In thrilling final, Newberg's Isaac Hampton bests a good friend for 3rd crown: Oregon wrestling 126/115 big-school roundup

“I’m good friends with Jeremiah, and to share a mat with a guy like that was pretty cool”

Saturday night’s Class 6A 126-pound final at the OSAA wrestling state championships was one of the most anticipated matches of the weekend. 

The match pitted two state champions — Clackamas senior Jeremiah Wachsmuth against Newberg senior Isaac Hampton — who entered Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum with a combined record of 93-5. 

“I’m good friends with Jeremiah, and to share a mat with a guy like that was pretty cool,” Hampton said. 

And to pull out a 3-1 decision against his good friend to win a third consecutive state title?

“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “It’s pretty, pretty cool, man.” 

Hampton’s only loss in four trips to the state tournament came in the 106-pound final as a freshman to Roseburg’s Gage Singleton. He went 17-1 during his time — part of a career that saw him go 161-7 overall.

One of those seven losses came at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions last month, when Hampton lost “in a little bit of a strange way” in the semifinals to Dallas’ Jose Romero.

“I just kind of put myself on my back,” he recalled. “So, obviously, I want to be better. I don’t want to lose anymore, but for me, that was more of a learning experience, that I don’t need to go there. I need to be a little more locked down on top.”

Hampton showed Saturday he’d taken those lessons to heart. After scoring the only takedown of the match in the first period, Hampton kept Wachsmuth down for the entire second round, not allowing him to earn an escape point.

“I was telling Gage earlier, I started bouldering, and my hands are getting so strong,” Hampton explained. “So, I’ve gotten pretty good on top.”

In the third, after Wachsmuth conceded the escape so that he could go for the tying takedown, Hampton showed off his defense, holding his position and getting into ties that allowed him to keep the clock moving.

“I wanted to avoid any big upper body stuff, because I know he’s good there,” Hampton said. “I wanted to hold my position, just cut him off when I needed to, and just be in nice spots.”

5A: Crater freshman Aidan Godley, who lost to Romero in the Reser’s final, won the bigger prize with a 13-0 major decision against Redmond’s Mason Thynes, who knocked off the top-seeded Dallas senior 4-3 in the semifinals.

6A/5A Girls: Junior Layla Morris won the first state title in the girls program’s history by pinning Dallas’ Ivy McIntosh in the third round of their 115-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

Photos by Taylor Balkom