In the championship match, he posted a 16-6 major decision win over Oregon City’s Cole Klapprott.

“Just keeping up my game,” McCallister said of his key to winning the title. “I tried to keep wrestling my match, instead of the competition’s match.”

And his first thoughts after the district championship match victory?

“It’s about time,” McCallister said with a smile.

For Dennis, it was his third consecutive district championship after placing second as a freshman. He said he might have had a target on his back entering this year’s tournament.

“There was definitely a little more pressure than my sophomore or junior year, because I know that if I was wrestling a kid trying to win his third straight district title, it would be my goal to knock him off,” Dennis said.

No one was able to do so. 

Dennis won his first two district matches by fall, and he made it a TRL championship three-peat by notching a 3-0 decision win over West Linn’s Lucas Gray in the 160-pound title match.

“It meant a lot,” Dennis said. “It meant that it was fully completed. I made it to the finals my freshman year, and I wrestled a three-time district champion (Oregon City’s Sage Brown), who would be a four-time champ. He beat me my freshman year and I was like, ‘OK, from now on, I’m going to win district.’” 

Setting sights at state

Dennis and McCallister, who each holds the No. 1 spot for his weight class in the latest Oregon High School Wrestling Rankings for Class 6A (on oregonwrestling.net), both think they have what it takes to take the gold at the Class 6A state tournament.

For McCallister, that includes plenty of momentum.

“Since 2023 started, I’ve been on a 30-match winning streak,” he said. “I haven’t lost in this calendar year, and I don’t think I’ve given up any bonus points.” 

McCallister also thinks he learned a lot about the event after last year, when, competing at the state tournament for the first time, he placed fifth at 132 pounds.

“I think I grew a lot at state last year, just in those two days,” he said. “How I could perform and how I need to feel mentally.”

That said, what’s it going to take to reach his championship goal?

“Just having fun and doing my thing,” McCallister said. “I think that if I’m wrestling my game, no one can come close.”

Dennis will be wrestling at the state tournament for the third time. As a freshman, he reached the quarterfinal round at 132 pounds. Last year, at 152, he got to the semifinals and ended up placing fourth.

This year at state, Dennis wants to place his stamp on the 160-pound weight class — a weight he’s wrestled at since the start of his senior campaign.

“A lot of kids start at one weight and cut to another,” he said. “I just like staying at one weight and just owning it, making sure everyone knows that one weight is mine.”

So, what is Dennis going to need to do to make the 160-pound division, and the state championship, his? 

“I learned that I need to force other people to wrestle my style,” he said. “I need to just wrestle my own match and to keep up with my own pace.”

Jarman also is optimistic about the state tournament potential for the two Tigers standouts.

“State is looking pretty solid,” he said. “I think Chase is going to be the No. 1 seed. Cade will most likely be a No. 2 seed, behind a returning state champ (Newberg’s Zachary Keinonen, who won at 126 last year). But Cade is hitting on all cylinders right now.”

Jarman, like Dennis and McCallister, has excitement in his voice when talking about the chance for the Tigers to claim their first state championship, or championships, since 1990. 

“It’s really cool to have the opportunity to get two of them (state titles),” he said. “It would be huge for the team. Success breeds success.” 

To win state championships together also would be huge for Dennis and McCallister.

“It would mean a lot,” McCallister said. “We’ve been wrestling each other since middle school.” 

And it certainly would be something special — really special — to have in common.