PORTLAND — Heppner took three wrestlers to the 2A/1A state championships, and all three advanced to the semifinals after the first day of action Thursday, Feb. 22, at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Not only did all three — Zachary Brown, Landon McMahon and Jaime Cavan — reach the semifinals, they pinned all of their opponents on the way there.

“I was fairly confident we could get them all there,” Heppner coach Zac Brown said of the semifinals. “With our schedule, we went across the state and saw some of the kids we saw today. We took care of business and now we will get ready for tomorrow.”

With the 5A and 6A tournaments starting Friday, the 4A, 3A and 2A/1A semifinals will begin at 3 p.m. The parade of champions is scheduled for 7:15 p.m., with the finals to follow.

Brown had a bye in the first round at 157 pounds, then pinned Orrin Reid of Willamina in 1:47 to earn a spot in the semis.

Brown will wrestle Gen Wintersteen of Elgin in the semifinals.

“He beat Zachary at the Bank of Eastern Oregon tournament 8-2, then Zachary pinned him in the finals at district,” coach Brown said of Wintersteen. “Zachary has pinned every kid since his loss at the Bank of Eastern Oregon.”

At 190, McMahon opened with a pin of Landon Risseeuw of Willamina in 1:47, then needed only 24 seconds to pin Kye Bilyeu of North Douglas/Yoncalla in the quarterfinals.

McMahon will wrestle Mark Nusom of Regis in the semis.

“Landon has not wrestled the kid from Regis,” Brown said. “The Toledo kid (Ash Blomstrom) on the other side is a three-time state champion.”

Cavan finished the day for the Mustangs with a pair of pins. He pinned Howard Lewelling of Glendale in his first match, then pinned Ben Imdicke of Colton in 2:46 in the quarterfinals.

Cavan will take on Thomas Bischoff of Regis in the semis. Bischoff won the 170-pound title last year.

Irrigon took seven men to state and have two left alive in the semifinals.

Preston Slawson (120) pinned Kennedy’s Julio Reyes-Hernandez in 3:23, then won by fall over Tanner Dilworth of Monroe in 5:56 in the quarterfinals.

Slawson will wrestle Harley Hardison of Lowell in the semifinals.

At 175, Xander Olman received a bye in the first round, then earned a 6-3 decision over Logan Kirsch of Regis in the quarterfinals. He will wrestle Taylor Crawford of Clatskanie in the semifinals.

Heppner is eighth in the team standings with 22 points, a half point out of seventh, and 2.5 points back of sixth. Irrigon is sitting 12th with 16 points. Willamina leads the team standings with 65.5 points.

4A tournament

Pendleton moved three wrestlers into the semifinals, have two alive in the consolation bracket, and all five will come home with a top-six finish in the 4A state tournament.

“We had a tough start to the day,” said Pendleton coach Trevor Hancock, whose team is sitting tied for fifth in the team standings with Mazama with 59.5 points.

Vance Nelson (150), Kainen Zimmerman (157) and Aidan Perkins (165) made things a little better for the Bucks, reaching the semifinals.

Nelson opened the day with a 27-second pin of Liam Ritchie from Stayton, then took down Jyles Petersen of Hidden Valley in 1:34. He will wrestle Riley Barrett of Philomath in the semis.

Zimmerman, who finished second at district, won his first match by technical fall over Wylee Moore of Junction City, then pinned La Grande’s Riley Krantz in 2:34. Krantz beat Zimmerman for the district title. Zimmerman will take on returning state placer Maverick Heimbuck of Scappoose in the semis.

Perkins won his first match by fall in 58 seconds over Harrison Spens of Estacada, then earned a 6-4 decision over Ethan Coates of Cascade in the quarterfinals. Perkins will wrestle Kris Baldwin of Mazama in the semis.

Cole Roy (132) and Owen McLouth (126) are still alive in the consolation bracket.

“Cole had a great day,” Hancock said. “His first match was against a returning state placer (Chance Fletcher of Tillamook), and then he pinned a returning state finalist (Conrad Baxter of Cascade) just to get to the blood round. Owen dropped his first match, then battled back and got bonus points. That was fun to watch. Dakota Malin (175) had a good day and was one match away from placing, same with Owen Golter.”

3A tournament

McLoughlin freshman Dallen Duncan finds himself in the semifinals of the 132-pound weight class after pinning Mason Bell of Warrenton in 4:09. Duncan will wrestle Banks senior Jack Vandehey in the semifinals.

Cooper Yensen is still alive in the consolation bracket at 144 for the Pioneers. Yensen received a bye in the first round, then got pinned by Philomath’s Vedder Anderson in the quarterfinals.

Yensen then pinned Nysa’s LeRoy Phillips-Yale in 4 minutes, and pinned Lane Gilbert of Banks in 5:29 to reach the placing round.

At 120 pounds, Mac-Hi’s Tyler Hoel lost his first match, then made it to the blood round, where he lost to Tobijah Mauck of Banks.

Masyn Lindsey (157) went 0-2 in his first trip to state.

For Riverside, Anthony Castaneda (120) went 0-2, and Aiden Murillo (157) went 1-2, losing his final match to Kamran Ness of Santiam Christian 8-6 in overtime. At 285, Allen Rodriguez finished 1-2.

Girls 4A/3A/2A/1A tournament

Irrigon has two wrestlers in the semifinals, Riverside has one, and Echo’s Avery Fisher is still alive in the consolation bracket.

The Knights have Stephanie Romero and Chloe Wilson-Claassen in the semifinals at 235 pounds.

Romero, who finished third last year, had a bye in the first round, then earned a 10-4 decision over Lizabeth Henderson of Mazama in the quarterfinals. She will wrestle Grant Union’s Mallory Lusco in the semifinals. Lusco won the 190-pound title last year.

Wilson-Claassen also had a first-round bye, then pinned Sialafua Polamalu of Douglas in 1:08 in the quarterfinals. She will wrestle defending state champion Breanna Meek of North Valley in the semis.

For the Pirates, Megan Wiseman won both of her matches at 115 pounds by fall to reach the semis, where she will wrestle Taylor Echeverria of Crook County.

Wiseman, a freshman, pinned Bahlie Morales of Vale in 2:42 in her first match, then followed with a 4-minute pin of Abby Riggs of Siuslaw.

Fisher, just a freshman, opened with a bye, then lost by technical fall (16-0) to Jessica Easterly in the quarterfinals. Fisher pinned Ava Eddy of Henley in the consolation bracket, and needs one more win to wrestle for third.