Crook County’s Gavin Sandoval fights back from devastating injury to repeat as state champion: Oregon wrestling 190/170 small-school roundup

“My parents and my coaches were telling me, 'Keep your head up. God’s got a plan.'”

Gavin Sandoval was helping put away mats after practice, with one eye looking toward the weight room and football workouts in preparation for his junior season at Crook County. 

Suddenly, he heard his right knee pop, and he could barely walk out of the gym.

When it didn’t get better, he went and had the knee checked out, where the doctors delivered distressing news. He’d torn the ACL in his knee. 

Football season was out.

Repeating as a state champion in wrestling? Iffy at best.

He scheduled surgery as quickly as possible and went under the knife August 10.

“At first, I didn’t think I would wrestle at all this year,” he recalled Friday night at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum during the OSAA wrestling state championships.

“But my parents and my coaches were telling me, 'Keep your head up. God’s got a plan.' So, I just kept working and kept fighting. They transferred me doctors, and she cleared me the day of Reser’s.” 

His coaches cautioned patience, however, holding him out of the state’s prestigious invitational tournament and eyeing the district meet two weeks later. 

Wearing a long, black brace to protect the knee, Sandoval went to district “ready to fight,” he said, breezing through the 190-pound bracket and spending a combined 143 seconds on the mat in winning the title. 

The Class 4A state tournament proved more of a test, but Sandoval passed with flying colors, closing out his second championship with a second-round pin of Cascade’s Matthew Hinkle.

“It took everything I had,” Sandoval said. “I gave it my all.” 

3A: In a matchup of returning champions, Banks senior Mishael Mauck dropped from 220 and pinned La Pine junior Tag DeLuca (who moved up from 190) with 5 seconds left in the title match.

“I was overly excited about the chance to get to face a 160-pound state champ,” Mauck said. “As a big kid, it’s rare. I don’t get to face the small guys. But he came up, and I got to wrestle him.”

DeLuca led 4-3 in the waning seconds, but in one fell swoop, Mauck took DeLuca straight to his back.

“I knew I had to get him at the end,” Mauck said. “I mean, I had no choice. I’m not going home second. I won it last year. And this is my weight category. I felt like I wasn’t able to lose it, and I didn’t have a choice but to finish.” 

2A/1A: Ash Blomstrom of Toledo won his third consecutive state title with an 86-second pin of Heppner’s Landon McMahon, completing a second consecutive undefeated season and finishing his career on a 76-match win streak, with an overall record of 96-9.

“This was really sweet,” Blomstrom said. “I actually felt really calm coming into the weekend. I just felt like it was my tournament.”

4A/3A/2A/1A Girls: St. Helens freshman Jadyn Pense won her first title with an 8-3 decision over Cascade’s Evelyn Wirfs in the 170-pound final. 

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Meet the champions: Class 6A | Class 5A | Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A/1A | Class 6A/5A Girls | Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls

Vote for best wrestler: Class 6A | Class 5A | Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A/1A | Class 6A/5A Girls | Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls

Previewing the state meets: Class 6A | Class 5A | Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A/1A | Class 6A/5A Girls | Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls

Recapping the district meets: Class 6A | Class 5A | Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A/1A | Class 6A/5A Girls | Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF 2024 OSAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS