345 SE 5th, Madras, OR 97741 | 541.475.2275
Trevor Barrett of Madras, top, wrestles with Ethan Burgess of Dallas during a consolation match at the Class 5A state wrestling championship.
Trevor Barrett and Travis Williams were lathered in sweat and gasping for air backstage at Portland's Memorial Coliseum last Saturday.
The two wrestlers were absolutely gassed, while teammates and coaches handed out hugs, high fives and fist bumps.
Arguably the two best-built kids in all of Madras High School were flat tuckered out after they had just secured third place each in their respective weight classes at the Class 5A state wrestling meet.
The way it finished, Barrett concluded his 189-pound match just minutes before Williams wrapped up his 215-pound match and the two were actually wrestling at the same time for several minutes. It was quite a sight for their teammates as they looked on with hopes they would both pull out victories for third-place finishes.
Barrett and Williams did not disappoint and accomplished one of the toughest feats in Oregon high school wrestling. Not to take anything away from Ryan Brunner's first-place finish at 140 pounds for Madras, but he knows how difficult it is to place third; he did so last year at 140.
What makes third-place so difficult is that you have to win consecutive consolation matches Saturday morning, knowing that with a loss, your goal of a third-place finish are squashed.
For Williams, he was sent to the consolation bracket after his second match. The sophomore had one minute of bad wrestling that perhaps cost him a shot at a state title. He lost 6-1 to Adam Carroll of Silverton, who went on to place second. Williams gave up five points -- a reversal and a near fall -- in a short span to Carroll. Take that sequence away and who knows?
Williams, however, won five consolation matches, including a 9-5 victory over Crook County's Cody Roan in the third-fourth semifinals. Roan downed Williams one week prior in the Intermountain Conference 215-pound finale.
That was not a typo. Williams won five consolation matches to win third and he won three matches in less than four hours Saturday to earn third place.
After Williams and Roan wore each other out over six minutes, Williams was back on the mat one hour later and edged Vonn Lambert of West Albany 2-1 for third place in a match where Williams proved he has a ton of will.
Travis Williams of Madras, top, won five matches in the consolation bracket to win third place overall at 215 pounds at the Class 5A state wrestling meet.
"You have to give it your all," Williams said of winning third. "You can't stall, you can't let up and you have to wrestle every second."
For Barrett, his dreams of winning a state title ended in the quarterfinals -- a loss by fall to Trevor Mannen of Glencoe. The Madras senior does not shoulder those defeats very well. He was upset, angry and frustrated.
Barrett, however, would not roll over and proved he too has a ton of will. With his goals set on third place, Barrett won two matches by fall for a rematch with Mannen for third place.
This time around, Manned proved to be no match for Barrett, who won 8-3 and controlled the bout .
"Winning third is the next best thing from winning it all," Barrett said. "You finish with a win and it's tough to get through consolation."
Barrett won four consolation matches and the two third-place finishes coupled with Brunner's first-place finish lifted Madras to its best team finish since it joined Class 5A four years ago.
"I'm so happy for our team," Barrett said. "We have all worked real hard."
Earning a state wrestling championship is an incredible feat -- winning third is well earned.
Ask any coach who is familiar with the state tournament and they will say winning third is no easy task.
"These two had to wrestle their butts off against great competition," Madras head coach Ron Oliver said of Barrett and Williams third-place finishes.
Barrett and Williams both had dreams of winning state titles last weekend, but third place proves a lot about who you are, what type of a wrestler you are and the two should be extremely proud of third place.
