140-pounder Peña wins third title; Kostenborder rallies to victory at 103
By Matt Monaghan
Statesman Journal
February 17, 2008
Sprague's R.J. Peña wins his third straight title, this year at 140 pounds, at the OSAA state wrestling meet Saturday at Portland's Memorial Coliseum. Peña won the championship match 10-0 against Aaron Farwell of Milwaukie.
PORTLAND -- Three in a row, and it wasn't even close.
R.J. Peña added to his growing lore in Oregon wrestling with a third consecutive state championship, defeating Milwaukie's Aaron Farwell 10-0 at 140 pounds Saturday at the Memorial Coliseum.
If further proof of the Sprague junior's domination at this week's 6A state wrestling championships is needed, consider this: Peña's four matches consisted of three pins in less than a minute, and he was unscored upon.
"My goal for this tournament was to get pins against all my opponents," Peña said.
"I wasn't able to do that in the final, but a win is a win. I'll take it."
Peña's attack on Farwell was relentless.
He began the match by quickly scoring two points on a takedown then pressured Farwell's shoulder so hard that he called for an injury timeout and writhed on the mat in agony for nearly a minute before resuming.
Peña then steadily built his lead and Farwell required a second injury timeout before succumbing at the end of regulation.
"I just attacking and shooting and wouldn't let him defend it," said Peña. "Relentless pressure, relentless pressure. I knew his shoulder was hurt, but it's competition. I'm just trying to win."
Peña's coach, Kary Hadden, grabbed him in a bear hug as he exited the mat, then talked about Peña's tactics.
"He stays on him. He just wears you down and never lets up," Hadden said.
And about his star's penchant for domination, Hadden said it has become Peña's style not just to win, but to put on a show.
"He's got this goal that he wants to pin people, and it's kind of fun to see," said Hadden. "It's like a boxer in the ring trying to excite the crowd by getting a knockout, that's R.J. He wants to entertain."
Peña wasn't the only Sprague wrestler to win a title.
His Olympians teammate, junior Alex Kostenborder, avenged a loss in last year's 103-pound final with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory against freshman Drew Van Anrooy of Roseburg.
With the score tied 2-2 in the final period, Van Anrooy took a one point lead when the referee whistled Kostenborder for stalling.
Hadden argued the decision and with 25 seconds remaining Kostenborder appeared headed for a second consecutive finals loss.
But off the restart, Kostenborder gained a moment of leverage on his opponent and earned a two-point takedown to go up 4-3 with less than 10 seconds in the match.
I just knew that I had to take him down," said Kostenborder, sporting a deep cheek bruise from an earlier match.
Hadden breathed a sigh of relief and gave his new state champion a hug.
"That stall call right at the end there, it seemed like the ref kind of took things into his own hands, but Alex has been through enough battles to know what it takes to win," said Hadden.
Elsewhere, in the 160-pound final, McKay's Tony Gonzalez lost on a pin at 1:17 of the second period.
But you would have thought Gonzalez had won by the look on his face coming off the mat.
The Royal Scots' junior came into the season as a wrestling novice and never expected to be competing for a state championship.
A week ago, Gonzalez was third at the Central Valley Conference district meet but pulled off upset after upset at state to reach the championship match.
"I'm really relaxed," said Gonzalez. "For me, this whole thing is fun. I never expected to make it here."
His coach, Rick Herrin, said Gonzalez proved to himself that he belongs.
"I think in the last week, Tony has started to believe in Tony as a wrestler," said Herrin. "That really showed tonight. He deserved to be there and he's a good enough wrestler to be there."
Also vying for a state title from McKay was Tyler Thomas, wrestling in the 152-pound final against Justin Martin of Redmond.
On Friday, the unseeded Thomas knocked off the class's top and fourth seeds to reach the final before losing to Justin Martin of Redmond in a CVC-duel.
In the 112-pound match, Jordan Lowe of McNary came up one win shy of a title, losing a major decision, 19-2 to No. 1-ranked Tommy Siciliano from Newberg.
On Friday, the unseeded Celtics wrestler upset the division's two-seed then defeated his semifinal opponent in overtime to reach the championship.
But the night belonged to Pena, whose match drew one of the biggest spectator galleries of the night.
Just like he wanted, it ended up being a show.
I have some of the best teammates and coaching staffs in the state," said Pena. "They're a big part of pushing me to succeed. Ever since I was a freshman all I wanted to do was be a state champion. One more to go."