By BEN MCCARTY
News staff writer
April 9, 2008

Sean Baker was having so much fun being a state champion that he decided to become one again. And again.

Baker became the second Hood River Valley High School wrestler to win the sport’s coveted Triple Crown when he won the state Greco-Roman and Freestyle titles at 135 pounds this weekend at Hood River Valley High School.

“I just got out there and from my first match I said ‘I’m not going to let anyone beat me,’” Baker said on Monday after having a day to savor his two new titles.

And he wasn’t the only HRV wrestler who decided to get in on the championship act. Lucas Mondragon rebounded from a third-place finish in Greco-Roman, a discipline were he is a cadet all-American wrestler, to win the state title at 189 pounds in Freestyle.

Baker became the only HRV wrestler since Jimmy Donnelly in 1995 to win all three titles in the same in the year with his undefeated performance over two days and two wrestling styles.

Baker got through five of his six matches in Saturday’s Greco Roman competition with relative ease, defeating Dylan Arp of McKay by fall in 58 seconds; beating Kyle Hummer of Sweet Home via a 6-0, 8-0 technical fall; Seth Honl of Scapoose 6-0, 8-3 and Nolan Womack of Reynolds via a 6-0, 8-0 technical fall. In his fifth match of the day he battled through Cody Randall of North Marion for a 6-2, 8-6 win. That would be the only real challenge Baker would face. In the final he beat Jay Tovey of Roseburg in an 8-0, 10-1 technical fall.

It was more of the same story on Sunday.

Baker beat Womack through another technical fall; beat Jorge Oluzaha of David Douglas by technical fall; beat Alex Rojas in the third round via a Rojas injury; beat Tovey again in the quarterfinals; Honl again in the semi-finals and then beat Tovey for the third time in two days by way of a 6-0, 4-1 decision to take the championship.

To win his freestyle championships, Mondragon had to beat several of the same wrestlers who had beaten him barely 24 hours before.

In the first round Michael Stevenson of South Eugene by fall one minute in. He then beat Nathan Brad from Smith of North Bend by technical fall in the second round and Brandon Wollam of Redmond 7-0, 3-0 in the third round.

He lost to D.H Strouse of Willamina, who had beaten him the day before in the Greco-Roman tournament in his fourth match, but rebounded to beat Tyler Sherman of Newberg, who had also beaten him the day before.

That set up a rematch with Strouse in the final. This time Mondragon came out on top with a 4-1, 4-0 decision.

“I just had a plan after I lost those matches to go back out there and beat them,” he said.

The first-day losses sent Mondragon to the mat for the freestyle tournament with a chip on his shoulder.

“It really did,” Mondragon said. “Particularly since I was an all-American in Greco-Roman.”

The championship also gave him a nice birthday present. Mondragon celebrated his 17th birthday on Sunday.

“I was excited for Lucas, not just because it was his 17th birthday, but because he won some matches that, on paper, he wasn’t supposed to win,” HRV wrestling coach Trent Kroll said.

Just because they are state-champions, and in Baker’s case, three-time state champions, does not mean either will have much time to rest on their laurels.

Mondragon is headed to Pennsylvania today for a national folkstyle dual meet tournament as part of a team representing Oregon, and Baker is headed to South Africa in June for an international round robin competition.

The pair were not the only ones to have strong performances during the two tournaments.

Robert Frasier placed third at 140 pounds in Greco-Roman and Aaron Mallon placed fifth in Freestyle.

“I’m very proud of all of them,” Kroll said.