Women’s wrestling camp brings programs to the entire state

In addition to various wrestling tournaments, the Sweet Home High School Wrestling program continues to be busy in their off-season. Their most recent endeavor was the Santiam Women’s Wrestling Camp which began on Saturday, June 29th and ended on Monday, July 1st.

Hosted by Sweet Homes head coach Steve Thorpe and Thurston head coach Mike Simons, the camp started in 2021 with just 23 girls participating.

This year there were almost 100 girls in attendance and even a few of the originals. Paige Chaffin was one of those wrestlers, a three-time state champion who currently wrestles at Southern Oregon University (SOU). Along with Sweet Home Alumni, Kaylee Annis of Thurston, also a three-time state champion who attends SOU, attended this camp.

“They were two of the original group that came back to camp,” Thorpe said. “Now they’re both wrestling in college and they’re coming back and giving back.”

In addition, several ’23 graduates were in attendance, taking advantage of the opportunity to practice and improve. Thorpe attributes the high turnout to multiple schools bringing multiple groups.

“We had them all over the state of Oregon,” he said. “We had Scappoose, Banks, Heppner, Irrigon, Sweet Home, West Albany, they (all) literally brought groups.”

The camp started with a group photo, followed by several warm-up exercises. After this, the girls got busy practicing in the main gym and wrestling room.

Thorpe didn’t set up this three-day summer camp alone. He credits Simons for his help.

“Mike and I wrestled together at Oregon State, he’s one of my best friends,” Thorpe said. “We did this adventure together, the women’s camp and the men’s camp.”