Azure

LA GRANDE — Hunter Sparks was ready to get on with his life’s work.

Wrestling has been one of the few constants in his life the past 20 years, but after maturity issues hit him early in his college wrestling career, it seemed like it was time to hang up the singlet for good.

Eastern Oregon head wrestling coach Dustyn Azure is glad Sparks decided to stick with it. The senior, who will turn 24 this season, has made quite the impression in just over a season with the Mountaineers.

Sparks made a few stops before finding his way to La Grande. The Roseburg native was a two-time state champion and a runner-up in high school with aspirations of going NCAA Division I. That led him to Cal Poly State for the 2018-19 season before transferring to Clackamas Community College where he earned an associate’s degree.

Next came a year at Life University in Marietta, Georgia, before the desire to return home brought him to EOU for the final two years on the mat.

“After (graduating high school) it was D-I or bust,” Sparks said. “Stuff didn’t work out the way I wanted it to and I was kind of a knucklehead when I got there.”

He wrestled for two years at Clackamas as a backup to a national champion and figured that would be all for his wrestling career.

An assistant coach suggested he give Life University a try.

Not only is it a top NAIA program but it is a chiropractic school, which Sparks will pursue in graduate school.

“I think the biggest thing is I started to grow my relationship with God at that time and that made a big difference,” he said. “I had to figure out how to be an adult.”

His one year at Life University came to an end with a significant knee injury and prompted him to return to Oregon.

“He actually started talking to a few of our guys at the national tournament when he was at Life wrestling as a backup, and he was looking for a place to get closer to home,” said Azure, who had tried to get Sparks to La Grande twice before.

Hitting the mat running

Sparks’ success in his first year with the Mountaineers came as little surprise to his coach.

“We had high expectations for him coming in because we knew he could compete for a national title,” Azure said. “It was just a matter of getting his commitment right and make him realize he could win it wherever he went. Why not with us?”

Sparks entered last year’s NAIA national tournament as the No. 4 seed at 125 pounds and enjoyed quite the run. He knocked off defending national champion Esco Walker, of Grand View (Iowa), 5-3, in the semifinals before seeing a familiar face in the finals in Life’s second-seeded Brandon Orum, who pulled out a 5-4 victory.

“Brandon was one of my main drill partners when I was at Life and (we) wrestled each other every day,” Sparks said. “It was difficult because we know each other’s styles. He capitalized off one scramble early in the match and rode me out, which was the difference.

“I don’t regret anything because I went out and wrestled as hard as I could and left it all out there.”

Despite the loss, Sparks’ runner-up finish was a program best since the wrestling team was reinstated in 2016. Sparks is looking to become just the third national champion in program history this year.

Off to a strong start

Sparks has picked up where he left off to begin the 2023-24 season, finishing third at the ultra-competitive Grand View Open. It attracts not only the best in the NAIA but several Division I wrestlers.

The senior opened with a pin and a major decision before earning a 4-1 decision over Grand View’s Lucas Rodriguez to reach the semifinals. In a tight match, Sparks would come up on the short end of a somewhat controversial 7-4 decision to Iowa State’s Ethan Perryman.

Perryman went on to win the title at 125, while Sparks downed Rodriguez for third with a pin in 3 minutes, 53 seconds.

“The Iowa State match could have gone the other way,” Azure said. “After the match, the ref came up to me and apologized and admitted he made the wrong call. Ultimately, we shouldn’t have given up the takedown earlier in the match, so it falls on us.”

Sparks said the tournament was a good early season test that showed him he still has plenty to improve on the rest of the season.

He is unconcerned by his No. 1 ranking to begin the season, insisting that only matters when standing on the top of the podium at nationals.

His goal is to win a national title, but he has been through enough to know that he can only give his all and the result will be the result.

“When you are out there to score points and you are not worried about losing, it all just kind of unlocks,” he said.